I am looking to extend the life of this device. Is there any open source firmware/os for this device.<\/p>","upvoteCount":4,"answerCount":6,"datePublished":"2025-01-06T21:26:56.544Z","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"rzmuda","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/rzmuda"},"suggestedAnswer":[{"@type":"Answer","text":"
I am looking to extend the life of this device. Is there any open source firmware/os for this device.<\/p>","upvoteCount":4,"datePublished":"2025-01-06T21:26:56.607Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/fortigate-80c-open-firmware/1159732/1","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"rzmuda","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/rzmuda"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"
You might look at OpenWRT but I wouldn’t use it in production.<\/p>\n
Generally though the ASIC and components inside Fortigates are designed to work with their firmware and only their firmware.<\/p>\n
It’s also 15 years old and been out of support almost 2 years.<\/p>\n
The effort you put in to trying to keep it alive may cost more in terms of hours spent, than it would to replace it with something else.<\/p>","upvoteCount":1,"datePublished":"2025-01-06T21:37:36.671Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/fortigate-80c-open-firmware/1159732/2","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Rod-IT","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/Rod-IT"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"
Generally, we replace our Routers every five years for security purposes and the latest FortiGate 61F and 81F have worked well.<\/p>","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2025-01-07T21:22:06.783Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/fortigate-80c-open-firmware/1159732/3","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"halogamerguy","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/halogamerguy"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"
I’ve looked into this idea before also. I had a few aged FGT units that I felt would still be very viable hardware for my home lab, and ultimately decided that, as @Rod-IT<\/a> says, the proprietary hardware made it not feasible. One thing to keep in mind…if the specs on a 80C are still sufficient for you, today’s much lower end models (30, 40, 50, 60) from the current F and G generation Fortigates will likely blow away the specs on that 80C.<\/p>\n Thus you could easily replace it with a 60F, 50G, 40F, or even a 30G, depending on the number of ports you need. Thus your replacement cost might not be nearly as high as you think.<\/p>\n Compare even the lowest end of their current offerings (a Fortigate 30G) against that 80C, and you’ll see that most of the specs are dramatically better.<\/p>\n Current Product Matrix:<\/p>
\nIt really hurts, a lot, to look at this hardware, knowing that it is perfectly suitable for a home or lab, but because the software can’t be updated all I have is a paperweight.
\nFind your local electronics recycler.<\/p>","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2025-01-08T16:44:13.038Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/fortigate-80c-open-firmware/1159732/4","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"AdmiralKirk","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/AdmiralKirk"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"