Blogs

Industrial modems, gateways, and routers - which one do I choose for my application?

Manufacturers like Milesight, Robustel and Teltonika all offer products that are classified as modems, gateways and routers. This article will help explain the difference between each product type.

Whilst both Industrial Cellular Modems, Gateways and Routers all provide internet access using the mobile network to a device, they differ slightly in their functionality:

Cellular Modems

• Built solely to do one task and one task only – send traffic from point “A” (Mobile Network) to point “B” (your device) without doing anything with the data.
• Don’t offer any network protection, firewall or have traffic routing capabilities and connect via USB.
• Controlled by AT commands, a set of instructions that consists of short text strings that can be combined to produce commands for operations. These operations consist of dialling, managing SMS functions, and changing the parameters of the connection.
• Cannot create a connection without the help of the device they are connected to, meaning that they are devices for connectivity without network control capabilities.
• Largest advantages are they are the cheapest option, have longevity, small form factor and have low power consumption.

Product Example: Teltonika TRM240 (1 USB Port)

Application Example: Providing internet access to a payment terminal via a USB port

Cellular Routers

• Modem built-in with data routing capabilities for simultaneous internet access across multiple devices.
• Equipped with network protection software (firewall), multiple ethernet ports, and multiple data tunnelling services.
• Features multiple ethernet ports, categorised as:
  • LAN – Port for connecting local ethernet devices.
  • WAN – Port for connecting to another network or internet connection, potentially serving as a backup internet source for failover.

Product Example: Teltonika RUT951 (4 ethernet ports), Teltonka RUT241 (2 ethernet ports)

Application Example: Providing internet access to a remote communications tower with a CEL-FI GO G41, security camera, solar controller and temperature sensor.

Cellular Gateways

• Often confused with routers due to similar functionality, the key difference lies in the number of devices they support.
• Designed to connect a single device to the internet via Ethernet, RS232, M-Bus, or digital I/O, in contrast to routers that support multiple devices simultaneously.
• Cheaper and more energy-efficient than routers.

Product Example: Teltonika TRB140 (1 ethernet port), Teltonka TRB142 (1 RS232 Port)

Application Example: Providing internet access to a single CEL-FI GO G41 for remote monitoring