Fortinet FWC (Wireless Lan Controller) Question

[nelsibrun]

Hey all,

Anyone know off the top of their head if the FWC is still a developed product? I noticed the hardware slowly going away on the price lists and can't get a solid answer out of my SE.

Essentially looking at a residence, 60 access points, no firewalling required just pure WLC function, normally that would land someone on a FWC with appropriate access points, but these days?? not sure.

[Anonymous]

Hello nelsibrun,

Thank you for posting to Fortinet Community Forums. As per your query, Fortinet has a high-performance Wireless Controller that can provide enterprise-class Wi-Fi in large, high-density, complex environments. Dedicated WLAN controllers deliver seamless mobility, quick deployment, and easy capacity expansion for large numbers of Access Points.

You can find the compatibility for the WLC and AP in the below links.

https://www.fortinet.com/content/dam/fortinet/assets/data-sheets/FortiWLC.pdf

https://www.fortinet.com/products/secure-wifi/wifi-controllers

Let me know if this helps.

Thanks

[ede_pfau]

mmh - mmh

I was told (some time ago, like in 2020) that the ex-Meru WLC will be faded out in favor of the FortiOS built-in controller. The reason was that the upcoming, new APs with WiFi6 are not compatible with the WLC, and will not be. More of a strategic decision.

You should definitely talk to your FTNT partner about this, to have it confirmed or denied, so that you can plan ahead. Maybe a WLC-VM would provide a higher expected lifetime, but again, new APs will not be manageable from it. An existing installation will keep working for some years, until the demand for higher bandwidth comes up.