LTE as a symbol of independence

Is summer hot time for outsourcing?

The summer period is traditionally considered the "dead season" for business activity. Some people are on vacation, while others are in no hurry to purchase certain goods, because there is no corresponding mood, and sellers and service providers themselves prefer to relax at this time.

Therefore, the summer for outsourcers or IT professionals on freelance, for example, "coming system administrators" is considered an inactive time ...

But you can look from the other side. A lot of people are moving to places of rest, someone wants to set up communications in a new place, someone wants to have stable access from anywhere in Russia (or at least from the nearest suburb). Consultations, connection and configuration services, organization of remote access, for example, to a home computer, the use of cloud services - all this may be in demand.

It’s not worth immediately recording all three summer months at a loss, but rather, for starters, at least look around and see who needs what in such an environment. For example, LTE communication.

"Magic wand"

Residents of large cities are quite spoiled in terms of quality communications. There are many options for accessing the Internet and by wire, including “dedicated” based on fiber optics, free Wi-Fi wherever possible, and reliable cellular communication from large cellular operators.

Unfortunately, the farther from the regional centers, the less opportunities to get high-quality communication. Below we look at areas in which LTE communications will come in handy.

When the provider is a retrograde

Far from always, local service providers are “on the crest of a technological wave”. It often happens that the provider’s equipment, infrastructure and service quality are far from impressive.

Let's start with the infrastructure. To conduct fiber-optic GPON to each apartment in the village or to each house in the village - so far at the level of dreams.

Small providers are poorer than large ones, provincial ones are poorer than metropolitan ones, they have fewer resources to create developed infrastructure. At the same time, purchasing power in smaller settlements is lower than in large cities (with rare exceptions). Therefore, investing money “in wires” often has no prospects in terms of payback.

In some cases, users have to be content with an ADSL-based connection with the appropriate speed and capabilities. But here we are talking about settlements with well-established infrastructure. Newly built summer cottages, remote objects such as warehouses, industrial premises often have no connection with the outside world, except for the "ether".

If we talk about equipment - while the possibilities remain very modest. To purchase new communication equipment, you need to find additional funds. And this is not always possible, especially since the amounts (depending on the degree of obsolescence of the current fleet) may be very impressive.

Another important point is the level of service. "Personnel hunger" is not such a rare occurrence. Good specialists are always in short supply, and large cities or “work abroad” make it possible to find higher pay than a local provider.

It is worth mentioning the monopoly position in the market. If there is only one Internet service provider in the whole district, he can dictate not only prices, but also the level of service. And then the reasoning from the series: “And where will they (the clients) get away from us?”, - become the main motto when serving consumers.

This is not to say that all these problems arose solely due to someone's greed, unwillingness to do anything, and other mortal sins. Not at all. Just an economic, technical or some other situation does not allow you to quickly resolve all issues.

Therefore, the alternative in the form of LTE air access is a good opportunity to improve the quality of services by changing the provider.

"Tumbleweed"

There are quite a few people whose position, type of activity, and simply lifestyle is associated with frequent moving.

If you are traveling by car, it is better to simply forget the option with wired connection. But it is precisely on trips that high-quality access to the Network is sometimes required. For example, for an architect, builder, realtor, equipment repair technician, as well as for bloggers, and generally all those who have to connect to network resources from time to time on the road.

You can use mobile communications for each device (and pay money for all this), but it’s much easier and more economical to have an LTE router in your car and connect your mobile devices via Wi-Fi.

Note People who often travel by car can recommend portable devices, such as the portable LTE Cat.6 Wi-Fi AC1200 router (model WAH7706). With small sizes, such small routers are able to provide reliable communication for several devices.

Figure 1. Portable AC1200 LTE Router (WAH7706 Model).

Have you brought the Internet yet?

However, in large cities there are places where access to the Network is difficult or even absent. A great example is construction. It’s impossible to bring a wired Internet, but we need a connection now, for example, for video surveillance.

Sometimes a temporary office for the sale of apartments operates on unfinished facilities, which requires high-quality access to remote network resources.

A similar situation arises at facilities in the industrial zone. Due to the large distances and the small number of consumers, pulling a cable is simply unprofitable. Helps LTE with its wide coverage area.

And, of course, LTE is in demand in holiday villages. The seasonal nature of the consumption of services, when in summer there are a lot of people at the dachas and there is no one in winter, makes these facilities unattractive for “providers with wires”. Therefore, an LTE router has long been considered the same "country attribute" as slippers or a garden watering can.

Wire that cannot be cut

Access via physical cables provides stable, reliable communication (at the appropriate technological level), but has one limitation - everything works until the cable is damaged.

Take, for example, a video surveillance system. If you record pictures from cameras remotely over the Internet, it is very important to have an independent connection. In this regard, wired access is not the best solution.

Look at the store, hairdresser or other small business located in the apartment on the ground floor of a residential building. If the cable appears at least somewhere, at least a little in an accessible place, for example, passes through an electrical panel, it can be cut and the video surveillance system will stop transmitting. And, even if there is a copy on internal resources, for example, on the registrar’s hard disk, all of this: both cameras and the registrar can be disabled or taken with you, while maintaining the complete incognito.

In the case of wireless communication, it is possible to interrupt access to the Network (if you do not consider special “jammers”) after entering the room. If you take care of the autonomous power supply, at least for a short time, then in most cases you can record the moment of the invasion, which can then be presented to the police, insurance company, security company and so on.

Another trouble is the failure of the switches and other equipment of the “common user”, for example, through the fault of unskilled builders and simply “craftsmen” who can and can create various problems for neighbors.

For such cases, wireless communication via LTE may be indispensable.

What is the power of LTE

The abbreviation LTE stands for Long Term Evolution. In fact, this is not even a standard, but a development direction designed to answer the question: “What is planned when 3G capabilities are no longer enough?”. It was assumed that LTE will operate within the framework of standards for 3G, but subsequently, the development has acquired a wider character.

Initially, LTE-based communications could partially utilize equipment designed for 3G networks. This made it possible to save the costs of introducing the new standard, lower the “entry threshold” for subscribers and significantly expand the coverage area.

LTE has a fairly wide list of frequency channels, which opens up the possibilities of the widest application.

Marketers talk about LTE as the fourth generation of mobile communications - “4G”. However, a little confusion in terminology is worth noting.

According to a document from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) , LTE-A technologies received the official designation IMT-Advanced. And it also indicates that IMT-Advanced, in turn, is considered a “4G” technology. However, ITU does not deny that the term “4G” does not have a clear definition and, in principle, can be applied to the name of other technologies, for example, LTE and WiMAX.

To avoid confusion, LTE-A-based communications were referred to as “True 4G” or “True 4G,” and earlier versions were called “marketing 4G.” Although these names can be considered quite arbitrary.

Today, most equipment labeled "LTE" can work with various protocols. This positively affects both the expansion of the geography of access (coverage area) and the wallets of users who do not need to purchase a new device each time.

Mobile as a router - what's the drawback?

When reading about the availability of LTE technology, the question sometimes arises: “Why buy a specialized device? Why not just use a mobile phone? ”After all,“ distributing the Internet via Wi-Fi ”is now possible from almost any mobile device.

Of course, you can use your mobile phone as a modem, but such a solution, to put it mildly, loses much to the router. In the case of a specialized router, you can choose the option for outdoor placement, placing it in the place of confident reception, for example, under the roof. Another option is to connect a specialized antenna. (Support for external antennas by specific models will be discussed below).

For direct access from a mobile phone, tablet or even a laptop, such possibilities are hardly feasible.

Figure 2. The LTE7460-M608 outdoor LTE router is well suited for cottages and other remote sites.

When it is necessary to connect several users to such “distribution via mobile phone”, it becomes very inconvenient to work. The power of the Wi-Fi emitter on a mobile phone is weaker than on a router with a built-in access point. Therefore, you have to sit as close to the signal source as possible. In addition, the battery of a mobile device discharges very quickly.

In addition to hardware nuances, there are others. The universal offers of mobile operators, designed for the average use of both voice mobile communications and mobile Internet, as a rule, have a traffic limit and are not particularly beneficial for providing shared access to the Network. It is much easier and cheaper to use contracts designed only for use on the Internet. In combination with a specialized device, this gives good speed at a bargain price.

Some practical questions

At the beginning, it is recommended to understand what tasks require access to the Network.

If you plan to "escape from civilization", and the Internet is needed only to download another novel on the E-book - this is one type of use.

If you need to always stay in touch, continue to work and lead an active on-line life - this is a completely different type of pastime and a completely different load on the network.

An important role is played by client equipment. Let's say we have an old laptop from IT equipment, taken in case of rainy weather. In this case, more obsolete and more modern routers are suitable. The main thing is that there should be Wi-Fi support in the 2.4GHz frequency range.

If we are talking about clients in the form of personal computers, then they may not have Wi-Fi interfaces at all. Here you need to choose models with LAN ports for twisted pair connection.

In the above cases, you can recommend the N300 LTE router with 4 LAN ports (model LTE3301-M209). This is a good, time-tested solution. Although Wi-Fi is only supported within the framework of the 802.11 b / g / n (2.4GHz) level, the presence of ports for a wired connection allows it to be used as a full-fledged switch for a home office. This is important when there is a network printer, personal computers, NAS for backup - in general, a complete set for small businesses.

The LTE3301-M209 Router comes complete with external antennas for receiving a signal from a base station. In addition, the presence of 2 SMA-F connectors allows you to connect external powerful LTE antennas for reliable communication, even where the cellular signal weakens.

Figure 3. LTE Cat.4 Wi-Fi N300 Router with 4 LAN Ports (LTE3301-M209).

When a bunch of the latest electronics move to a summer cottage or summer office: mobile gadgets, sophisticated laptops - it’s better to choose the most modern models that support the latest innovations in terms of providing access via Wi-Fi, LTE and other useful things.

If there is an opportunity for outdoor placement, it is worth taking a look at the LTE7460-M608 model. (See Figure 2).

Firstly, it will be possible to place the LTE router in a better reception area, for example, under a roof, outside a building, and so on.

Secondly, this placement allows for reliable Wi-Fi connection not only inside the building, but also on the open area of the site. The LTE7460-M608 uses integrated antennas with a gain of 8 dBi for communication. Another important feature - PoE power allows you to position the device up to 100 meters from the house, placing it on the roof or mast. This is especially true when tall trees grow near the house, which may interfere with the cellular signal from the base station. The LTE7460-M608 comes with a PoE injector that provides PoE + power up to 30 watts.

But sometimes it is not possible to use an external device due to certain circumstances. In this case, the gigabit LTE Cat.6 Wi-Fi AC1200 router with FXS port (model LTE3316-M604) will help out. This device has four GbE RJ-45 LAN ports. The important point is that the first LAN1 port can be reconfigured as a WAN. It turns out a universal device that in the cold months can be used in a city apartment as a regular router for communication with a provider over twisted pair, and in the summer as an LTE router. In addition to the monetary gain - to buy one device instead of two, the use of LTE3316-M604 allows you not to reconfigure the settings for the local network, access settings, and so on. The maximum that you need is to transfer the router to use another external channel.

The LTE3316-M604 router also allows you to connect external powerful LTE antennas, for this it has 2 SMA-F connectors. For example, we can recommend the LTA3100 antenna model with a coefficient. 6dBi gain.

Figure 4. Universal AC1200 router with FXS port (LTE3316-M604 model) for indoor use.

Conclusion

As can be seen from the described examples, there are no “dead seasons” in matters of providing Internet access. But there are changes in the methods of access to the Network and the nature of the load, which affects the choice of a particular technology.

LTE is a fairly versatile option that allows you to organize a stable connection within a fairly wide coverage area.

The right choice of equipment allows you to more flexibly adapt the available capabilities for the needs of each consumer.

Sources

All Articles