Reliable and Consistent Cellular Network Connectivity
In a wireless environment, data is transmitted over the air. Due to the characteristics of this medium, wireless communications is not always reliable. Wireless connection failures can be caused by a number of different factors, including loss of cellular signal, interference, or termination by the operator for unknown reasons. Compounding this problem, cellular devices will not be alerted when a connection is terminated due to inactivity.
Maintaining a constant cellular connection is important for a number of obvious reasons, but how can we create a cellular network that is consistent?
Causes of Cellular Connection Instability
Various factors contribute to wireless unreliability, including environmental interference, fading RF signals, and electronics such as cordless telephones, Bluetooth devices, industrial microwaves or video senders, which all create interference. In addition, the quality of wireless communications can be compromised by equipment failures or a simple repositioning of the physical application space. Another cause of connection loss is wireless carrier's practice of terminating inactive users in order to optimize bandwidth. Packet loss can also occur if the signal strength at the receiver is too weak for the data rate of the packet.
One thing is for sure, a constant connection ensures that no data is lost and that data will be sent immediately instead of needing to wait for the re-initiation of the PPP connection before transmitting.
How to Ensure Consistent Cellular Connectivity
By now, both tech-savvy engineers and grandmothers who send the occasional email are familiar with the first and most common step in troubleshooting a mysteriously malfunctioning electronics device: restart it. Indeed, simply turning a device off and back on is often an effective immediate remedy for bugs and glitches. This remains true for cellular devices. If the service provider disconnected the cellular connection due to inactivity, restarting the cellular connection will reactivate it. If the wireless link failed due to a service interruption or low signal event, restarting the device will establish a new connection.
It may be simple enough to restart the DVD player in your living room or the computer on your desk. Unfortunately, distributed wireless applications operate on a vastly larger scale that can turn even simple tasks into huge hassles. It is far more time-consuming and also not economically feasible to send a maintenance engineer to a remote field site just to restart a cellular device.
On top of employing rugged, industrial-grade devices that are less likely to malfunction in the first place, there are two simple ways to prevent these expensive and time-consuming maintenance tasks: you may either purchase remote management software, which is typically costly, or choose products that can be configured to provide regular connection verification such as initial connection (to ensure a device can establish ISP connection after reboot), connection idle/alive, and DNS/Ping remote host checks, and in this way ensure consistent connectivity.
GuaranLink Ensures Reliable and Consistent Cellular Connectivity
Moxa's OnCell products come with GuaranLink, which enables reliable, consistent connectivity; GuaranLink ensures that your wireless connection will be available whenever you need it. This translates to zero data loss and on-demand cellular communications. GuaranLink achieves this in the following ways:
First, when GuaranLink is enabled and a low or weak signal is detected, it will automatically disconnect and then reconnect to establish a stronger connection. When used with Moxa's dual SIM cellular routers, GuaranLink will automatically disconnect the 1st SIM card's low/weak cellular connection and will reconnect to establish a stronger connection using the 2nd SIM card.
Second, the ISP Initial Connection Check function ensures that the OnCell can establish a connection with an ISP after rebooting.
Third, the Cellular Connection Alive Check function ensures that the cellular connection will be kept alive, even if no data is transmitted for a period of time, by performing a DNS/Ping to the remote host.
Last but not least, the Packet-level Connection Check function will check to see if the cellular network can be accessed by performing a DNS/Ping remote host check.
ISP Initial Connection Check
Cellular Connection Alive Check
Packet-level Connection Check
These three checks work in concert to verify that the OnCell device has a confirmed cellular connection. A communications interruption will prompt basic troubleshooting responses immediately, such as switching to the second SIM card or restarting the device. Maintenance staff can configure all of this time-saving automation to occur automatically, without any intervention from the user.
Additionally, GuaranLink provides system logs for troubleshooting. Thanks to non-stop connectivity, you can troubleshoot your OnCell Cellular devices remotely. Without GuaranLink, personnel must be dispatched to the remote site to physically toubleshoot or reboot unavailable devices.
Moxa's OnCell Products with GuaranLink
Moxa's cellular routers allow you to connect up to four Ethernet devices to cellular networks, and provide secure cellular GSM/GPRS or UMTS/HSDPA connections for reliable primary and backup network connectivity to industrial automation devices.
Moxa's cellular routers also come with complete routing and network protocols to allow you to connect remote LANs and remote Ethernet devices to cellular networks.
Key Features of the OnCell 5004/5104:
OnCell 5004/5104
Industrial quad-band GSM/GPRS cellular routers
．Universal quad-band GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
．Industrial primary and backup wireless WAN connectivity
．Connect to 4 10/100BaseT(X) devices over an integrated VPN
．Centralize private IP management with OnCell Central Manager
．Redundant DC power inputs
．GuaranLink supported
OnCell 5004/5104-HSDPA Series
Industrial five-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA high speed cellular routers
．Industrial five-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA high speed cellular routers
．Industrial primary and backup wireless WAN connectivity
．Connect to 4 10/100BaseT(X) devices over an integrated VPN
．Centralize private IP management with OnCell Central Manager
．Redundant DC power inputs
．GuaranLink supported
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