While waiting for private 4G / 5G, US equipment maker CradlePoint, a subsidiary of Ericsson, is coming to France to deliver professional routers on public 4G / 5G. Interest? Allow companies to connect wirelessly to public transportation, smart devices installed where impossible, or new premises.
Or rather, yes. The devices are well connected to the router they authorize via a small Ethernet cable. This is the whole point: this physical connection is not dramatic when you want to randomly share the connection of a smartphone with a mini server embedded in a CCTV camera or car. On the other hand, you no longer need a fiber or ADSL line to connect everything to the Internet.
“Here I propose to you: we’re going to the streets, and in ten and a half minutes I’ll show you ten utility events,” starts Christian Horo, who created the French subsidiary last year.
To regulate traffic from a distance, how much does it cost for this traffic light to run a fiber under the road? Are you ready to make a dent in the historic and thick walls of this museum to keep the WiFi terminal high? How many days will it take for this store, which opens today, to install its operator fiber and start its operation? This bus company wants to provide wifi on board, but they are not going to bring internet by cable. In your opinion, how long will this underground car park last if the fiber that connects the cash registers is broken and users cannot leave it? ⁇
“We propose […] Boxes that bring the Internet to your devices through the cellular network. ⁇
Christian HoroArea Director, Gradilpoint
“We provide a global answer to all these problems: boxes that bring the Internet to your devices through the cellular network. Either your utility cable cannot be used, or we guarantee you will always be connected if the wired network is unavailable,” says our contact.
WAN is similar to the router, but cellular
CradlePoint boxes are not the only routers that provide a backup connection to a cellular network. But Christian Horo argues that they are the only primary function. “Our boxes are equipped with high-performance antennas that, unlike cellular antennas found on smartphones or wired routers, ensure high speeds. Fifty or a hundred users, depending on the model, are allowed to work together on a single connection. ⁇
The screaming crew reportedly bought a box to upload his videos to studios much faster than they had previously done from a smartphone. The program for ancillary clinics in rural areas, established in mobile containers, contacted him so that his medical equipment could quickly communicate with the Regional Teaching Hospital.
In fact, CradlePoint boxes look like a WAN router; Manufacturer talks about WWAN (Wireless White Area-Network)
On the local network page, CradlePoint boxes share their cellular connection via Wifi or via multiple Ethernet connectors. According to the manufacturer, when used as a backup solution for a fiber or ADSL connection, the box connects to the operator’s box via Ethernet, detects when the connection is down and modifies the connections to its cellular modem.
Origin wise, the Table There are about twenty models from the manufacturer that can be screwed onto anything from an element placed on a shelf to a hard box, passing through a block designed to withstand rain.
On the cellular network side, most boxes have two slots for SIM cards, which allow access to two cellular networks.
“However, our boxes do not have two modems, so it is not possible to use two networks at the same time. The utility is to switch to a backup operator’s network, if it crashes in the first place or if you have already used all the capabilities it offers you in its monthly subscription, “the French employer notes.
Apps in boxes, cloud to manage everything
“Netcloud is the control tower for your utility fleet. ⁇
Christian HoroArea Director, Gradilpoint
But for Christian Horo, the solution lies in the hardware functionality as well as the opportunities offered by its software layers.
Boxes are controlled by a cloud service called NetCloud. “Netcloud is the control tower for your utility fleet. They allow a company to view all connections from a single console, along with their bandwidth, and send new configuration parameters to all devices. For example, you can choose to broadcast the same sound environment in all the stores on your network, ”he explains.
NetCloud makes it possible to communicate with remote networks that do not require a standard IP address, which is not possible on a public cellular network. NetCloud acts as a gateway for mobile employees to connect to a site via VPN or for head office administrators to set up workstations and servers via SSH.
Boxes work under the NC-OS system. It does not only provide the traditional network management services found under Linux. It also operates docker containers.
“Containers ready to use must be downloaded from the Toker App-Store to run the print server, web server, utility for reading readings, and controlling items attached to a box.”
CradlePoint’s settlement subscriptions are subject to renewable one-, three- or five-year contracts. At the end of the contract, the manufacturer allows the box to continue to be used. On the other hand, many functions cannot be accessed from NetCloud.
To the coordinators
“To run a print server and a web server from a box, you need to download ready-to-use containers from the Toker App Store. […] Etc.
Christian HoroArea Director, Gradilpoint
Christian Horo admits that many of his direct clients are actually alternative operators or WAN network coordinators.
Thus they provide customers with a backup cellular network in addition to the wired network they used.
From this perspective, NetCloud is a so-called “multi-lease” platform – a service provider with adequate hierarchical management rights can manage all of its clients’ fleets from a single console and allow them direct access to operations. Each other.
It should be noted that in France, an alternative operator can create its own wired network, but can only resell bandwidth on the cellular networks of four national operators.
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