Why You Need to Use 4G Router
5G is
coming, but nowadays 4G is still the main trend worldwide. In the times, if you
do not know 4G and do not use 4G LTE network, it stands for you are behind of
the times.
Why 4G
network is so important in nowadays? And what advantages does 4G LTE router
owns?
We
will look into some of the use cases that 4G routers might be good solutions.
We will also highlight some of the potential shortcomings of a 4G router for
certain applications. Overall, we would like to dive deep into the aspects that
matter when choosing a 4G router. Let’s
begin:
4G
networks are inherently unpredictable. This means, even though in ideal
locations, times and environments, the performance of a 4G modem can be
fantastic, there is no guarantee of achieving that result every single time. As
a matter of fact, because of the fast-fading, slow-fading, network congestion
and many other factors, your performance may vary with only a few second, or
within a few millimeters. So it is safe to assume the 4G networks are
unpredictable.
The
carriers you use make a difference. Some carriers have the largest coverage
area, some carriers have the best urban performance, some are better in rural
etc. So you should usually expect variation on the performance based on
carriers. It is not uncommon to see one carrier outperform one in a certain
location at a certain time, while the following day the roles may reverse.
With
all these base level factors in mind, let’s investigate what factors and
features you should consider in a 4G router:
1) What is your use-case?
This is
perhaps the most important factor in determining the features you need to look
for in a 4G router: how will you be using the 4G router? Is this for a retail
store as a back up on an existing primary wired connection (imagine the backup
Internet for a POS register)? Is the 4G router going to be used in a specialty
vehicle (imagine a police car with surveillance cameras)? Or will you be using
the 4G router as an alternative residential Internet access?
If you
are considering using a 4G router as a primary Internet connection for every
day usage in a residential environment, you are probably a year or two early as
the cost of the data has still not gotten to levels where you can replace your
wired Internet line with a 4G router. A 4G router should be considered only
when you have no other wired Internet options in your house. For this type
of simple setups, a 4G router that can house a single wired WAN and a single 4G
connection will be a good choice. We recommend 4G router with built-in modems
so that you can use an external antenna for best coverage.
2) Do you have an industrial use for the 4G router?
In
case your goal is to leverage 4G router in an industrial application, such as a
backup connectivity for a branch office, or as a primary connectivity for a mobile
or temporary office, then your 4G router needs to support some advanced
features including firewall, broadband bonding and application centric
optimizations. Ideally, you can have the 4G router capability within your
primary router. In this setup your wired line can failover on to a bonded set
of 4G connections. Bonding 2 or more 4G wireless connections will provide not
only a wider bandwidth and higher throughput, but will also provide
self-healing capabilities for the traffic going over 4G networks. Think of it
as adding another lane onto your high-way. Compared to a single lane high-way,
a 2 lane high-way will always outperform. Broadband Bonding feature will give
your cars driving on that highway to dynamically switch lanes, so to speak and
therefore shielding network problems, fluctuations and outages from your
applications. This naturally brings up our next aspect to consider.
3) Will your 4G router be your primary or failover connectivity?
IF
your 4G router is going to be carrying your traffic all the time, i.e. will be
your primary means of Internet connectivity for your office, specialty vehicle
or similar, then we highly recommend 4G routers with more than 2 cellular 4G
connections. Going back to our high-way analogy, this will mean a larger capacity
highway to carry more cars with ease. For failover only scenarios, where the 4G
connections need to keep the connectivity alive for only limited time, having
only 2 connections might be enough. We still caution against a single 4G
failover for the following reason.
4) Will you benefit from carrier diversity?
In
cases where you have single 4G connection in your 4G router, you are
essentially putting all your eggs into a single basket and if that basket (i.e.
carrier) goes into a trouble state, and that is almost unavoidable in wireless
environments, then your failover insurance failed you. For these reasons we
suggest at least 2 cellular connectivity at a bare minimum. Increase that
number as a function of the mission criticality of your connectivity to the
Internet to 3, 4 or beyond.
5) What type of environment will the 4G router be used in?
It is
important to have ruggedized 4G router in case you will be using the device in
harsh environments. Certain environments may even require their specific certifications,
such as installation in trains where certification for train installations is a
must have for your 4G router both for performance against temperature range,
vibration tolerance etc, as well as for safety reasons.
6) What good to have features do you need?
The 4G
router can also have some additional features such as firewall, layer 7
filters, DHCP server, advanced QoS and others. It is important to match these
additional features with your requirement list to make sure you are getting the
best matching 4G router for the job at hand.
7) What is your return on your investment on your 4G router?
Last
but not least, you should look at the investment recovery time, by looking at
the savings that the 4G router will provide by eliminating down-time for your
business. Depending on the cloud services that your business depend on for
business critical applications, in most cases, a 4G router will pay for itself
within weeks if not sooner. None-the-less it makes sense to go over that
calculation to make sure your investment is a wise one.
E-Lins
Technology is the main 4g router manufacturer in China. And it focus on
2G/3G/4G LTE Router & Modem, I think you can have a visit at http://www.e-lins.com/EN/
to find out some cooperation opportunities.
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