Westward Sales Blog

As our use of interconnected devices increases, cost and complexity rise too. If you find your equipment set up in a space that doesn’t have ample outlets or network connections, PoE (Power over Ethernet) technology may be a convenient solution. Power over Ethernet technology transmits electric power and data simultaneously over a single network cable. This helps teams to install devices in places that lack power.

One of the biggest challenges in modern networking is spanning large distances while staying within a budget.

Unfortunately, cheap hardware usually fails to accommodate longer ranges or succumbs to harsh outdoor environments. This situation forces you into more expensive technologies, like fiber optics, which may not be affordable.

Point-to-point wireless bridge technology could be the perfect solution you seek. It allows Wi-Fi communication to reach spans further than the IEEE 802.11b/g/n standard of a few hundred feet.

Bridging helps networks transmit across miles using traditional Wi-Fi, cutting installation costs by magnitude. Likewise, it offers better performance than many competing solutions.

So, let’s explore point-to-point wireless bridging and all that it offers. You might have found the best way to solve your networking challenges with this device.

Industrial networking never stops advancing. There will always be new technologies and techniques to improve your communication, and it’s essential to keep up. One of the latest trends for industrial Wi-Fi is mesh networking. While mesh networks have been around for a while, they have only recently been seen at an industrial scale. Now, products are available that enable large-scale industrial mesh networks, so it’s meaningful to understand what they can do for you.

Among the impressive features that 5G is bringing to the world of technology is the opportunity for improved network slicing. With 5G network slicing, operators can create very specific networks for very specific purposes with just a single physical network if need be. Learn how 5G networking slicing works, how it is set up, and most importantly, how to implement it for your own needs.

5G is not just coming, it is already here. 5G towers and devices have been available for a few years now, and we are rapidly entering the “boom” phase of 5G deployment. Soon, industrial networks will need to have 5G capability to keep up data-intense applications. Unfortunately, incorporating 5G is not as simple as replacing the old 4G radios and routers. 5G is a fundamentally new technology, and it will force you to think about network design in new ways.

One of the significant changes coming from 5G is a massive increase in connection density. A single 5G router can handle a magnitude more simultaneous connections than its 4G counterpart. The capabilities are mind-boggling, and it will take network engineers some time to maximize this benefit. Until then, a few best practices can help you think about utilizing and designing around 5G connection density.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a consortium of standards-making organizations that develop mobile telecommunications protocols. When 3GPP began working on 5G in 2015, it realized that a new kind of radio would be needed to transmit and receive signals carrying voice and data on 5G networks. This new radio would have to broadcast and receive on a range of frequencies as high as 300 GHz — the so-called “millimeter wavelengths” bands — and as low as 6 GHz. This requirement, along with others aimed at dramatically improving 5G wireless service as compared to 4G, led to the development of the aptly named “New Radio,” which is simply referred to as “NR.” The NR uses an array of technologies that set 5G service apart from all that preceded it. Chief among these is Massive MIMO — Multiple Input, Multiple Output.

This post is the second in a two-part series about failover strategies. It covers VPN connections, traffic spikes, and remote troubleshooting. See Part 1 of Cellular Router Failover Strategies.

The air is filled with electromagnetic radio waves, both indoors and out. If they were visible to the human eye, we would see the space around us constantly alight with these waves as they are always travelling by us. Radio waves have different frequencies and wavelengths, and they’re modulated in hundreds of different ways to carry information. Because of this, radio has become an indispensable fabric of daily life.

Curious how cell phone signal boosters work? Well, understanding the answer depends on how much you know about cellular radio communication. First, we are going to talk about the very basics behind cell phone communication, then get more into signal boosters and how they work. If you’re already familiar with the basics, feel free to skip to the discussion below.

There are a lot of benefits to using MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) LTE antennas on 5G. These antennas contain a huge number of elements and connections with the ability to send and receive large sums of data simultaneously. This way, more people (or systems) can simultaneously connect to the network, and all the while, the system can maintain a high throughput.

But which MIMO antenna is right for your needs? We will break down the five very best MIMO LTE antenna solutions, their features, and what makes them unique to help you in your decision making.

Optimizing industrial networks is something of an endless pursuit. New technologies are available every year, and each upgrade can lead to superior communication, more powerful tools, and opportunities to optimize the facets of any operation. Within the realm of network optimization is designing for electrical usage and distribution. Much of the operating cost of your network will come from raw electricity consumption.

WiFi 6 is officially here. While the technology has been in play for the better part of two years, the standard has only recently been finalized. The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) conducted trial deployments and came to final conclusions on their standards for WiFi 6. You can expect manufacturers to follow this standard moving forward. The new designation is IEEE 802.11ax, and it will identify technology that is adherent to the standard. Here’s what you will need to know.

The Pew Research Center conducted a study in February 2019 to determine who in the U.S. uses a cell phone. Not surprisingly, they discovered that 96 percent of Americans use some kind of cell phone. With cell phones in the purse or pocket of nearly everyone, people today take cellular communication for granted. Until that is, they cannot get reliable service — a problem that people using landline phones rarely experience. Low signal strength in the service area is the most common reason for poor reception. Fortunately, signal boosters solve that problem and restore solid, reliable communication. Let’s look at how they work and how you can tell if a booster will help.

Video surveillance is vital for businesses and public spaces. Building a remote outdoor surveillance system presents significant challenges, especially one that is off-grid and requires wireless communication. How will your video be recorded and accessed? How will you power the cameras? Which cameras should be used? There are plenty of options to consider when installing cameras on a cellular or wireless local area network (WLAN). Three of the most significant issues to resolve are bandwidth, power, and security.