Why need use 4G router

5G is coming, but nowadays 4G is still the main trend worldwide. 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 applications?

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.

For more information, you can freely contact with E-Lins Communication., Limited.