FortiExtender
LTE and 5G WAN — failover, primary connectivity or day-one deployment
- Licensing
- Per unit, plus carrier data plan
- Generations
- LTE and 5G models, band- and carrier-specific
- Integration
- FortiGate SD-WAN WAN member with SLA steering
FortiExtender puts the cellular modem outside the firewall, so the antenna can go where the signal actually is and the modem can be replaced or upgraded without touching the firewall. It integrates with FortiGate SD-WAN as a WAN member with its own SLA thresholds.
Where it fits — and where it stops fitting
Cellular hardware is band-specific and carrier-certified, so tell us the carrier and country before we quote — the wrong bands make the unit useless. If cellular is primary rather than backup, dual-SIM across two carriers is the difference between a resilient site and one that fails with its carrier.
Highlights
- External antenna placement — the reason it beats an internal modem
- Dual-SIM options for carrier-level redundancy
- Managed as an SD-WAN member, not a manual fallback
- Sites live the day the hardware arrives
Typical deployments
- WAN failover where the fixed circuit is the single point of failure
- Primary connectivity where fibre is unavailable or months away
- Pop-up, construction and temporary sites
What to work out first
FortiExtender puts an LTE or 5G modem outside the firewall rather than inside it, which solves two practical problems: the antenna can be placed where the signal actually is, and the modem can be replaced or upgraded without touching the firewall.
It fills three roles. WAN failover, where cellular takes over when the primary circuit drops. Primary connectivity, for sites where fixed-line is unavailable or would take months to provision. And rapid deployment — a new site running the day the hardware arrives, with the fibre order still in progress.
It integrates with FortiGate SD-WAN, so cellular is a WAN member with its own SLA thresholds and steering rules, not an emergency fallback someone has to switch to manually.
Questions worth answering before you order
Which carrier and which bands?
Cellular hardware is band-specific and carrier-certified. Tell us the carrier and country before we quote — the wrong bands make the unit useless.
5G or LTE?
5G where coverage genuinely exists and you need the throughput. LTE is cheaper, more widely covered, and entirely adequate for failover.
Dual SIM?
If cellular is primary rather than backup, dual-SIM across two carriers is the difference between a resilient site and one that fails with its carrier.
Where does the antenna go?
This is what makes FortiExtender better than an internal modem — but it means the install needs planning. Signal survey first, mounting and cable runs second.
What this includes
Fortinet publishes no throughput table for this product — it is licensed per user, endpoint, workload or account. What follows is capability and sizing, not benchmarks.
What you are buying
| Licensing | Per unit, plus carrier data plan |
|---|---|
| Generations | LTE and 5G models, band- and carrier-specific |
| Integration | FortiGate SD-WAN WAN member with SLA steering |
How this is sized
Fortinet licenses this product per user, endpoint, workload or account rather than by appliance throughput, so there is no comparable performance table to publish. We size it from your actual environment — tell us the numbers and we will work it through with you.
| Licensing | Per unit, plus carrier data plan |
|---|
Sources
- Fortinet product line overview — retrieved 2026-09-01
Reproduced from Fortinet published documentation and subject to change without notice. Where a figure is load-bearing for your design, ask us to confirm it in writing before you order — we will.