Why a low-cost gateway in an IoT project does not make any sense?

An IoT Gateway is an integral part of any IoT application/project.

So, it’s important that you know certain things about a good quality gateway device before investing your time and money in any IoT project.

Also, as this will be a one-time investment on the hardware part from your side, you’ll definitely not want any regrets in the future, and that too for just saving a few bucks from your pocket.

In this article, we’ll describe to you what features a high-quality IoT Gateway assimilates in itself.

So, let’s have a look.

What is an IoT Gateway?

An Internet of Things (IoT) gateway is a physical device or software application that serves as the point of connection between the IoT application server and end devices. All data moving to and from the IoT application server goes through the IoT Gateway.

With your IoT Gateway, you require reliability, meaning less support and fewer site visits, and a standard product deployed across all customers. Reason? It seems obvious, this will reduce your troubleshooting and training costs.

So, our IoT Gateway has the following characteristics that help to reduce a variety of challenges that can arrive with time after gateway installation.

What do you need in an IoT Gateway? – Features and advantages of our LTE Enabled IoT Gateway

1. 4G LTE Enabled
The gateway is future proof from the obsolescence of 2G/3G. Most low-cost modems are either 2G/3G and would stop working anytime as network operators are phasing it out slowly. JIO does not support 2G/3G and Airtel/Vi are phasing out 2G/3G slowly.

2. Hardware watchdog
This means that in case the device becomes unresponsive it reboots itself, leading to higher reliability and uninterrupted operations. Saves the effort to visit the site for a hung device.

3. 10MB Data Logging
We all understand how unreliable the mobile internet can be. If there is no internet and the gateway cannot send data to the server, it logs it. This leads to higher data availability. You cannot afford data loss as CGWA would not tolerate data records missing.

4. Over The Air (OTA) firmware upgrade
This means that the firmware of our gateway can be upgraded remotely leading to reduced site visits and having the latest embedded software on the gateway.

5. Local User Interface
Allows easy troubleshooting locally by your engineers or by taking the gateway on a remote desktop. Again saving time and site visit.

6. Remote Diagnostics
This allows our support team to remotely monitor these gateways and help resolve issues remotely with the customer’s help. This again reduces site visits.

7. Firewall & Secure Connectivity
Secure communication and firewall make our product secure. Cheaper hardware compromise on security may put your enterprise data at risk.

8. Power Event log
The most common cause of data loss is power loss at sites. The gateway maintains power on/off logs that helps you identify sites where data loss is happening due to power loss.

9. RTC
A real-time clock that is battery-backed. This allows time to be retained even when there is power loss and time cannot be updated from the mobile network due to poor mobile connectivity. If the timestamps are not accurate your data is not usable and would lead to CGWA audits failing. 

10. GPRS, WIFI, and WAN support
It supports three internet sources. This allows you to provide a backup internet connection leading to higher and reliable connectivity. Secondly, in case you find that the site has a poor mobile network you can always provide connectivity with an alternate mode (LAN/WiFi) instead of replacing the gateway.

11. Analog channels
Hardware has an inbuilt 2X 4-20mA channel. There is no need to put an external card or change the gateway when CGWA wants you to install a piezometer-based level sensor. As the CGWA guidelines are constantly evolving it can save you from such future policy changes. This single IoT gateway can acquire data from 2 piezo and 8 flowmeters.

So, these were the prominent advantages of our 4G Enabled IoT Gateway. As we said earlier, you need a reliable product that’ll give you a better ROI in the longer run. And this is where we place ourselves in the market landscape. This may come at a price that may be a bit higher than your anticipated quote, but looking at all corners of the game, you shouldn’t be hesitant to invest in a product that is designed to save you from all the expected troubles of the future.

To know more about Gateways and their architecture, you can also read IoT Gateways: The Importance of Selecting the right IoT Gateway for your application.

Contact us now if you want any support from our side.