Combining WiFi and wired networks with a software switch

A WiFi network can be combined with a wired LAN so that WiFi and wired clients are on the same subnet. This is a convenient configuration for users. Note that software switches are only available if your FortiGate is in Interface mode.

Wireless Mesh features cannot be used in conjunction with this configuration because they enable the FortiAP Local Bridge option.

To create the WiFi and wired LAN configuration, you need to:

• Configure the SSID so that traffic is tunneled to the WiFi controller.
• Configure a software switch interface on the FortiGate unit with the WiFi and internal network interface as members.
• Configure Captive Portal security for the software switch interface.

To configure the SSID - GUI

1. Go to WiFi & Switch Controller > SSID and select Create New.
2. Enter:

   Interface name	A name for the new WiFi interface, homenet_if for example.
   Traffic Mode	Tunnel to Wireless Controller
   SSID	The SSID visible to users, homenet for example.
   Security Mode Data Encryption Preshared Key	Configure security as you would for a regular WiFi network.

3. Select OK.
4. Go to WiFi & Switch Controller > Managed FortiAPs, select the FortiAP unit for editing.
5. Authorize the FortiAP unit.

   The FortiAP unit can carry regular SSIDs in addition to the Bridge SSID.
   

To configure the SSID - CLI

This example creates a WiFi interface “homenet_if” with SSID “homenet” using WPA-Personal security, passphrase “Fortinet1”.

config wireless-controller vap

edit "homenet_if"

set vdom "root"

set ssid "homenet"

set security wpa-personal

set passphrase "Fortinet1"

end

config wireless-controller wtp

edit FAP22B3U11005354

set admin enable

set vaps "homenet_if"

end

To configure the FortiGate software switch - GUI

1. Go to Network > Interfaces and select Create New > Interface.
2. Enter:

   Interface Name	A name for the new interface, homenet_nw for example.
   Type	Software Switch
   Physical Interface Members	Add homenet_if and the internal network interface.
   Addressing mode	Select Manual and enter an address, for example 172.16.96.32/255.255.255.0
   DHCP Server	Enable and configure an address range for clients.
   Security Mode	Select Captive Portal. Add the permitted User Groups.

3. Select OK.

To configure the FortiGate unit - CLI

config system interface

edit homenet_nw

set ip 172.16.96.32 255.255.255.0

set type switch

set security-mode captive-portal

set security-groups "Guest-group"

end

config system interface

edit homenet_nw

set member "homenet_if" "internal"

end

VLAN configuration

If your environment uses VLAN tagging, you assign the SSID to a specific VLAN in the CLI. For example, to assign the homenet_if interface to VLAN 100, enter:

config wireless-controller vap

edit "homenet_if"

set vlanid 100

end

Additional configuration

The configuration described above provides communication between WiFi and wired LAN users only. To provide access to other networks, create appropriate firewall policies between the software switch and other interfaces.