Why This Question Comes Up
When a Melbourne business needs new network infrastructure — a firewall upgrade, a Wi-Fi refresh, a new office fit-out — one of the first questions we're asked is: "Which brand should we use?" It's a reasonable question, and the answer matters because the wrong choice creates problems that are expensive and disruptive to fix later.
The short answer is that we use all three platforms, but for different purposes. Ubiquiti UniFi is our go-to for cost-effective SMB Wi-Fi deployments. Aruba is what we use when the Wi-Fi needs to be enterprise-grade — high density, healthcare, or environments with strict roaming requirements. Fortinet FortiGate is our firewall platform across the board, from 10-person offices to multi-site operations.
Here's the longer version.
Ubiquiti UniFi — The SMB Workhorse
Ubiquiti built their reputation by making enterprise-looking network hardware at a fraction of the price. A UniFi access point that performs comparably to a $1,500 enterprise AP used to cost $200. That value proposition made them ubiquitous in small business, hospitality, retail, and co-working spaces — and for good reason.
The UniFi controller platform is genuinely impressive for the price. A single management interface covers switching, wireless, cameras, and access control. Setup is straightforward enough that a technically capable business owner could manage it themselves, and the hardware is reliable in environments with moderate requirements.
SMBs with 5–50 staff, single-site or simple multi-site setups, retail and hospitality environments, businesses that want managed Wi-Fi without enterprise pricing, and any site where the IT budget is tight but reliable connectivity is still required.
Where UniFi has limitations: high-density environments (conference venues, medical waiting rooms with 30+ simultaneous devices), environments that require advanced network access control (NAC), or sites where roaming performance between access points is critical — for example, a warehouse where staff carry handhelds that need seamless handoff. For those scenarios, Aruba is the right tool.
The other limitation worth naming: Ubiquiti's firewalls (UniFi Dream Machine and related products) are consumer-grade compared to Fortinet. They work fine for a small office with basic requirements, but they lack the deep packet inspection, application control, intrusion prevention, and SD-WAN capabilities that a business with serious security requirements needs. This is why we often deploy Ubiquiti Wi-Fi behind a FortiGate firewall — best of both worlds.
Fortinet FortiGate — The Security Foundation
FortiGate is our firewall platform of choice across all business sizes. It sits at the edge of the network, between your internet connection and everything inside, and it does significantly more than just "block bad traffic."
A FortiGate running a full security profile provides: next-generation firewall (NGFW), intrusion prevention system (IPS), application control, web filtering, SSL inspection, antivirus, DNS filtering, SD-WAN, VPN (site-to-site and SSL-VPN for remote workers), and deep visibility into what's happening on the network. The FortiOS operating system has been consistently rated in the top tier of network security by independent testing labs for over a decade.
FortiGate inspects traffic at the application layer, not just by port and protocol. It can identify and block specific applications (TikTok on work devices, for example) and detect known attack patterns that signature-based firewalls miss.
FortiGate's SD-WAN is a licensed feature on the same hardware. No separate SD-WAN appliance needed. It monitors link quality in real time and automatically routes traffic based on latency, jitter and packet loss — critical for Microsoft 365 and VoIP.
The FortiOS operating system is the same whether you're running a FortiGate 40F in a 10-person office or a FortiGate 1800F in a data centre. Skills transfer, management is consistent, and multi-site deployments can be managed from a single FortiManager console.
Fortinet makes FortiAP access points, but they're not our recommended choice for most deployments. FortiAP is best suited to environments where you want everything in the Fortinet ecosystem for unified management. For most Melbourne offices, a FortiGate firewall paired with Ubiquiti or Aruba access points gives better Wi-Fi performance at a lower total cost.
Aruba Networks — When Wi-Fi Needs to Be Enterprise-Grade
Aruba (now owned by HPE) is the platform we deploy when Wi-Fi performance is genuinely critical and the budget supports it. Their access points are more expensive than Ubiquiti — typically 2–3x the hardware cost — but they earn it in specific scenarios.
Where Aruba excels over Ubiquiti:
- High-density environments: Conference rooms with 50+ devices, medical waiting areas, open-plan offices with 80+ staff. Aruba's radio resource management (RRM) handles channel assignment and power levels dynamically in ways that Ubiquiti can't match.
- Roaming-critical applications: Warehouse handheld scanners, VoIP handsets, and clinical trolleys that move between areas need seamless L2 roaming. Aruba's 802.11r/k/v implementation is more robust than Ubiquiti's.
- Network Access Control (NAC): Aruba ClearPass allows granular policy enforcement — a clinical device gets one level of network access, a patient's personal phone on the guest network gets something entirely different, and a printer is automatically quarantined if it doesn't match its expected behaviour profile.
- Healthcare and compliance environments: The SY Medical Centre deployment we completed used Aruba because the clinical workflow requirements — seamless handoff between consultation rooms, integration with patient management systems, strict segmentation between clinical and patient networks — exceeded what Ubiquiti could reliably deliver.
Medical and allied health clinics, high-density offices (60+ staff), warehouses with mobile scanners, environments requiring NAC and device policy enforcement, multi-building campus deployments, and any site where Wi-Fi downtime is a clinical or operational risk.
What We Actually Deploy: The Typical Combinations
| Business type | Firewall | Wi-Fi | Switching |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small office (5–20 staff) | FortiGate 40F/60F | Ubiquiti U6 Pro | Ubiquiti USW |
| Mid-size office (20–80 staff) | FortiGate 80F/100F | Ubiquiti U6 Enterprise | Ubiquiti USW Pro |
| Medical / allied health clinic | FortiGate 60F/80F | Aruba AP-505/515 | Aruba 2530/2930 |
| Multi-site (2–5 locations) | FortiGate (per site) + SD-WAN | Ubiquiti or Aruba (by site needs) | Ubiquiti or Aruba |
| Warehouse / distribution | FortiGate 80F/100F | Aruba AP-555 (outdoor-rated) | Aruba 2930 (PoE+) |
| High-density open plan (80+ staff) | FortiGate 100F/200F | Aruba AP-515/535 | Aruba 2930/3810 |
The Question We Get Asked Most: "Can I Just Use Ubiquiti for Everything?"
Yes — with caveats. Ubiquiti's Dream Machine Pro or Dream Machine Special can act as a combined router/firewall/controller for a small office, and for a 10-person business with basic requirements it works perfectly well. We deploy Ubiquiti-only setups for clients in this category.
The caveats are:
- The UniFi firewall is not a next-generation firewall. It doesn't have IPS, application control, or deep packet inspection. For a business handling client data, financial records, or healthcare information, this is a meaningful gap.
- Ubiquiti's support model relies heavily on community forums. If something breaks at 11pm before a critical client presentation, you're searching Reddit, not calling a support line.
- As the business grows above ~50 staff or adds sites, you'll often hit the ceiling of what UniFi manages well — and replacing a firewall later is more disruptive than getting the right one initially.
Our recommendation for businesses that expect to grow: start with a FortiGate firewall even if you use Ubiquiti Wi-Fi. The FortiGate will scale with you; the Wi-Fi can be swapped or extended later without touching the security foundation.
Cost Comparison: What Should You Budget?
| Scenario | Hardware cost (approx) | Annual licensing | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubiquiti-only (10 staff) | $1,200–2,500 | Nil | No ongoing subscription needed for basic features |
| FortiGate 60F + Ubiquiti Wi-Fi (20 staff) | $2,500–4,000 | $600–900/yr | FortiGuard subscription for IPS, AV, web filter |
| FortiGate 80F + Aruba Wi-Fi (40 staff) | $5,000–9,000 | $1,200–1,800/yr | Aruba Central subscription + FortiGuard |
| FortiGate 100F + Aruba (80+ staff) | $10,000–18,000 | $2,500–4,000/yr | Varies significantly by AP count and features |
These are hardware and licensing costs only — professional installation, configuration, and ongoing management are separate. All figures are approximate and vary based on site complexity, cabling requirements, and specific model selections.
The Bottom Line
The right network platform depends on your business size, security requirements, and what you need your network to do reliably. There's no single right answer — which is why we assess each deployment individually rather than defaulting to one vendor.
If you're not sure which platform is right for your situation, a network assessment is the best starting point. We'll look at your current infrastructure, understand your business requirements and growth trajectory, and give you a clear recommendation with options at different price points.