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FortiGate Migration
FortiGate EOL Upgrades & Firewall Migrations — Planned, Executed & Managed by Certified Engineers
California Telecom migrates businesses from end-of-life FortiGate hardware — and from other firewall vendors entirely — onto current FortiGate platforms, with your policies translated, tested, and cut over in a planned maintenance window. Our eight Fortinet-certified engineers (NSE 4, NSE 7, FCSS) handle the full sequence: EOL assessment, configuration translation, staged cutover with a rollback plan, licensing co-termination, and 24/7 management afterward.
Key Benefits
Is Your FortiGate Past Its End of Life?
Fortinet retires hardware on a published lifecycle: an end-of-order date when the model stops being sold, followed years later by an end-of-support date when firmware updates and support contracts stop. E-series FortiGates — the 60E, 100E, and their siblings still guarding many California businesses — are well past end-of-order, and older models are capped at FortiOS versions that no longer receive the current security features. The exact dates vary by model, so we start every engagement by checking your serial numbers against Fortinet's lifecycle database and telling you precisely how long your current hardware remains supportable.
How We Migrate: Translate, Stage, Cut Over, Verify
A firewall migration is a policy project, not a hardware swap. We export and audit your existing configuration first — on FortiGate-to-FortiGate upgrades and cross-vendor moves alike — translating rules to the new platform while flagging the dead weight: unused rules, overlapping objects, and permit-any entries that accumulated over years. The new unit is pre-staged and tested before the cutover, the cutover itself happens in a scheduled maintenance window with the old firewall kept ready as rollback, and we monitor traffic behavior closely afterward so anything the translation missed surfaces in hours, not weeks.
From Any Vendor, Not Just Old FortiGates
About half our migration work starts on someone else’s platform. We move businesses to FortiGate from SonicWall, Palo Alto, Cisco ASA and Meraki MX, Check Point, and Ubiquiti — and we have replaced competing SD-WAN overlays, including Versa, with FortiGate Secure SD-WAN so the firewall and the WAN fabric run on one platform. Policy models differ meaningfully between vendors, which is exactly why translation is engineering work: our team maps your zones, NAT, VPN topology, and inspection profiles to FortiOS equivalents rather than approximating them.
Licensing That Does Not Double-Pay
Migration timing and licensing are inseparable. We align FortiGuard subscriptions to the new hardware, co-terminate renewals across a multi-site fleet so everything renews on one date, and time hardware cutovers against your existing contract dates so you are not paying for security services on a box you have retired. On renewals we quote 1, 3, and 5-year terms and the FortiGuard bundle levels side by side, so the cost trade-offs are explicit.
Managed After the Migration
The migration is the beginning of the lifecycle, not the end. Post-cutover, your FortiGate estate goes under our 24/7 NOC: firmware kept on a tested upgrade cadence, rule changes handled by certified engineers, FortiManager for centralized policy across sites — including cloud-based FortiManager for fleets at the hundred-device scale — and monitoring through our Netverge observability platform. This is the same team of eight Fortinet-certified engineers that performed the migration, so context never gets lost in a handoff.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my FortiGate is end of life?
Check the model against Fortinet’s product lifecycle database — or send us your serial numbers and we will do it as part of a free assessment. As a rule of thumb, E-series models (60E, 100E and similar) are well past end-of-order, and hardware that cannot run a current FortiOS version is no longer receiving the security features and signatures that current threats require.
Will a firewall migration take my network down?
The cutover happens in a scheduled maintenance window, typically outside business hours. Because the replacement FortiGate is configured and tested before the window opens, the switchover itself is brief, and the old firewall stays racked and ready as a rollback path until the new unit has proven itself under real traffic.
Can you migrate our configuration from SonicWall, Palo Alto, or Cisco?
Yes. Cross-vendor migrations are roughly half of our firewall work. We translate your zones, rules, NAT, VPN tunnels, and inspection profiles to FortiOS equivalents, and we use the migration as the natural moment to retire the unused and overly-permissive rules every long-lived firewall accumulates.
What happens to our existing FortiGuard subscription when we upgrade hardware?
We plan the hardware cutover against your existing contract dates and align the new licensing so you are not paying for two units at once. On multi-site fleets we co-terminate renewals onto a single date, which simplifies budgeting and removes the risk of one forgotten site lapsing.
Can FortiGate replace our existing SD-WAN?
Yes — FortiGate includes Secure SD-WAN natively, and we have replaced competing SD-WAN overlays, including Versa deployments, with FortiGate-based fabrics. Consolidating the firewall and SD-WAN onto one platform removes an entire vendor relationship and puts routing and security policy in a single place.
What size FortiGate deployments do you handle?
From a single FortiGate 40F protecting one office to multi-site fabrics built on mid-range and 600F-class hardware, managed centrally through FortiManager. The same eight-engineer certified team designs, migrates, and operates all of it.
Your Next Three Steps
Reach Out
Whether it's slow infrastructure or critical downtime, we're here to listen.
We Craft a Solution
After understanding your specific challenges, we provide a customized quote, often the same day.
Get Back to Business
With our solution in place, you can focus on what really matters: growing your business.
Trusted by Businesses Across California
"We really appreciate the professionalism and clear communication California Telecom brings as our managed service provider across network infrastructure, SecOps, and the rest of the backend."
Joe Fancher
Jack Nadel Inc.
"California Telecom customer service is a shining example of what every service provider should offer. Our IT Production Services division is fully dependent on the internet. We've been a California Telecom customer for at least 7 years, and I'm amazed with the support team and level of service."
Oscar Navarro
Sony Pictures
"Long-time customer of California Telecom here, and I can say from experience that these guys are the definition of responsive. I can call or email and within minutes, have a Tier 2 engineer on the line troubleshooting the issue."
Danny Rodriguez
Lanair Group
"California Telecom has demonstrated commitment over the years, providing excellent 24/7 support and services with their T1's, VoIP service, and co-location service. They are as much a part of our business as our customers are."
Hanns Schweis
Thermal Dynamics
"We use California Telecom hosted voice and internet. Very happy since we migrated from traditional carriers like Time Warner and AT&T. Always pass on the referrals if anyone is asking for an ISP."
Vitaliy Sklyar
Netpower
"Service has always been prompt and professional, and I am yet to have any downtime. Much better than Charter and AT&T, who I suffered with for years prior."
Atilla Banoczy
Lanair Group
FortiGate Migration serving businesses across Southern California: Los Angeles · Orange County · Inland Empire · San Bernardino County · Riverside County · San Diego County · Ventura County · Nationwide