FortiAPs - Suggestions for a good start implementig WiFi

[Fortilover]

Dear Fortinet Community.

We want to start with a WiFi project and we are faced with decisions to made. We want to choose good FortiAPs and after checking together with our Fortinet suppliers they stated that a FortiAP 231g could be a good solution. Have you some experience with FortiAPs? Which ones are good which ones are not so fine? An does anyone know if a FortiAP 233g is much better than a 231g? This is a very general question :) So feel free to give me some input about your experience :) Every comment is very much appreciated.

Ah and before I forget it. We use a Fortigate 100F (7.4.5) at the moment and think about a Fortigate 400/401F for the future. So we already know the limit for FortiAPs when it comes to the point that they should be managed centrally by the firewall. Fortigate 100F can manage up to 128 FortiAPs. Fortigate 400F can manage up to 512 FortiAPs.

With kindest regards

FortiLover

[AEK]

Hi FortiLover

As long as you maintain your FAP and FGT at the recommended/mature firmware version, you will have a good WiFi with no issue.

Here is a good starting point to compare FortiAP products.

https://www.fortinet.com/content/dam/fortinet/assets/data-sheets/Fortinet_Wireless_Product_Matrix.pd...

(I see 231G and 233G are almost the same)

[Fortilover]

This is what I have seen as well. I have checked the documentation (like in your picture) and have seen not so many differences. I see bigger differences when checking the Antenna Radiation Patterns... So I thought I just would like to get some experience from persons that have bought the 231g and then switched over to 233g or perhaps 4xx models... and then their reasons why they switched to another model. :) If it is interesting here are the Antenna Radiation Patterns comparisions for the 231g and 233g models:

[pdw8]

The AP model should be dependant upon your requirements. There are many questions to answer before deciding on the AP model.

• Type of deployment, office, retail, warehouse, manufacturing etc
• Wireless requirements, high density, voice/video, IoT, education
• Number of client devices
• Indoor and outdoor

These are just a few you need to answer to then determine which AP models you need. You may need different models for certain areas, external antennas, weatherproof AP etc

You should always do a wireless design using professional software and if you do not have access to this, use a partner or company that can do it on your behalf.

[Fortilover]

Dear @pdw8.

Thank you very much for your answer. Yes this is completely correct. We have different scenarios. Indoor outdoor etc..

We want to start with 3 scenarios.

1. Indoor, warehouse, SMB and SQL access, voice/video + webbrowsing (minimum 50 Clients)
2. Indoor, manufacturing, SMB and SQL access, voice/video + webbrowsing (minimum 60 Clients)
3. Indoor, office building, massive SMB and SQL access, voice/video + webbrowsing (approx. 30-70 Clients)

What I know from the past is that some manufacturers have really a hard limit for clients that are connecting to the access point. This hard limit was stated nowhere. Not on the webpage, not in the data sheets. I got the information from their support after I have purchased the APs. With Fortinet it seems to be slightly different when I check the link from @AEK. I see there are limits like up to 512 Clients per Access Point or per Radio per Access Point. Is this correct? So every model has the same limit. Can I trust this value or is there probably a table or recommandation of a user limit per access point? My feelings tell me (just a stomach thing we say in Germany) better use a 4xx model. We need a 4xx Fortigate we see now after upgrading to 7.4.x. I have determined from on the beginning to start with 4xx Fortiswitches... And now our sales person told us to use 2xx FortAPs. Hmmm. So this was the real point why I wanted to start this thread here. To collect information that leads us to a point where we can understand the real choice before we buy things twice :)

Like I said before, any hint is highly appreciated.

Best Regards

FortiLover

[pdw8]

Hi Fortilover,

For reference, the AP model numbers follow the following format:

2xx = 2 x spatial streams for low density or client numbers

4xx = 4 x spatial streams for high density and client number

xx1 = internal antenna model

xx3 = external antenna model (indoor use only)

xx2 and xx4 models are outdoor use weatherproofed with external antennas

So a FAP-431G has 4 spatial streams and internal antenna.

Generally speaking, stick with internal antenna models for regular areas such as offices, carpeted areas, education, healthcare etc.

Use external antennas only where you need to, such as warehouses, heavy manufacturing, high ceilings or where you want to cover specific area using different antenna patterns (such a a directional down an warehouse row.)

In terms of capacity, well it depends entirely on what throughput the client need. You can allow many more barcode scanners to use an AP a they are tiny amounts of data. In a high density area though you would want to limit much more. If you have an office area where people are doing voice/video then we look to have no more than 20-25 clients per AP.

I would also ay that any devices that are static should be wired, things like screens, printers etc. Where possible also ensure desks have wired docking stations, especially if they will have heavy usage.

1. Indoor, office building, massive SMB and SQL access, voice/video + webbrowsing (approx. 30-70 Clients)

This one worries me a bit, thats a high load and I would recommend wired capability for the users.

I would recommend you speak to a Fortinet SE a he/she can help with all the questions and even with a basic design. If not, get a wireless design and survey done to ensure you get the best results.

Good Luck!