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.
Continue reading…How Do Cell Phone Signal Boosters Work?
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.
Continue reading…The 5 Best MIMO LTE Antennas for 5G
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.
Continue reading…5 Ways to Optimize Electrical Usage and Distribution in Your Industrial Network
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.
Continue reading…WiFi 6 Standards Are Here. Here’s What You Need to Know.
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.
Continue reading…How to Improve Cell Service with a Signal Booster
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.
Continue reading…Wireless Network Design Strategies for Outdoor Surveillance
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.
Continue reading…Trending Applications for PoE++
Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a vital technology for many network engineers and administrators. In decentralized network nodes and components, getting power and data can prove unbelievably challenging. PoE has offered a direct, efficient solution for years, and it’s massively popular for a reason.
PoE, in general, has grown dramatically in use over the past five years. Since 2016, it has been maintaining a 13-percent annualized growth rate in total sales, and PoE alone expects to be a billion-dollar market by 2022. It’s easy to see why. The convenience and efficiency of running power and communication through a single line make networking design easier, cheaper, and more flexible. With ports each supplying from 15 to 100 watts (W) on various iterations of PoE, there are plenty of options to precisely build a network the way you want.
Continue reading…Why Use Conformal Coating? Ultimate Protection for Industrial Equipment
Electronics are distributed everywhere. However, there are countless environments wholly unfriendly to circuit boards. Electronic equipment needs specialized protection to be able to work through adversity and deliver the technological promises they make. One of the standards for industrial protection of electronics is conformal coating. This coating provides a layer of defense that protects against high temperatures, moisture, corrosive chemicals, and even electric shocks. For example, salt fog from coastal regions, exhaust fumes from traffic, particulates from factory operations, and airborne chemicals from refineries are locations where industrial equipment, such as Ethernet switches, will need extra protection to operate.
Continue reading…How Cat 1 and Cat M1 Are Replacing 2G and 3G Cellular Networks
Sure, Internet of Things (IoT) is great. It’s easy to see the potential benefits of data mining and better analytics. None of that makes it easy to implement. IoT networks tend to be large in both size and throughput, and it presents plenty of challenges from the design standpoint. One of those challenges is incorporating older equipment into IoT networks without spending a fortune. For a while, 2G and 3G worked well for many networks, but major carriers are phasing them out. LTE Category 1 (Cat 1) is a replacement for legacy 2G and 3G. Cat M1 and NB1 are not far behind. These new, low-bandwidth technologies help many IoT networks expand capacity for surprisingly little money. Continue reading…
How to Improve Security with IoT Intranets
Everyone loves to rave about the benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT). However, few people appreciate the demands IoT systems bring to the table. Cost management and network design are hard enough, but the bulk of IoT field devices operate at minimum power and data flow. Many were deployed in control and automation facilities decades ago and support only simple communication functions. This creates a unique security challenge. IoT can force a designer to incorporate anywhere from hundreds to millions of endpoint devices without being able to secure them on an individual basis. There are many approaches to solving this problem. One feasible solution is to create private networking layers to minimize risk without spending exorbitant amounts on each IoT device. Continue reading…
Managing IoT Over Long Distances with LPWAN
At this point, most IT pros and network engineers do not need to be convinced of the value of the Internet of Things (IoT). Instead, the focus is on finding practical ways to implement the technology. With explosive levels of adoption, there are many options out there. Some manufacturers are simply rolling Wi-Fi into everything. While this can work, it’s not economical over long ranges. The obvious alternative is to use LTE. Although, LTE data plans can get pricey. In the end, managing IoT over long distance amplifies the standard problems of large networks. Technologies used to connect IoT devices are commonly called Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN). LPWAN may implement legacy cellular technology or direct radio communication. Continue reading…
Understanding IP Ratings for Industrial Electronics
When shopping for industrial electronics, knowledge of computational and networking capacities is only half the battle. It is also important to understand durability ratings and how they work. The standard you’ve likely seen is the IP rating. It is frequently used by manufacturers to show what conditions equipment has been tested to withstand. And, it graduates from generic terms like “waterproof” to quantifiable expectations. Understanding IP ratings can help you pick the right electronics more economically, and it brings better peace of mind by establishing proper confidence in your devices. Continue reading…
How Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (ERPS) Boosts Your Network
Industrial networks have many demands, and one of the principle rules is that downtime isunacceptable. With the myriad design elements available, it can be difficult to pinpoint which is best for your industry. If Ethernet plays a major role in your network infrastructure, then ERPS might be the most cost-effective way to add redundancy and up-time protection to any network, regardless of size and traffic.
Covering WiFi Gaps for Reliable Communications
Media access is an essential component of empowering employees and workstations to achieve their fullest. Sometimes simple WiFi access can boost productivity on even simple tasks. In more extreme cases, Internet of Things (IoT) and similar massive data sampling require virtually every square foot of your facility have fast and reliable wireless communication. No matter the intended utility, if you require industrial Wi-Fi, you have to understand how to manage gaps.