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FortiLAN Cloud Wi-Fi Concept Guide

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24.1.0

Introduction

Introduction

This document provides a general overview of Wireless concepts and introduces Fortinet FortiLAN Cloud management and Fortinet Wireless products.

FortiLAN Cloud Wireless LANs

"How do I get on the Wi-Fi?" It is a cliché because it is true: the most common network access technology is Wi-Fi. Other wireless technologies, such as LTE for long range and BLE for short range are also vital to modern networks, but they complement Wi-Fi rather than compete with it.

The evolution Wi-Fi has undergone over the last 20+ years, and continues to undergo, has not just been about the network standards, but also the way we use it. Physically, all Wi-Fi connections are the same, and follow the same primarily network Layer 1 and Layer 2 standards, but management and higher layer networking choices have become more complex. Smaller organizations, highly distributed and multi-branch organizations, organizations with limited IT resources—and MSSPs that serve such organizations—are increasingly embracing cloud-based network management systems for both administrative and operational simplicity. Let someone else manage the data center!

FortiLAN Cloud is a hosted cloud-based management platform for Fortinet's LAN Edge portfolio (FortiSwitch and FortiAP), offering zero touch deployment, configuration management, reporting and analytics for standalone (not FortiGate centric) deployments. FortiLAN Cloud offers a simple, intuitive, easy-to-use interface for managing your LAN that is available from anywhere at any time. FortiLAN Cloud can scale from a small handful of devices all the way up to thousands across multiple sites.

Intended audience

This guide is intended for an audience who is interested in learning about Fortinet's Secure Wireless LAN concepts. Readers should have a basic understanding of networking, wireless and security concepts before they begin. Interested audience may include:

  • Network, Wireless and Security architects

  • Network, Wireless and Security engineers

About this guide

This guide aims to provide a broad overview of Wireless concepts central to the FortiLAN Cloud management interface, and introduce Wi-Fi products in the Fortinet LAN Edge networking portfolio. Industry standard terminologies are used, with introductions to Fortinet specific terms, concepts and technologies. Readers can move on to Wireless Architecture Guides and other Wireless Deployment Guides when they are familiar with the concepts and terminology and are ready to explore different designs to use in their environments.

Previous
Next

Introduction

This document provides a general overview of Wireless concepts and introduces Fortinet FortiLAN Cloud management and Fortinet Wireless products.

FortiLAN Cloud Wireless LANs

"How do I get on the Wi-Fi?" It is a cliché because it is true: the most common network access technology is Wi-Fi. Other wireless technologies, such as LTE for long range and BLE for short range are also vital to modern networks, but they complement Wi-Fi rather than compete with it.

The evolution Wi-Fi has undergone over the last 20+ years, and continues to undergo, has not just been about the network standards, but also the way we use it. Physically, all Wi-Fi connections are the same, and follow the same primarily network Layer 1 and Layer 2 standards, but management and higher layer networking choices have become more complex. Smaller organizations, highly distributed and multi-branch organizations, organizations with limited IT resources—and MSSPs that serve such organizations—are increasingly embracing cloud-based network management systems for both administrative and operational simplicity. Let someone else manage the data center!

FortiLAN Cloud is a hosted cloud-based management platform for Fortinet's LAN Edge portfolio (FortiSwitch and FortiAP), offering zero touch deployment, configuration management, reporting and analytics for standalone (not FortiGate centric) deployments. FortiLAN Cloud offers a simple, intuitive, easy-to-use interface for managing your LAN that is available from anywhere at any time. FortiLAN Cloud can scale from a small handful of devices all the way up to thousands across multiple sites.

Intended audience

This guide is intended for an audience who is interested in learning about Fortinet's Secure Wireless LAN concepts. Readers should have a basic understanding of networking, wireless and security concepts before they begin. Interested audience may include:

  • Network, Wireless and Security architects

  • Network, Wireless and Security engineers

About this guide

This guide aims to provide a broad overview of Wireless concepts central to the FortiLAN Cloud management interface, and introduce Wi-Fi products in the Fortinet LAN Edge networking portfolio. Industry standard terminologies are used, with introductions to Fortinet specific terms, concepts and technologies. Readers can move on to Wireless Architecture Guides and other Wireless Deployment Guides when they are familiar with the concepts and terminology and are ready to explore different designs to use in their environments.

Previous
Next