FortiOS can translate multicast traffic into unicast traffic to send to clients, maintaining its own multicast client through IGMP snooping. You can configure this in the CLI:
config wireless-controller vap edit example_wlan set multicast-enhance enable set me-disable-thresh 32
end
If the number of clients on the SSID is larger than me-disable-thresh, multicast enhancement is disabled.
You might want to prevent overloading of your access point by limiting the number of clients who can associate with it at the same time. Limits can be applied per SSID, per AP, or per radio.
Edit the wtp-profile (FortiAP profile), like this:
config wireless-controller wtp-profile edit “FAP221C-default” set max-clients 30
end
Edit the wtp-profile (FortiAP profile), like this:
config wireless-controller wtp-profile edit “FAP221C-default” config radio-1 set max-clients 10
end config radio-2 set max-clients 30
end
end
Using the web-based manager, you can configure Captive Portal security or WiFi Protected Access version 2 (WPA2) security modes WPA2-Personal and WPA2-Enterprise. Using the CLI, you can also choose WPA/WPA2 modes that support both WPA version 1 and WPA version 2.
WPA2 security with a pre-shared key for authentication is called WPA2-Personal. This can work well for one person or a small group of trusted people. But, as the number of users increases, it is difficult to distribute new keys securely and there is increased risk that the key could fall into the wrong hands.
A more secure form of WPA2 security is WPA2-Enterprise. Users each have their own authentication credentials, verified through an authentication server, usually RADIUS. FortiOS can also authenticate WPA2-Enterprise users through its built-in user group functionality. FortiGate user groups can include RADIUS servers and can select users by RADIUS user group. This makes possible Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).
By default, WPA2 security encrypts communication using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). But some older wireless clients support only Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) . You can change the encryption to TKIP or negotiable TKIP-AES in the CLI. For example, to accomodate clients with either TKIP or AES, enter:
config wireless-controller vap edit example_wlan set security wpa-personal set passphrase “hardtoguess” set encrypt TKIP-AES
end
Captive Portal security connects users to an open web portal defined in replacement messages. To navigate to any location beyond the web portal, the user must pass FortiGate user authentication.
WPA2-Personal security setup requires only the preshared key that you will provide to your clients.
config wireless-controller vap edit example_wlan set security wpa2-personal set passphrase “hardtoguess”
end
If you will use FortiOS user groups for authentication, go to User & Device > User > User Groups and create those groups first. The groups should be Firewall groups.
If you will use a RADIUS server to authenticate wireless clients, you must first configure the FortiGate unit to access the RADIUS server.
config user radius edit exampleRADIUS set auth-type auto set server 10.11.102.100 set secret aoewmntiasf
end
The CoA feature enables the FortiGate to receive a client disconnect message from the RADIUS server. This is used to disconnect clients when their time, credit or bandwidth had been used up. Enable this on the RADIUS server using the CLI:
config user radius edit <name> set radius-coa enable
end
l If you will use a RADIUS server for authentication, select RADIUS Server and then select the RADIUS server. l If you will use a local user group for authentication, select Local and then select the user group(s) permitted to use the wireless network.
config wireless-controller vap edit example_wlan set security wpa2-enterprise set auth radius
set radius-server exampleRADIUS
end
Captive Portal security provides an access point that initially appears open. The wireless client can connect to the AP with no security credentials. The AP responds to the client’s first HTTP request with a web page requesting user name and password. Until the user enters valid credentials, no communication beyond the AP is permitted.
The captive portal can be hosted on the FortiGate unit, or externally. For details see
Configuring WiFi captive portal security – FortiGate captive portal on page 53
Configuring WiFi captive portal security – external server on page 54
For general information about captive portals, see the Captive Portal chapter of the Authentication Guide.
On each SSID, you can create a MAC address filter list to either permit or exclude a list of clients identified by their MAC addresses.
This is actually not as secure as it appears. Someone seeking unauthorized access to your network can obtain MAC addresses from wireless traffic and use them to impersonate legitimate users. A MAC filter list should only be used in conjunction with other security measures such as encryption.
By default, unlisted MAC addresses are assigned an IP address automatically.
end
set mac-acl-default-action assign
end
Wireless clients need to have IP addresses. If you use RADIUS authentication, each user’s IP address can be stored in the Framed-IP-Address attribute. Otherwise, you need to configure a DHCP server on the WLAN interface to assign IP addresses to wireless clients.
By default an address range is created in the same subnet as the wireless interface IP address, but not including that address.
In this example, WiFi clients on the example_wlan interface are assigned addresses in the 10.10.120.2-9 range to connect with the WiFi access point on 10.10.120.1.
config system dhcp server edit 0 set default-gateway 10.10.120.1 set dns-service default set interface example_wlan set netmask 255.255.255.0 config ip-range edit 1 set end-ip 10.10.120.9 set start-ip 10.10.120.2
end
end
You begin configuring your wireless network by defining one or more SSIDs to which your users will connect. When you create an SSID, a virtual network interface is also created with the Name you specified in the SSID configuration. You can configure the settings of an existing SSID in either WiFi Controller > WiFi Network > SSID or System > Network > Interface.
or l Go to Network > Interfaces.
WiFi interfaces list the SSID beside the interface Name.
| Interface Name | Enter a name for the SSID interface. |
| Type | WiFi SSID. |
| Traffic Mode | Tunnel to Wireless Controller — Data for WLAN passes through WiFi Controller. This is the default.
Local bridge with FortiAP’s Interface — FortiAP unit Ethernet and WiFi interfaces are bridged. Mesh Downlink — Radio receives data for WLAN from mesh backhaul SSID. |
| IP/Network Mask | Enter the IP address and netmask for the SSID. |
| IPv6 Address | Enter the IPv6 address. This is available only when IPv6 has been enabled on the unit. |
| Administrative Access | Select which types of administrative access are permitted on this SSID. |
| IPv6
Administrative Access |
If you have IPv6 addresses, select the permitted IPv6 administrative access types for this SSID. |
| DHCP Server | To assign IP addresses to clients, enable DHCP server. You can define IP address ranges for a DHCP server on the FortiGate unit or relay DHCP requests to an external server.
If the unit is in transparent mode, the DHCP server settings will be unavailable. For more information, see Configuring DHCP for WiFi clients on page 48. |
| Device Detection | Detect connected device type. Enabled by default. |
| Active Scanning | Enabled by default. |
| WiFi Settings | |
| SSID | Enter the SSID. By default, this field contains fortinet. |
| Security Mode | Select the security mode for the wireless interface. Wireless users must use the same security mode to be able to connect to this wireless interface. Additional security mode options are available in the CLI. For more information, see Configuring security on page 49. |
| Captive Portal – authenticates users through a customizable web page. | |
| WPA2-Personal – WPA2 is WiFi Protected Access version 2. There is one pre-shared key (password) that all users use. |
| WPA2-Personal with Captive Portal – The user will need to know the pre-shared key and will also be authenticated through the custom portal. | |
| WPA2-Enterprise – similar to WPA2-Personal, but is best used for enterprise networks. Each user is separately authenticated by user name and password. | |
| Pre-shared Key | Available only when Security Mode is WPA2-Personal. Enter the encryption key that the clients must use. |
| Authentication | Available only when Security Mode is WPA2-Enterprise.
Select one of the following: RADIUS Server — Select the RADIUS server that will authenticate the clients. Local – Select the user group(s) that can authenticate. |
| Portal Type | Available only when Security Mode is Captive Portal. Choose the captive portal type. Authentication is available with or without a usage policy disclaimer notice. |
| Authentication Portal | Local – portal hosted on the FortiGate unit
External – enter FQDN or IP address of external portal |
| User Groups | Select permitted user groups for captive portal authentication. |
| Exempt List | Select exempt lists whose members will not be subject to captive portal authentication. |
| Customize Portal Messages | Click the listed portal pages to edit them. |
| Redirect after Captive Portal | Optionally, select Specific URL and enter a URL for user redirection after captive portal authentication. By default, users are redirected to the URL that they originally requested. |
| Allow New WiFi
Client Connections When Controller Is Down |
This option is available for local bridge SSIDs with WPA-Personal security. See Combining WiFi and wired networks with a software switch on page 93. |
| Broadcast SSID | Optionally, disable broadcast of SSID. By default, the SSID is broadcast. For more information, see Introduction to wireless networking on page 22. |
| Schedule | Select when the SSID is enabled. You can choose any schedule defined in Policy & Objects > Objects > Schedules. |
| Block Intra-SSID
Traffic |
Select to enable the unit to block intra-SSID traffic. |
| Maximum Clients | Select to limit the number of clients permitted to connect simultaneously. Enter the limit value. |
| Split Tunneling | Select to enable some subnets to remain local to the remote FortiAP. Traffic for these networks is not routed through the WiFi Controller. Specify split-tunnel networks in the FortAP Profile. See Split tunneling on page 100. |
| Optional VLAN ID | Enter the ID of the VLAN this SSID belongs to. Enter 0 for non-VLAN operation. |
| Enable Explicit
Web Proxy |
Select to enable explicit web proxy for the SSID. |
| Listen for
RADIUS Accounting Messages |
Enable if you are using RADIUS-based Single Sign-On (SSO). |
| Secondary IP Address | Optioanally, enable and define secondary IP addresses. Administrative access can be enabled on secondary interfaces. |
| Comments | Enter a description or comment for the SSID. |
The example below creates an access point with SSID “example” and WPA2-Personal security. The wireless interface is named example_wlan.
WiFi SSIDs include a schedule that determines when the WiFi network is available. The default schedule is
Always. You can choose any schedule (but not schedule group) that is defined in Policy & Objects > Objects > Schedules.
config wireless-controller vap edit example_wlan set ssid “example” set broadcast-ssid enable set security wpa2-only-personal set passphrase “hardtoguess” set schedule always set vdom root
end
config system interface edit example_wlan set ip 10.10.120.1 255.255.255.0
end
A FortiAP Profile defines radio settings for a particular platform (FortiAP model). The profile also selects which SSIDs (virtual APs) the APs will carry. FortiAP units contain two radio transceivers, making it possible, for example, to provide both 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n and 5GHz 802.11a/n service from the same access point. The radios can also be used for monitoring, used for the Rogue AP detection feature.
You can modify existing FortiAP profiles or create new ones of your own.
Creating a FortiAP Profile
| Mode | Select the type of mode.
Disable – radio disabled Access Point – the platform is an access point Dedicated Monitor – the platform is a dedicated monitor. See Wireless network monitoring on page 111. |
| WIDS Profile | Optionally, select a Wireless Intrusion Detection (WIDS) profile. See Protecting the WiFi Network on page 108. |
| Radio Resource Provision | Select to enable the radio resource provision feature. This feature measures utilization and interference on the available channels and selects the clearest channel at each access point. The measurement can be repeated periodically to respond to changing conditions. |
| Client Load Balancing | Select Frequency Handoff or AP Handoff as needed. See Access point deployment on page 64. |
| Band | Select the wireless protocols that you want to support. The available choices depend on the radio’s capabilities. Where multiple protocols are supported, the letter suffixes are combined: “802.11g/b” means 802.11g and 802.11b.
Note that on two-radio units such as the FortiAP-221C it is not possible to put both radios on the same band. |
| Channel Width | Select channel width for 802.11ac or 802.11n on 5GHz. |
| Short Guard
Interval |
Select to enable the short guard interval for 802.11ac or 802.11n on 5GHz. |
| Channels | Select the channel or channels to include. The available channels depend on which IEEE wireless protocol you selected in Band. By default, all available channels are enabled. |
| TX Power
Control |
Enable automatic or manual adjustment of transmit power, specifying either minimum and maximum power levelsin dBm or as a percentage. |
| TX Power | When TX Power Control is set to Auto, the TX Power is set by default to a range of 10-17 dBm. Set the range between 1-20 for both the lower and upper limits.
When TX Power Control is set to Manual, the TX Power is set by default to 100% of the maximum power permitted in your region. To change the level, drag the slider. |
| SSIDs | Select between Auto or Manual. Selecting Auto eliminates the need to re-edit the profile when new SSIDs are created. However, you can still select SSIDs individually using Manual.
Note that automatic assignment of SSIDs (Auto) is not available for FortiAPs in Local Bridge mode. The option is hidden on both the Managed FortiAP settings and the FortiAP Profile assigned to that AP. |
Radio 1 settings are the same as Radio 2 settings except for the options for Channel.
Radio 2 settings are available only for FortiAP models with dual radios.
This example configures a FortiAP-220B to carry all SSIDs on Radio 1 but only SSID example_wlan on Radio 2.
config wireless-controller wtp-profile edit guest_prof config platform set type 220B
end config radio-1 set mode ap set band 802.11g set vap-all enable
end config radio-2 set mode ap set band 802.11g set vaps example_wlan
end
end
The maximum allowed transmitter power and permitted radio channels for WiFi networks depend on the region in which the network is located. By default, the WiFi controller is configured for the United States. If you are located in any other region, you need to set your location before you begin configuring wireless networks.
To change the country to France, for example, enter
config wireless-controller setting set country FR
end
To see the list of country codes, enter a question mark (‘?’) instead of a country code.
Creating FortiAP Profile
The following CLI command can be entered to view a list of the Country & Regcodes/Regulatory Domains supported by Fortinet:
cw_diag -c all-countries
Below is a table showing a sample of the list displayed by entering this command:
| Country-code Region-code | Domain | ISO-name Name |
| 0 A | FCC3 & FCCA | NA NO_COUNTRY_SET |
| 8 W | NULL1 & WORLD | AL ALBANIA |
| 12 W | NULL1 & WORLD | DZ ALGERIA |
| 16 A | FCC3 & FCCA | AS AMERICAN SAMOA |
| … … | … | … … |
To set up your wireless network, you will need to perform the following steps:
Configuration of the built-in AP on FortiWiFi units is described in this chapter. Connection and configuration of FortiAP units is described in the next chapter, see Access point deployment on page 64.