Today, people use smart phone to make voice and video call, send email to communicate with their family, colleagues, friends and customers, as well as read daily news, edit documents, etc.
Just like human beings, in IoT(Internet of Things) world, machines also need their own “smart phone” to transfer and exchange the data. And the “smart phone” that used in IoT world includes, industrial cellular modems, routers, industrial cellular gateways.
1. Where are industrial cellular modems and industrial cellular gateways used?
Industrial modems and industrial cellular gateways are mainly used in industrial automation, energy and utilities (gas, oil, water, power), smart city (smart EV charging stations, smart pole), agriculture, environment, transportation, retail (digital signage, POS) , etc.
2. Why do you need an industrial cellular modem or industrial cellular gateway for your IoT project?
Provide robust and reliable IoT connectivity
Make your IoT project easy and flexible to install and manage
Save cost on your infrastructure building
3. How to choose the right industrial cellular modems and industrial cellular gateways for your IoT project?
Verify the interfaces of your field sensors, controllers
There are diverse of interfaces in sensors and controllers, such as, RS232, RS485, ethernet port (RJ45), digital input, digital output, relay, pulse input, I2C, etc.
There are diverse of interfaces in sensors and controllers, such as, RS232, RS485, ethernet port (RJ45), digital input, digital output, relay, pulse input, I2C, etc.
What cellular network to use?
The cellular network deployed by global telcos includes, 5G, 4G, 3G, 2G, LTE CAT M1, NB-IoT. To choose the right cellular technology for your IoT project will be related to below factors
How big of the data you want to transfer.
If you want to transfer the video stream, you may need 5G and 3G, while if your application is just for power meter reading, then 2G or LTE CAT M1, NB-IoT are good enough.
What cellular network and frequency your local Telcos provides
Different country and telco have their own frequency and coverage of cellular network, you’ll need to figure out where your IoT sensors, controllers are installed.
Your budget of data plan for SIM card
If your IoT project requires small data transmission, and your country has LTE CAT M1, or NB-IoT, and you don’t have to use 4G LTE, or 3G.
What protocols and features your IoT project requires
Protocols like Modbus RTU/TCP, MQTT, VPN(PPTP, L2TP, IPsec, and GRE) are very common is today’s industrial cellular routers and industrial cellular gateways.
Can the routers or industrial cellular gateways provide you a reliable, robust and secure connectivity?
Does the router or industrial cellular gateway support dual sim for failover, or failover between wired and wireless? And does it support VPN security? Is the industrial grade router, or it’s just for consumer clients?
