Category Archives: FortiAP

Configuring wireless security

Configuring security

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.

WPA-Personal security

WPA2-Personal security setup requires only the preshared key that you will provide to your clients.

To configure WPA2-Personal security – web-based manager
  1. Go to WiFi & Switch Controller > SSID and edit your SSID entry.
  2. In Security Mode, select WPA2 Personal.
  3. In Pre-shared Key, enter a key between 8 and 63 characters long.
  4. Select OK.
To configure WPA2-Personal security – CLI

config wireless-controller vap edit example_wlan set security wpa2-personal set passphrase “hardtoguess”

end

WPA-Enterprise security

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.

To configure FortiGate unit access to the RADIUS server – web-based manager
  1. Go to User & Device > RADIUS Servers and select Create New.
  2. Enter a Name for the server.
  3. In Primary Server Name/IP, enter the network name or IP address for the server.
  4. In Primary Server Secret, enter the shared secret used to access the server.
  5. Optionally, enter the information for a secondary or backup RADIUS server.
  6. Select OK.
To configure the FortiGate unit to access the RADIUS server – CLI

config user radius edit exampleRADIUS set auth-type auto set server 10.11.102.100 set secret aoewmntiasf

end

RADIUS Change of Authorization (CoA) support

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

To configure WPA-Enterprise security – web-based manager
  1. Go to WiFi & Switch Controller > SSIDand edit your SSID entry.
  2. In Security Mode, select WPA2 Enterprise.
  3. In Authentication, do one of the following:

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.

  1. Select OK.
To configure WPA-Enterprise security – CLI

config wireless-controller vap edit example_wlan set security wpa2-enterprise set auth radius

set radius-server exampleRADIUS

end

Captive Portal security

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.

Adding a MAC filter

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.

To configure a MAC filter – web-based manager

  1. Go to WiFi & Switch Controller > SSID and edit your SSID entry.
  2. In the DHCP Server section, expand Advanced.
  3. In MAC Reservation + Access Control, double-click in the Unknown MAC Addresses line and select Assign IP or Block, as needed.

By default, unlisted MAC addresses are assigned an IP address automatically.

  1. In MAC Reservation + Access Control, select Create New.
  2. Enter a MAC address In the MAC
  3. In IP or Action, select one of:
    • Reserve IP — enter the IP address that is always assigned to this MAC address. l Assign IP — an IP address is assigned to this MAC address automatically.
    • Block — This MAC address will not be assigned an IP address.
  4. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each additional MAC address that you want to add.
  5. Select OK.

To configure a MAC filter – CLI

  1. Enter config system dhcp server show
  2. Find the entry where interface is your WiFi interface. Edit that entry and configure the MAC filter. In this example, the MAC address 11:11:11:11:11:11will be excluded. Unlisted MAC addresses will be assigned an IP address automatically. edit 3 config reserved-address edit 1 set action block set mac 11:11:11:11:11:11

end

set mac-acl-default-action assign

end


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Configuring DHCP for WiFi clients

Configuring DHCP for WiFi clients

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.

To configure a DHCP server for WiFi clients – web-based manager

  1. Go to WiFi & Switch Controller > SSID and edit your SSID entry.
  2. In DHCP Server select Enable.
  3. In Address Range, select Create New.
  4. In the Starting IP and End IP fields, enter the IP address range to assign.

By default an address range is created in the same subnet as the wireless interface IP address, but not including that address.

  1. Set the Netmask to an appropriate value, such as 255.255.255.0.
  2. Set the Default Gateway to Same as Interface IP.
  3. Set the DNS Server to Same as System DNS.
  4. If you want to restrict access to the wireless network by MAC address, see Adding a MAC filter on page 51.
  5. Select OK.

To configure a DHCP server for WiFi clients – CLI

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


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Defining a wireless network interface (SSID)

Defining a wireless network interface (SSID)

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.

To create a new SSID

  1. Go to WiFi & Switch Controller > SSID and select Create New > SSID.
  2. Fill in the SSID fields as described below.

To configure the settings of an existing SSID

  1. Either l Go to WiFi & Switch Controller > SSID.

or l Go to Network > Interfaces.

WiFi interfaces list the SSID beside the interface Name.

  1. Edit a WiFi interface, modifying the SSID fields as needed.

 

SSID fields

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.

To configure a virtual access point (SSID) – CLI

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


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Creating a FortiAP Profile

Creating a FortiAP Profile

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.

To configure a FortiAP Profile – web-based manager

  1. Go to WiFi & Switch Controller > FortiAP Profiles and select Create New.
  2. Enter a Name for the FortiAP Profile.
  3. In Platform, select the FortiWiFi or FortiAP model to which this profile applies.
  4. If split tunneling is used, in Split Tunneling Subnets, enter a comma-separated list all of the destination IP address ranges that should not be routed through the the FortiGate WiFi controller.
  5. For each radio, enter:

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.

  1. Select OK.

To configure a FortiAP Profile – CLI

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


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Setting your geographic location

Setting your geographic location

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 location setting – CLI

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

View all Country & Regcodes/Regulatory Domains

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
              …                    …          …                             …

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Process to create a wireless network

Process to create a wireless network

To set up your wireless network, you will need to perform the following steps:

  • Make sure the FortiGate wireless controller is configured for your geographic location. This ensures that the available radio channels and radio power are in compliance with the regulations in your region.
  • Optionally, if you don’t want to use automatic AP profile settings, configure a FortiAP profile, specifying the radio settings and the SSIDs to which they apply.
  • Configure one or more SSIDs for your wireless network. The SSID configuration includes DHCP and DNS settings. l Configure the user group and users for authentication on the WLAN. l Configure the firewall policy for the WLAN. l Optionally, customize the captive portal.
  • Configure access points.

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.


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About SSIDs on FortiWiFi units

About SSIDs on FortiWiFi units

FortiWiFi units have a default SSID (wireless interface) named wlan. You can modify or delete this SSID as needed. As with external APs, the built-in wireless AP can be configured to carry any SSID.

The AP settings for the built-in wireless access point are located at WiFi Controller > Local WiFi Radio. The available operational settings are the same as those for external access points which are configured at WiFi Controller > Managed FortiAPs.


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Configuring a WiFi LAN

Configuring a WiFi LAN

When working with a FortiGate WiFi controller, you can configure your wireless network before you install any access points. If you are working with a standalone FortiWiFi unit, the access point hardware is already present but the configuration is quite similar. Both are covered in this section.

Overview of WiFi controller configuration

Setting your geographic location

Creating a FortiAP Profile

Defining a wireless network interface (SSID)

Defining SSID Groups

Dynamic user VLAN assignment

Configuring user authentication

Configuring firewall policies for the SSID

The WiFi Controller and Switch Controller are enabled through the Feature Store (under System > Feature Select). However, they are separately enabled and configured to display in the GUI via the CLI.

To enable both WiFi and Switch controllers, enter the following:

config system global set wireless-controller enable set switch-controller enable

end

To enable the GUI display for both controllers, have also been separated:

config system settings set gui-wireless-controller enable set gui-switch-controller enable end

If you want to connect and authorize external APs, such as FortiAP units, see the next chapter, Access point deployment.

Overview of WiFi controller configuration

The FortiGate WiFi controller configuration is composed of three types of object, the SSID, the AP Profile and the physical Access Point.

Overview of WiFi controller configuration

l An SSID defines a virtual wireless network interface, including security settings. One SSID is sufficient for a wireless network, regardless how many physical access points are provided. You might, however, want to create multiple SSIDs to provide different services or privileges to different groups of users. Each SSID has separate firewall policies and authentication. Each radio in an access point can support up to 8 SSIDs.

A more common use of the term SSID is for the identifier that clients must use to connect to the wireless network.

Each SSID (wireless interface) that you configure will have an SSID field for this identifier. In Managed Access Point configurations you choose wireless networks by SSID values. In firewall policies you choose wireless interfaces by their SSID name.

  • An AP Profile defines the radio settings, such as band (802.11g for example) and channel selection. The AP Profile names the SSIDs to which it applies. Managed APs can use automatic profile settings or you can create AP profiles.
  • Managed Access Points represent local wireless APs on FortiWiFi units and FortiAP units that the FortiGate unit has discovered. There is one managed access point definition for each AP device. An access point definition can use automatic AP profile settings or select a FortiAP Profile. When automatic profile settings are used, the managed AP definition also selects the SSIDs to be carried on the AP.

Conceptual view of FortiGate WiFi controller configuration

Setting your geographic location


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