Complex wireless network example

This example creates multiple networks and uses custom AP profiles.

Scenario example

In this example, Example Co. provides two wireless networks, one for its employees and the other for customers or other guests of its business. Guest users have access only to the Internet, not to the company's private network. The equipment for these WiFi networks consists of FortiAP units controlled by a FortiGate unit.

The employee network operates in 802.11n mode on both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Client IP addresses are in the 10.10.120.0/24 subnet, with 10.10.120.1 the IP address of the WAP. The guest network also operates in 802.11n mode, but only on the 2.4 GHz band. Client IP addresses are on the 10.10.115.0/24 subnet, with 10.10.115.1 the IP address of the WAP.

On the FortiAP units, the 802.11n mode also supports 802.11g and 802.11b clients on the 2.4 GHz band and 802.11a clients on the 5 GHz band.

The guest network WAP broadcasts its SSID, the employee network WAP does not.

The employee network uses WPA-Enterprise authentication through a FortiGate user group. The guest network features a captive portal. When a guest first tries to connect to the Internet, a login page requests logon credentials. Guests use numbered guest accounts authenticated by RADIUS. The captive portal for the guests includes a disclaimer page.

In this example, the FortiAP units connect to port 3 and are assigned addresses on the 192.168.8.0/24 subnet.

Configuration example

To configure these wireless networks, perform the following tasks:

Configuring authentication for employee wireless users
Configuring authentication for guest wireless users
Configuring the SSIDs
Configuring the FortiAP profile
Configuring firewall policies
Connecting the FortiAP units

Configuring authentication for employee wireless users

Employees have user accounts on the FortiGate unit. This example shows creation of one user account, but you can create multiple accounts and add them as members to the user group.

To configure a WiFi user - GUI:

Go to User & Authentication > User Definition and select Create New.
Select Local User and then click Next.
Enter a User Name and Password and then click Next.
Click Next.
Make sure that Enable is selected and then click Create.

To configure the user group for employee access - GUI:

Go to User & Device > User Groups and select Create New.
Enter the following information and then select OK:

Name	employee-group
Type	Firewall
Members	Add users.

To configure a WiFi user and the user group for employee access - CLI:

config user user

edit "user01"

set type password

set passwd "asdf12ghjk"

end

config user group

edit "employee-group"

set member "user01"

end

The user authentication setup will be complete when you select the employee-group in the SSID configuration.

Configuring authentication for guest wireless users

Guests are assigned temporary user accounts created on a RADIUS server. The RADIUS server stores each user's group name in the Fortinet-Group-Name attribute. Wireless users are in the group named "wireless".

The FortiGate unit must be configured to access the RADIUS server.

To configure the FortiGate unit to access the guest RADIUS server - GUI:

Go to User & Authentication > RADIUS Servers and select Create New.

Enter the following information and select OK:

Name	guestRADIUS
Primary Server IP/Name	10.11.102.100
Primary Server Secret	grikfwpfdfg
Secondary Server IP/Name	Optional
Secondary Server Secret	Optional
Authentication Scheme	Use default, unless server requires otherwise.
Leave other settings at their default values.

To configure the FortiGate unit to access the guest RADIUS server - CLI:

config user radius

edit guestRADIUS

set auth-type auto

set server 10.11.102.100

set secret grikfwpfdfg

end

To configure the user group for guest access - GUI:

Go to User & Device > User Groups and select Create New.

Enter the following information and then select OK:

Name	guest-group
Type	Firewall
Members	Leave empty.

Select Create new.

Enter:

Remote Server	Select guestRADIUS.
Groups	Select `wireless`.

Select OK.

To configure the user group for guest access - CLI:

config user group

edit "guest-group"

set member "guestRADIUS"

config match

edit 0

set server-name "guestRADIUS"

set group-name "wireless"

end

The user authentication setup will be complete when you select the guest-group user group in the SSID configuration.

Configuring the SSIDs

First, establish the SSIDs (network interfaces) for the employee and guest networks. This is independent of the number of physical access points that will be deployed. Both networks assign IP addresses using DHCP.

To configure the employee SSID - GUI:

Go to WiFi and Switch Controller > SSIDs and select Create New > SSID.
Enter the following information and select OK:

Interface Name	example_inc
Traffic Mode	Tunnel to Wireless Controller
IP/Netmask	10.10.120.1/24
Administrative Access	Ping (to assist with testing)
Enable DHCP	Enable
Address Range	10.10.120.2 - 10.10.120.199
Netmask	255.255.255.0
Default Gateway	Same As Interface IP
DNS Server	Same as System DNS
SSID	example_inc
Security Mode	WPA/WPA2-Enterprise
Authentication	Select Local, then select employee-group.
Leave other settings at their default values.

To configure the employee SSID - CLI:

config wireless-controller vap

edit example_inc

set ssid "example_inc"

set security wpa-enterprise

set auth usergroup

set usergroup employee-group

set schedule always

end

config system interface

edit example_inc

set ip 10.10.120.1 255.255.255.0

end

config system dhcp server

edit 0

set default-gateway 10.10.120.1

set dns-service default

set interface example_inc

config ip-range

edit 1

set end-ip 10.10.120.199

set start-ip 10.10.120.2

end

set lease-time 7200

set netmask 255.255.255.0

end

To configure the example_guest SSID - GUI:

Go to WiFi and Switch Controller > SSIDs and select Create New.
Enter the following information and select OK:

Name	example_guest
IP/Netmask	10.10.115.1/24
Administrative Access	Ping (to assist with testing)
Enable DHCP	Enable
Address Range	10.10.115.2 - 10.10.115.50
Netmask	255.255.255.0
Default Gateway	Same as Interface IP
DNS Server	Same as System DNS
SSID	example_guest
Security Mode	Captive Portal
Portal Type	Authentication
Authentication Portal	Local
User Groups	Select guest-group.
Leave other settings at their default values.

To configure the example_guest SSID - CLI:

config wireless-controller vap

edit example_guest

set ssid "example_guest"

set security captive-portal

set selected-usergroups guest-group

set schedule always

end

config system interface

edit example_guest

set ip 10.10.115.1 255.255.255.0

end

config system dhcp server

edit 0

set default-gateway 10.10.115.1

set dns-service default

set interface "example_guest"

config ip-range

edit 1

set end-ip 10.10.115.50

set start-ip 10.10.115.2

end

set lease-time 7200

set netmask 255.255.255.0

end

Configuring the FortiAP profile

The FortiAP Profile defines the radio settings for the networks. The profile provides access to both Radio 1 (2.4 GHz) and Radio 2 (5 GHz) for the employee virtual AP, but provides access only to Radio 1 for the guest virtual AP.

To configure the FortiAP Profile - GUI:

Go to WiFi and Switch Controller > FortiAP Profiles and select Create New.
Enter the following information and select OK:

Name	example_AP
Platform	FAP221E
Radio 1
Mode	Access Point
Band	802.11n
Channel plan	Select Three Channels.
Transmit power mode	Select Percent.
Transmit power	Set the bar to 100%.
SSID	Select Manual and select example_inc and example_guest.
Radio 2
Mode	Access Point
Band	802.11n_5G
Channel	Select All.
Transmit power mode	Select Percent.
Transmit power	Set the bar to 100%.
SSID	Select Manual and select example_inc.

To configure the AP Profile - CLI:

config wireless-controller wtp-profile

edit "example_AP"

config platform

set type 221E

end

config radio-1

set ap-bgscan enable

set band 802.11n

set channel "1" "6" "11"

set vaps "example_inc" "example_guest"

end

config radio-2

set ap-bgscan enable

set band 802.11n-5G

set channel "36" "40" "44" "48" "149" "153" "157" "161" "165"

set vaps "example_inc"

end

Configuring firewall policies

Identity-based firewall policies are needed to enable the WLAN users to access the Internet on Port1. First you create firewall addresses for employee and guest users, then you create the firewall policies.

To create firewall addresses for employee and guest WiFi users:

Go to Policy & Objects > Addresses.
Select Create New, enter the following information and select OK.

Address Name	employee-wifi-net
Type	Subnet / IP Range
Subnet / IP Range	10.10.120.0/24
Interface	example_inc

Select Create New, enter the following information and select OK.

Address Name	guest-wifi-net
Type	Subnet / IP Range
Subnet / IP Range	10.10.115.0/24
Interface	example_guest

To create firewall policies for employee WiFi users - GUI:

Go to Policy & Objects > Firewall Policy and select Create New.
Enter the following information and select OK:

Incoming Interface	example_inc
Source Address	employee-wifi-net
Outgoing Interface	port1
Destination Address	all
Schedule	always
Service	ALL
Action	ACCEPT
NAT	Enable NAT

Optionally, select security profile for wireless users.
Select OK.
Repeat steps 1 through 4 but select Internal as the Destination Interface/Zone to provide access to the ExampleCo private network.

To create firewall policies for employee WiFi users - CLI:

config firewall policy

edit 0

set srcintf "employee_inc"

set dstintf "port1"

set srcaddr "employee-wifi-net"

set dstaddr "all"

set action accept

set schedule "always"

set service "ANY"

set nat enable

set schedule "always"

set service "ANY"

edit 0

set srcintf "employee_inc"

set dstintf "internal"

set srcaddr "employee-wifi-net"

set dstaddr "all"

set action accept

set schedule "always"

set service "ANY"

set nat enable

set schedule "always"

set service "ANY"

end

To create a firewall policy for guest WiFi users - GUI:

Go to Policy & Objects > Firewall Policy and select Create New.
Enter the following information and select OK:

Incoming Interface	example_guest
Source Address	guest-wifi-net
Outgoing Interface	port1
Destination Address	all
Schedule	always
Service	ALL
Action	ACCEPT
NAT	Enable NAT

Optionally, select UTM and set up UTM features for wireless users.
Select OK.

To create a firewall policy for guest WiFi users - CLI:

config firewall policy

edit 0

set srcintf "example_guest"

set dstintf "port1"

set srcaddr "guest-wifi-net"

set dstaddr "all"

set action accept

set schedule "always"

set service "ANY"

set nat enable

end

Connecting the FortiAP units

You need to connect each FortiAP unit to the FortiGate unit, wait for it to be recognized, and then assign it to the AP Profile. But first, you must configure the interface to which the FortiAP units connect and the DHCP server that assigns their IP addresses.

In this example, the FortiAP units connect to port 3 and are controlled through IP addresses on the 10.10.70.0/24 network.

To configure the interface for the AP unit - GUI:

Go to Network > Interfaces, and edit the interface to which the AP unit connects (in this example, port3).
In Addressing mode, select Manual.
In IP/Network Mask, enter an IP address and netmask for the interface (in this example, 10.10.70.1/255.255.255.0).
In the Administrative Access section, go to IPv4 and select the Security Fabric Connection checkbox.
When FortiAP units are connected to the interface on FortiGate (directly or through a switch), you can go to the Edit Interface section and set the Role to LAN.

Selecting the LAN role loads the DHCP Server toggle. If you enable DHCP Server, the GUI can automatically set the DHCP IP range based on the interface IP address.
Click OK.

To configure the interface for the AP unit - CLI:

config system interface

edit "port3"

set mode static

set ip 10.10.70.1 255.255.255.0

set allowaccess fabric

end

To configure the DHCP server for AP units - CLI:

config system dhcp server

edit 3

set interface "port3"

config ip-range

edit 1

set start-ip 10.10.70.2

set end-ip 10.10.70.254

end

set default-gateway 10.10.70.1

set netmask 255.255.255.0

set vci-match enable

set vci-string "FortiAP"

end

The optional vci-match and vci-string fields ensure that the DHCP server will provide IP addresses only to FortiAP units.

To connect a FortiAP unit - GUI:

Go to WiFi and Switch Controller > Managed FortiAPs.
Connect the FortiAP unit to port 3.
Periodically select Refresh while waiting for the FortiAP unit to be listed.
Recognition of the FortiAP unit can take up to two minutes.
If there is persistent difficulty recognizing FortiAP units, try disabling VCI-Match in the DHCP server settings.
When the FortiAP unit is listed, select the entry to edit it.
The Edit Managed Access Point window opens.
In State, select Authorize.
In the AP Profile, select [Change] and then select the example_AP profile.
Select OK.
Repeat Steps 2 through 7 for each FortiAP unit.

To connect a FortiAP unit - CLI:

Connect the FortiAP unit to port 3.
Enter:
config wireless-controller wtp
Wait 30 seconds, then enter get.
Retry the get command every 15 seconds or so until the unit is listed, like this:
== [ FAP22B3U10600118 ]
wtp-id: FAP22B3U10600118
Edit the discovered FortiAP unit like this:
edit FAP22B3U10600118
set admin enable
set wtp-profile example_AP
end
Repeat Steps 2 through 5 for each FortiAP unit.