Fortinet FortiGate FG-40F Review Leveling-up Firewall Testing

This is one that we have been working on for some time. We are adding Fortinet and other traditional firewall vendors to our review stable. The Fortinet FortiGate FG-40F is an “F” SKU, but it is still listed as a current-generation model. Since we know these are immensely popular, we wanted to use our high-end Keysight CyPerf tool and run it through security testing. Let us just say, we have a decidedly more refined suite versus when we did the Ubiquiti UCG-Fiber Review.

Get ready because we are about to do what is probably the first real review of a Fortinet product online in a long time, getting all the way down to the silicon. If you want to purchase one of these, here is an Amazon affiliate link.

Fortinet FortiGate FG-40F Hardware Overview

The Fortinet FG-40F is a small white box that measures about 1.5 x 8.5 x 6.3in or 38.5 x 216 x 160mm.

First off, we get the logo and model number.

Then we get power and perhaps most interestingly a HA LED.

Then we get indicators for the ports link and activity. A controversial view I have, and this borders on a religious debate, is that I prefer status indicators for ports next to the ports themselves, or on both sides of the chassis. With silent boxes, if you are looking at them from the port side, it is hard to tell if they are on because the status LEDs are on the opposite side. It is also something I notice on many of the NVIDIA GB10 systems. Feel free to disagree on this one, but while testing a set of these, I had to switch sides to even figure out if it was on.

On the side, we get a lock port.

There is also a big vent.

On the other side, we get a lot more venting.

On the top, it says Fortinet.

On the bottom, we get rubber feet and more venting along with labeling.

The back of the unit is the real show.

First, we get a grounding point and a reset button. Then we get a 12V DC power input. Fortinet does something great here (others like SonicWall do too) and has a locking connector to ensure that the power does not unexpectedly come loose.

Next to that, there is a USB port as well as a console port. The console port is fairly standard, and we used a cheap $10 USB adapter to connect it (Amazon affiliate link). I wish this had a USB Type-C port and an internal serial-to-USB function. That would add cost, but it would prevent people from using cheap USB adapters with questionable supply chains.

Next, we have our five 1GbE ports. There is a WAN port and a FortiLink port to connect Fortinet switches to. We will show you one of the management screens for the FortiLink in our management section.

There are three additional ports you can use for LAN connectivity or other purposes.

Next, let us get inside the gateway to see how it works.