Interfaces: 16x GE RJ45 switch ports; 2x GE RJ45 HA/management ports; 8x GE SFP; 4x 10GE SFP+ FortiLink slots (transceivers sold separately); 1x RJ45 console; 1x USB
Form Factor: 1RU rackmount (44 x 432 x 254 mm)
Curation Review
✔ Pros:Strong firewall and IPsec VPN throughput for its class; 3M concurrent sessions and 140K new sessions/sec handle busy branch or mid-size office traffic; Dense port layout with 16 hardware-accelerated GE RJ45 ports plus 8 GE SFP and 4 10GE SFP+ slots; Built-in FortiLink support lets it manage FortiSwitch units from the firewall; Single FortiOS platform with IPS, application control, and SD-WAN features under one license model
✘ Cons:Threat prevention throughput (2.8 Gbps) is much lower than the firewall and VPN figures, so full inspection is the real bottleneck; 4x 10GE SFP+ slots ship empty and transceivers cost extra; Security services such as IPS, AV, and FortiGuard updates require paid FortiCare/FortiGuard bundles on top of the hardware price; 1RU rackmount chassis is a poor fit for desktop or small-branch deployments without a rack; Pricing varies widely between resellers and list prices are inconsistent, so total cost of ownership is hard to pin down
✔ Pros:25G SFP28 and 10G SFP+ uplinks at a gateway price point; 23.5 Gbps routing throughput; 1 million concurrent sessions; 18-core ARM CPU with 16 GB RAM; hot-swappable redundant PSUs; supports 500+ UniFi devices and 5,000+ clients; manages through UniFi Network controller with a single pane of glass
✘ Cons:IPsec VPN throughput of 580 Mbps is low for a gateway at this price; IDS/IPS throughput of 12.5 Gbps halves routing performance when threat inspection is enabled; SSL/TLS inspection is limited to about 10,000 concurrent sessions; port configuration differs across listings and should be verified; frequently out of stock at major US retailers, with a $170 memory surcharge at some resellers; no built-in Wi-Fi, so it depends on separate UniFi APs and switches; reviewers cite a steeper learning curve than consumer-grade routers