Cellular Connection

Cellular connections are primarily used for failover functionality. They also serve as:

1. Backup Connectivity:

   Cellular connections serve as a failover option when primary WAN connections fail due to line cuts, hardware failures, or ISP outages. This redundancy guarantees uninterrupted connectivity, which is essential for business continuity.

2. Remote or Temporary Deployments

   Cellular offers a swift and convenient method for establishing network connectivity, especially in situations where traditional wired connections are either unavailable or impractical.

3. Enhanced Resilience

   Cellular connections can supplement wired links, providing an alternative path for network traffic in case of failures. This enhances network resilience, particularly in areas prone to natural disasters or network congestion.

Cellular connections

However, in some cases, cellular connections are required as the primary connection, especially in locations such as:

• Remote Areas

  Cellular connections offer a practical alternative to traditional wired infrastructure, such as DSL, cable, or fiber-optic lines, especially in rural or remote regions where deploying such infrastructure is economically unfeasible.

• Underdeveloped infrastructure

  Cellular networks often provide a faster and more dependable internet connection compared to traditional wired connections. This technology plays a crucial role in bridging the digital divide, offering high-speed connectivity to populations that are otherwise underserved.

• Temporary Events or Deployments

  Cellular connections can provide high-bandwidth internet access during outdoor events, festivals, or temporary deployments such as construction sites. They offer flexibility and convenience, enabling quick setup and teardown of network connectivity as needed.

Based on the possibility of cellular being the main connection as mentioned above, ESG WAN failover design ensures that cellular is not restricted to being used only after wired connections fail. We provide flexibility for users to choose their preferred connection method.

Cellular USB Dongle

The USB port on the ESG gateway can connect to a cellular USB dongle. If the WAN interfaces lose connectivity, traffic will automatically switch to the cellular interface.

Celluar USB dongle only is supported in Routed mode (in Configure > Gateway > Interfaces > WAN > Operating Mode)

Preparing the USB Dongle

Please follow the guidelines provided by your wireless carrier to enable and test the USB dongle. Once you've confirmed that the USB dongle allows you to connect to the Internet from your PC or Mac, you can directly plug the USB modem into the ESG gateway.

Please note that during initial bootup and connection to the EnGenius Cloud, an Ethernet WAN connection is required to download the initial configuration and establish the device's online status for the first time.

It is recommended to follow these steps in sequence:

1. Initially connect the ESG gateway to the EnGenius Cloud and ensure it successfully comes online.

2. Test the USB dongle to confirm its ability to establish an Internet connection with the provider.

3. Connect the cellular dongle and verify that the cellular WAN uplink is established in the dashboard.

4. To verify failover to the cellular modem, disconnect the Ethernet WAN connection and confirm connectivity.

ESG gateway does not support usernames and passwords for cellular dongle. If the cellular dongle requires a username and/or password, then the ESG gateway will not successfully connect.

If your USB dongle doesn't work, please call support

Cellular Uplink Standby Data Usage

When using a cellular dongle as a standby uplink connection, a small amount of traffic will still pass through this connection for performing uplink connectivity tests, even though it is not actively handling client traffic.