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Matt Bolick, a senior director at Fortinet, explains that while the company has produced industrial OT products for over two decades, new collaborations are extending secure wireless to the rugged edge. Public sector and industrial customers increasingly require disaster recovery capabilities and the ability to rapidly deploy secure networks in areas without infrastructure, such as polling locations or zones affected by natural disasters. To meet this need, Fortinet has partnered with Parsec Technologies to develop “go kits” where high-performance antenna elements are built directly into the rugged cases themselves, eliminating the need for external antenna deployment and ensuring a quick, secure setup in the field.
The presentation details two specific ruggedized models: the Bloodhound and the Pitbull. The Bloodhound is a compact, highly portable kit featuring a FortiExtender vehicle gateway with integrated 5G LTE and Wi-Fi antennas, ideal for pop-up sites with existing cellular coverage. For true disaster recovery where infrastructure may be entirely absent, the Pitbull offers dual 5G radios, Wi-Fi 7 access points, and a Starlink terminal integrated into the lid. Both units are battery-powered–offering up to 40 hours of runtime for smaller units–and are designed to be TSA-compliant for air travel, bringing the full power of the Fortinet Security Fabric to any remote or emergency environment.
Beyond emergency kits, Bolick highlights the addition of LoRaWAN technology to the Fortinet portfolio with the introduction of the FortiAP 222KL. This new access point addresses a critical gap for oil, gas, and public sector customers who require long-range, low-power monitoring for IoT sensors. The device is a multi-functional gateway, incorporating a 16-channel LoRaWAN radio alongside Wi-Fi 7 and 5G LTE connectivity. By integrating LoRaWAN into the standard FortiGate and FortiManagement Cloud ecosystem, Fortinet provides a unified management experience for ultra-long-range sensor networks while maintaining the security standards of its broader enterprise fabric.
Personnel: Matt Bolick
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