Twice as Nice: Fortinet Lands Leader Spot in Gartner’s 2025 LAN Magic Quadrant — Again

Fortinet has been named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure, marking its second consecutive year in the top-right.

Announced July 10, the recognition underscores Fortinet’s push to collapse networking and security into a single, AI-powered platform anchored on FortiOS and the Fortinet Security Fabric.

The company says its secure LAN edge portfolio—centered on FortiSwitch and FortiAP—was architected with embedded security and AI-assisted operations from day one, rather than bolting protection on after deployment.

“Unlike traditional networking solutions that bolt security on after the fact, the Fortinet wired and wireless LAN portfolio was developed from the ground up with built-in AI-powered security and AI-assisted network operations,” said Nirav Shah, senior vice president of products and solutions at Fortinet.

Shah added that this convergence helps customers simplify operations, improve performance, and extend protection from IT to OT environments, a differentiator Fortinet believes keeps it ahead of rivals.

Fortinet frames the win as validation that enterprises want pervasive, built-in security at the LAN edge to shrink cyber risk while taming the operational drag of managing multiple point tools and add-on licenses.

The company points to AI-assisted management via FortiAI and a simplified licensing model as levers to reduce complexity at a time when teams are stretched thin by staffing shortages and the persistent cybersecurity skills gap.

By delivering wired and wireless capabilities through a single operating system, FortiOS, Fortinet argues it minimizes misconfigurations, streamlines day-to-day administration, and surfaces AI-driven insights across the campus fabric.

Cost control also features prominently in Fortinet’s pitch, with the vendor claiming consistent capabilities, intuitive licensing, and enterprise-grade flexibility without trade-offs or surprise subscription layers.

Customer sentiment appears to be tracking the analyst nod, with Fortinet again named a Customers’ Choice in the 2024 Gartner Peer Insights Voice of the Customer for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure.

“One of the big reasons we chose Fortinet is that their networking tools are built from the ground up with security in mind,” said Ed O’Kelley, vice president of IT at Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee.

“With the Fortinet solutions, our network speed has been amazing, and we have heard zero complaints since we deployed the Fortinet networking solutions,” O’Kelley added.

“FortiAPs have better availability than their competitors and easier, single-pane-of-glass management,” said Scott Scherer, chief information officer at Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems, who called the tight integration with the Fortinet Security Fabric a “no-brainer.”

The repeat Leader placement lands as enterprises reassess campus and branch architectures in light of hybrid work, exploding device counts, and the need to apply zero-trust principles deeper into the LAN.

Vendors that collapse NAC, IAM, segmentation, and threat detection into the switching and Wi-Fi stack—while feeding telemetry to a unified analytics layer—are increasingly attractive to lean IT teams.

Fortinet is betting that its “security-first networking” narrative, plus an end-to-end operating system spanning firewalls, SD-Branch, and LAN infrastructure, will resonate as organizations rationalize overlapping tools.

The company also continues to court operational technology buyers, asserting that a common platform and shared policies can bridge IT and OT without compromising latency, determinism, or safety requirements.

While Gartner cautions that its research reflects analyst opinion rather than fact—and does not constitute an endorsement—it remains a closely watched barometer for shortlisting campus networking suppliers.

For Fortinet, back-to-back Leader badges give its sales teams fresh air cover in competitive bake-offs and extend the company’s broader claim that the future of networking is inseparable from security.