Much value in getting all Fortinet networking equipment vs some Ubiquiti?

[ppilot]

So I've been getting some quotes lately for a small business firewall solution from Sophos and Fortinet for the company I work at and one of the sales people mentioned it might be worth it to vertically integrate our entire network under one company.

Originally I was just going to utilize a firewall solution and then buy a ubiquiti routers, switches, and APs. Considering how much the company is (only 20 employees, 12 concurrent at two different locations) would there be that much value to having everything controlled in one place to make up for the cost?

Also I think the Fortinet Partner might be up selling us slightly. Basically he's quoted us Fortigate 60e but based on our needs wouldn't a 30E be sufficient?

Quick Summary of our company: Two locations - Corporate and Plant (will be three in the next six months) Both currently have 50/10 mb Comcast connections (might be increased to 100mb but our bandwidth needs are pretty minimal) VPN would be utilized.

 

[coxhaus]

It may be too expensive but have you looked at a leased fiber between sites? It sure is easier if you are vertically integrated than using VPNs. It is much more reliable and faster to use a switch solution to connect up your other site. It also makes you look like a better networker. You can drop your internet at one site and share 1 connection and 1 firewall. It will be easier with security cameras. You can watch the security cameras real time remotely at either site.

When you price it out don't forget all the less equipment needed and maintenance on it. The money saved on only 1 internet connection and one firewall. Your uptime is going to be more stable than VPN based.

The equipment to connect up the leased line could be as simple as 2 Cisco SG300-28 switches with a couple of fiber modules. These can be had very cheap on ebay. I would run one 1 switch in layer 3 mode and the other in layer 2 mode. You are not big enough to require multiple layer 3 switches. I have a config on this site of how to config the layer 3 switch. Check my threads.

There are other brands of switches which will work.

 

[ppilot]

Yeah that's definitely not in the price range right now, but it's definitely good to know the option exists going forward.