Primary Device
Fortinet FortiGate 90G
★ 3.5 Value Score
Technical Specifications
- Firewall Throughput: 32 Gbps
- Threat Prevention Throughput: 18 Gbps
- IPsec VPN Throughput: 12 Gbps
- Max Sessions: 2 million
- New Sessions/sec: 120,000
- Interfaces: 16x 1GbE RJ-45 + 4x 10GbE SFP+ ports
- Form Factor: 1U rack-mounted appliance
- Typical CPU: Dual-core
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Storage: 256 GB SSD
- Maximum Throughput (Unencrypted): 45 Gbps
- DPI/Antivirus Throughput: 10 Gbps
Curation Review
- ✔ Pros: Industry-leading threat prevention engine (FortiGuard); excellent price-to-performance ratio for mid-market; extensive integration with FortiManager/FortiAnalyzer for centralized management; high-speed interfaces with multiple 10GbE uplinks; robust SD-WAN capabilities; advanced segmentation and zero-trust features
- ✘ Cons: Limited horizontal scalability compared to enterprise-class FortiGates; form factor constraints for very large deployments; licensing can become expensive with advanced features; requires FortiGuard subscription for full threat protection; cooling and power requirements for 1U form factor in dense environments; CLI learning curve for advanced configurations
- Est. Price: $8,500 - $12,000
Compare Against
Aruba (HPE) Aruba 9106 Gateway
★ 4.3 Value Score
Technical Specifications
- Wi-Fi Standard: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
- Spatial Streams (MIMO): 4x4 MU-MIMO
- Aggregate Throughput: 2.4 Gbps
- Radios: Dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
- 2.4 GHz Throughput: 574 Mbps (802.11ax)
- 5 GHz Throughput: 1.2 Gbps (802.11ax)
- Uplink Port Speed: Multi-Gigabit (10GBase-T capable with optional modules)
- Max Clients: 250+
- PoE Requirement: 95W (High Power PoE)
- Form Factor: Compact wall-mount or ceiling-mount
- Security: WPA3, 802.1X, Built-in WIPS
Curation Review
- ✔ Pros: Exceptional Wi-Fi 6 performance with high client density support; Integrated wireless controller reduces infrastructure complexity; Strong enterprise security features with WPA3 and threat detection; Flexible deployment (wall/ceiling mount); Excellent range and coverage
- ✘ Cons: High power consumption requires robust PoE infrastructure; Limited to wireless access point role, not a standalone gateway/firewall; Expensive upfront licensing for management and analytics; Proprietary controller integration required; May be overkill for small deployments
- Est. Price: $1,200 - $1,800