Spatial Streams (MIMO): 4x4 MU-MIMO on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios; 4x4 service plus 2x2 scanning on the 6 GHz radio
Aggregate Throughput: Marketed as 8.16 Gbps; per-radio maximums are 1148 Mbps (2.4 GHz), 2402 Mbps (5 GHz) and 4804 Mbps (6 GHz), about 8.35 Gbps combined
Radios (bands): Tri-radio: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz, plus a BLE radio
Uplink Port Speed: 2 x 100/1000/2500/5000BASE-T RJ45 (2 x 5GbE)
Max Clients: Up to 512 clients per radio
PoE Requirement: 802.3bt PoE (default) or 2 x 802.3at; maximum power consumption 31.7 W
Curation Review
✔ Pros:Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E with a dedicated 6 GHz radio; 4x4 MU-MIMO on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz; Two 5GbE uplink ports allow multi-gig backhaul; 512 clients per radio supports high-density deployments; 802.3bt PoE support gives more power headroom than 802.3at; Built-in BLE radio for IoT and location services
✘ Cons:Fortinet has discontinued the model, and only support SKUs are still listed on Fortinet's own pages; No official Fortinet list price was found, and reseller prices range from about $574 to $1,050; Requires a FortiGate or FortiLAN Cloud management stack to get full value; Sources disagree on the uplink configuration, so the port layout should be confirmed against the official datasheet before purchase
Est. Price:
$574 - $1,050
Compare Against
Cisco Catalyst 9178i
★ 4.3 Value Score
Technical Specifications
Wi-Fi Standard: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
Spatial Streams (MIMO): 4x4 MU-MIMO per client-serving radio (4 spatial streams per radio)
Radios (bands): 4 client-serving radios: tri-band 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz / 6 GHz with a 4th radio (quad-radio design)
Uplink Port Speed: 2x 10 Gbps mGig ports (multi-gigabit Ethernet)
Max Clients: 1200 (400 per radio)
PoE Requirement: 802.3bt (PoE++) required for full operation; 802.3at/af supports reduced functionality; draws approx. 30-52 W
Curation Review
✔ Pros:Wi-Fi 7 with tri-band 2.4/5/6 GHz and 4x4 MU-MIMO on every radio; 24 Gbps aggregate throughput for high-density environments; dual 10 Gbps mGig uplinks avoid a 1 Gbps bottleneck; rated for up to 1200 clients; supports 802.3bt PoE on the mGig ports with at/af fallback; manageable from Catalyst 9800 WLC/Catalyst Center or Meraki cloud depending on SKU
✘ Cons:Requires 802.3bt PoE for full functionality, which raises switch and injector cost; needs Catalyst 9800 controller running IOS XE 17.15.2 or later for the Catalyst SKU; Wi-Fi 7 benefits need Wi-Fi 7 clients to be realized; list pricing varies widely by reseller and SKU (CFG vs Global vs RTG), and reseller spec figures differ in places; cloud-managed (Meraki) deployment requires separate licensing; premium cost compared with Wi-Fi 6E alternatives
