Difference among Modems, Gateways, Routers

TRM Modems

“A modem doesn’t provide your home with Wi-Fi connectivity.”

Like name implies is simply that, a modem to supply internet connection to already existing devices. Imagine USB stick modem just for industrial purposes with rugged housing that can be controlled through AT commands and provides wide range of connectivity options like 2G (EGPRS) to 4G LTE Cat 1, LTE Cat-M1 and NB-IoT.

Bandwidth

TRM240 features by CAT 1 4G modem so its speeds are up to 10 Mbps for download and 5 Mbps for upload.

TRM250 features by CAT M1/NB 4G modem that has speeds capped at 1 Mbps.

Notes:

-Modems (TRM240 and TRM250) do not support RMS.

-TRM240 and TRM250 use one external antenna connected through SMA (003R-00225) for LTE.

-About internet connectivity, you only need to connect modem to desired device with USB cable and install drivers, no further actions are needed.

-Operating system: modem chip Firmware is manufactured by Quectel, and is controlled using AT commands (do not have Graphical User Interface).

TRB Gateways

“A gateway is a device that combines some functions of a modem and a router.”

Much more functional than TRM modems, on top of simply providing internet connection, they can be controlled through RMS (Remote Management System) Depending on model they feature serial ports (RS485 and RS232) to connect to industrial devices, Inputs/Outputs, to connect sensors and device control, or RJ45 Ethernet port. They have GUI to connect, control and configure through browser and can establish VPN services for secure remote connection, Modbus, MQTT and other protocol for device control and data transfer.

Notes:

-How to implement Dhcp functionality and connect the final device to the internet on TRB gateways.

Only TRB140 has RJ45 Ethernet port, other models use USB cable (like Modem) and virtual network interface. When USB cable is Connected to a PC, it functions exactly like normal network interface.

For other models than TRB 140, their purpose is to use inputs/outputs from the RS485 or RS232 ports to connect to specific devices and send data from them via the Internet, the USB port is mainly there for configuration.

-How to use USB port without drivers for Gateways devices.

Since TRB Gateways have an operating system and use a virtual network interface to connect to devices via USB, all that is required is for the device to have the necessary generic USB drivers for the USB port to work.

 

FAQ

Q: What is the meaning Virtual Network Interface for Gateways?

A: It means that Gateways do not have physical Network Interface Card (NIC), it uses modem processor to create virtual interface imitating it's functions.

The virtual network interface is used to create a connection like an Ethernet cable.

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Q: What is the operating system used by the gateways?

A: Gateways uses yocto with linux as a base.

RUT Routers

They have widest variety. Depending on model one device can support wider variety and bigger number of devices connected, while featuring all previously mentioned capabilities and more, like GPS, multiple ways to connect to the internet (Wired WAN Mobile Connection WiFi Station mode), double sim cards for connection redundancy, they are simply much more universal than Modems and even Gateways.

“ A RUT allows multiple devices like phones, tablets and computers to use a single network through a wired or wireless connection.”

Notes:

  • Gateways and Routers are both running RutOS just on different Linux architectures, previously mentioned Yocto for Gateways and OpenWRT for Routers,

FAQ

Q: What is the operating system used by the gateways?

A: Router run on RutOS based on OpenWRT, but in near future they both (Routers and Gateways) will be running on RutOS.

 


context of use

  • Modems are used to provide Internet to a single device but do not able to connect on remote control or data transfer.

  • Gateways are used to provide control AND connectivity.

For example: If you have a sensor (pressure, temperature, movement etc.) and you need a device that can receive this information, or perform some actions and send data to remote server or some sort of remote program, or send warning to yours phone then you would use gateway.

  • Routers are mainly focused on connecting multiple devices mostly computers, but depending on router model it can be all kinds of sensors or other machinery to internet.

 


About internet redundancy

The majority of RUT*** series devices support several redundancy techniques like WAN backup, SIM backup, and VRRP that allow to ensure permanent Internet connection.


Comparison between RUT and RUTX

Features

RUT

RUTX

Features

RUT

RUTX

Ethernet

10/100

10/100/1000

RAM

128 MB

256 MB

Flash memory

16 MB

256 MB

CPU

550 MHz

4x 717MHz

Supply voltage

9 - 30 VDC

9 – 50 VDC

*RUTX11 uses CAT 6 LTE (up to 300Mbps/50Mbps) Connection versus RUT955 uses CAT 4 LTE (150Mbps/50Mpbs).

Notes:

  • RUTX series is for bigger offices and industrial applications, It is fast, it is powerful, it is reliable and if you ever want to connect with a lot more people/devices


Q&A

Q: What is the maximum amount of supported SIM?

A: At the moment the maximum amount of supported SIM cards is two.

TRB1**, RUT2** and RUT850 series devices support one SIM card, and RUT9**, RUTX** and TRB2** series devices support two SIMs card.

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Q: Is it possible to bundle all SIM throughput?

A: It is not possible because only one SIM can be used at a time.

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Q: How can we increase the speed of a SIM connection?

A: The speed can be increased by improving signal reception and using devices that come with Cat 6 LTE module.

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Q: What are the management policies of SIM?

A: you can found it: https://wiki.teltonika-networks.com/view/RUTX11_Mobile#SIM_switch

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Q: Is it possible to chain or cluster throughput of network devices?

A: The bandwidth can be increased only by using several devices that have their own Internet source.

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Q: Is there any network device with IP (ingress protection) > 30?

A: At the moment there is no network device with IP (ingress protection) > 30. All devices support IP30 rating.

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Q: What use cases applications can we do with RUT devices?

A: You can check it in https://wiki.teltonika-networks.com/view/RUT955_Usage_Scenarios