- 1. Aggregated multi-carrier access; automatic switching to the best available operator.
- 2. Aggregated roaming coverage; exact list varies by country and operator.
- 3. Estimated network availability; formal SLA available in Enterprise plans.
Key features
Multi-vendor
Works with any standard industrial 4G/5G router (Teltonika RUT/RUTX/TRB, Robustel R-series, Cradlepoint, Cisco IR, Sierra Wireless). 2FF/3FF/4FF SIMs — no special firmware.
Primary WAN backup
Deploy as automatic secondary WAN: if fiber or DSL fails, the router switches to 4G/5G in seconds to keep the office or device online.
Static IP for remote management
Stable per-SIM addressing so your IT team can SSH/HTTPS into the router from outside — no DDNS, no intermediate tunnels.
Dedicated private APN
Remote-office traffic isolated in a site-to-site VPN to your data center. Compliance-friendly with per-SIM traceability.
Multi-carrier failover
If the primary operator drops, the SIM switches to the next available carrier automatically — no manual reset.
Supervision and SLA
Per-SIM state monitoring (last seen, signal strength, data sent) with configurable alerts and an SLA on Enterprise plans.
Use cases
Typical problems
- Branch or store with fiber that drops without notice — POS terminals and registers are dead until the ISP responds 4-12 hours later.
- Routers with single-operator SIMs that lose coverage during a regional carrier-wide outage (Movistar, Vodafone) — they fail exactly when failover should kick in.
- Cradlepoints or Teltonikas installed but with residential M2M plans from the operator, which get blocked when router-type traffic is detected (long sessions, multi-device NAT).
- Multi-site rollouts with no central SIM management — each branch orders its SIM through the local integrator, with no aggregated consumption visibility or alarms.
- Routers exposed directly to the Internet without VPN — firmware vulnerabilities (Cradlepoint, Teltonika, Cisco IR) exploited by botnets within hours if the admin panel is reachable.
- Permanent roaming outside the home operator when a branch is in a border region — the router camps on a foreign operator and the bill spikes.
Recommended architecture
- 1
Industrial dual-WAN router: primary fiber + automatic SIM secondary
Router with WAN1 (Ethernet to fiber), WAN2 (cellular SIM). Automatic failover in <30s on fiber loss detection. The router's SLA (not the operator's): met as long as the router switches correctly.
- 2
Multi-operator SIM with multi-IMSI or eUICC eSIM
The SIM doesn't lock to one operator. If Movistar drops regionally, it switches to Vodafone or Orange in seconds. For border branches (Catalonia/France, Basque Country/France, Galicia/Portugal) the eSIM lets you load a home-only profile, avoiding permanent roaming.
- 3
Private APN to the customer's data center with native OpenVPN or WireGuard
The router establishes a direct tunnel to the data center. The branch appears inside the corporate IP range, with no public Internet in between. Compliance-friendly with corporate IT requirements.
- 4
Central management platform (Cradlepoint NetCloud, Teltonika RMS) with auditable SIMs
Single inventory of routers + SIMs in one console. Consumption alarms, state monitoring, remote commands. Operating 100-1000 branches with 1-2 people.
Indicative data plan
| Device | Typical monthly traffic | Recommended plan |
|---|---|---|
| Router as fiber backup-only (sporadic use) | 100 MB - 1 GB/month | 1 GB / Pooled data plan |
| Router as primary WAN small branch | 5-20 GB/month | Pooled data / enterprise plan |
| Temporary router at site/event (weeks) | 10-50 GB/month | Temporary flat plan with strict alarm |
| 5G router with frequent video/voice loads | 50-200 GB/month | Enterprise pooled data + cost study |
Indicative figures. Routers in backup mode may use very little per month (heartbeats + occasional fallback) or saturate a plan in hours if fiber drops for a full operating day. Configure block alarm at 2x expected consumption.
When to use static IP
- The IT team needs to SSH/HTTPS into the router from outside for diagnostics, configuration, or mass change rollout.
- The router fits into an SD-WAN architecture where the orchestrator (Versa, Fortinet, Aruba) initiates connections to the router for OTA configuration.
- Regulatory audit (PCI-DSS if there's POS behind the router, ENS for public administration) requires per-IP traceability with a stable address.
When to use private APN
- Branch traffic must NOT hit the public Internet — mandatory segmentation per corporate or sector security requirement.
- PCI-DSS compliance for branches with POS where SAQ-C requires payment-network segmentation.
- Multi-site retail rollout where each store must see corporate services (POS, ERP, intranet) over internal RFC1918 IPs without NAT.
Compatible devices
Teltonika RUT240 / RUT956 / RUTX10 / RUTX12
The most widespread range in Spain for price/feature ratio. 2FF SIM, OpenVPN, IPsec, WireGuard, Modbus gateway, RutOS with Linux CLI. RUTX12 has dual-SIM with failover.
Cradlepoint IBR series + NetCloud Manager
US enterprise standard with growing EU presence. Dual SIM, automatic switching, full cloud management. More expensive but with real vendor SLA.
Cisco IR1101 / IR829 / Catalyst IR
Cisco routers with industrial profile. For customers already standardized on Cisco DNA. Compatible with SD-WAN Cisco vManage.
Robustel R5020 / R3000 series
Chinese-European alternative with good price/feature ratio. Advanced VPN support, dual-SIM redundancy, OpenSDK for customization.
Sierra Wireless AirLink / Semtech routers
Professional M2M router range with AirLink Management Service. Historically strong in automotive and public transit.
MikroTik LtAP / Chateau / Audience LTE
Routers with built-in cellular modem and MikroTik RouterOS. Large technical community, flexible config, low price. WISP standard.
Frequently asked questions
- Will any 4G router work or do I need an industrial one?
- Consumer routers (Huawei B315, TP-Link, etc.) work in demos but not in 24/7 production. Industrial routers (Teltonika, Cradlepoint, Cisco IR) have extended temperature ranges, PoE/DC power, external antenna, hardware watchdog, internal protected SIM slot, and firmware ready for automatic failover. The difference shows up after 6 months in production when the consumer router hangs weekly.
- Does the SIM have to be specific for routers, or does a mobile SIM with data plan work?
- Industrial M2M SIM is mandatory. Mobile SIMs may be blocked by the operator on detecting router-type traffic (NAT, long sessions, multiple devices behind), or have acceptable-use clauses excluding M2M. An M2M SIM is formally authorized for that use and usually includes optional static IP, private APN, and contractual SLA.
- How long does the router take to switch to the cellular SIM when fiber drops?
- Depends on the router and configuration. Teltonika RutOS with WAN failover well configured: 10-30 seconds. Cradlepoint with NetCloud: 5-15 seconds. Cisco IR with SD-WAN: similar. For critical (POS, payment terminals), configure failover with active health check (ping an external host every 5s) instead of passive (waiting for link loss).
- Does SIP/voice work over the cellular router on backup?
- Yes, if the router prioritizes SIP traffic (QoS) and the operator doesn't aggressively SIP-ALG. Recommendation: use the router with OpenVPN to the customer's data center and let SIP go over the tunnel — bypasses operator limitations. Typical 4G LTE latency: 30-60ms RTT, sufficient for voice. 5G drops to 10-30ms.
- Can I manage 50 branch routers without manually SSHing into each one?
- Yes, with a management platform: Teltonika RMS (free up to a certain count), Cradlepoint NetCloud (paid), Cisco DNA Center, etc. Inventory, configuration deployment, alerts, remote control. For fleets >20 routers it's essential; without it, you lose hours on every config change.
- How do I avoid bill surprises if fiber drops for a full day?
- Three layers: (1) generous plan with 3x margin over expected backup use; (2) consumption alarm at 70/80/90% with auto-block at 100%; (3) optional: flat plan with throttling on overage — the router keeps working at reduced speed instead of cutting off. Discuss this with the operator before signing.
Pre-deployment checklist
- 1Per-branch inventory: router model, primary WAN connectivity, criticality (critical vs non), required uptime.
- 2Fiber+SIM-as-backup vs SIM-as-only-WAN decision per location.
- 3Measured cellular coverage at each branch before choosing plan — don't assume; measure RSSI.
- 4Static IP decision (yes for IT remote access) vs dynamic IP.
- 5Private vs public APN per corporate policy and sector requirements (PCI-DSS, ENS).
- 6Central management platform (Teltonika RMS, Cradlepoint NetCloud, etc.) with all SIMs visible.
- 7Per-router data plan with 3x margin over expected backup use, and auto-block at 4x.
- 8Router firmware update policy (monthly minimum, managed from the central platform).
- 9Tunnel encryption to data center (OpenVPN/IPsec/WireGuard) and end-to-end verification.
- 10Pilot in 5-10 branches for 1 month verifying: uptime, failover time, real consumption, latency from central IT.
Need a printable version? See the pre-deployment guide.
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