Reddit reviews Fortinet FortiGate 30E Network Security/Firewall Appliance

If your purpose is to do group-based or user-based throttling or "gated" internet access, I wouldn't try to VLAN out your network, I'd try to use user-based firewall authentication.

You can get a device like a Fortigate 30e and replace your TP Link router.

Then, you can create users (or tie into active directory or any existing set of user authentication you have).

Then you can create groups of users (or again, use AD groups).

Then you can assign group roles like:

• group 1 gets unrestricted internet
  
• group 2 gets 20Kbps bandwidth cap, M-F, 8:00-17:00.
  
• group 3 gets 5Kbps bandiwdth cap, M-F, 17:00-02:00.
  
• Everyone gets unrestricted internet, M-F 02:00-8:00.
  
  or, whatever your objective is.
  
  They can then all be on the same network, period.
  
  However, when ever they try to hit the internet, they'll hit a captive portal and have to login to the firewall to gain internet access.
  
  A fortigate 30e will set you back about $289 USD.
  
  
  You can do this with a couple of different methods of identifying devices;
  
  
• [these devices identified by mac address] get unrestricted internet.
  
• [these devices are permitted internet, but still require users to sign in and their group membership will determine what they can access].
  
• [these devices can only access the server, but not the internet]
  
  etc....
  
  If you want to use VLANs to separate things out, you can definitely do that, and the fortigate can definitely understand VLANs.
  
  

If you buy a simple home router, it's really not secure enough. HIPAA violations results in fines in the $50k range, so spending a few hundred more on day 1 is a much better investment than having to pay fines later on.

What I would suggest, as a very basic network design that won't break the bank is to buy a proper firewall, a good access point that allows for two separate wifi networks and a managed switch. You can do this without breaking the bank.

Here's an example setup :

Firewall : Juniper SRX300 - $317
Or : Fortinet Fortigate 30E - $291

Switch (if needed) : Cisco SG200 - $225
Or : Netgear Prosafe 8 port - $80

Wifi access point : Ubiquiti UAP-AC Lite - $82

For about $600, you can have a very secure and up to date network that will be good for long time.

Yes it has yearly renewals for UTM stuff and support. But you don't need that to make it work. Get yourself a used 30E to play with, my job has one, great for testing and small 5-25 user deployments.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01HOOBAZ8/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1486604626&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=fortigate+30e


Sonicwalls are a pita compared to pfsense or fortigate

Also Merki can suck a dick with their pay-to-use model. Fuck that noise.

Really hard to follow what you're saying but I assume you're looking for a non-fortigate branch router thats cheap and good enough for a few devices per branch.

Fortinet 30E hardware only without licenses can be purchased for ~$300.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HOOBAZ8

If you already use Fortinet this will keep things simple due to the configuration being the same.

If you need cheaper look at Netgate, Cisco Small Business (RV320), Ubiquiti Edge Router, Mikrotik.