An industrial router is a device with a reinforced casing and internal components designed to withstand extreme temperatures, humidity, and dust, ensuring secure connections and communication over a cellular network. These routers serve as the communication backbone not only in real industrial applications such as mining, agriculture, oil, and gas, but also in outdoor environments like street lighting, measurement, wastewater management, digital signage, and smart city applications.
An industrial router is a network device that connects multiple networks or segments. It can translate data between different networks or segments, enabling them to read each other’s data. As a result, it facilitates the creation of a much larger network. The industrial router serves as the primary node device in internet environments. Among its functions is determining the transmission path for data through routing.
Industrial Automation and Applications of Industrial Routers
Automation helps manufacturing companies maintain their competitive edge in the global market. In today’s world, it has become increasingly difficult to establish continuous and reliable communication with industrial devices.
At this point, industrial router applications cater to the unique needs of the automotive industry. They also provide significant advantages for machine manufacturers by leveraging the benefits of industrial cellular routers.
Reasons for Choosing Industrial Routers
- Rugged Design: Industrial routers are highly durable devices designed for tough environments. They are ideal for a wide range of applications, including remote monitoring, industrial automation, building automation, fleet management, and environmental monitoring.
- Secure Connectivity: These routers are designed to control and monitor remote networks or devices over a highly secure cellular connection. They feature VPN, NAT, firewalls, and packet filtering to safely and efficiently transfer critical data over remote connections.
- Embedded Modem: Most industrial routers have built-in 3G, 4G, or 5G modems. The only requirement is to insert a SIM card into the designated SIM card slot.
- Wide Temperature Range: Industrial routers are designed to withstand harsh environments, operating within a wide temperature range—from freezing conditions to extreme desert heat.
Applications of Industrial Routers
Industrial routers typically operate at layer 3, connecting different networks. In many cases, routers link local area networks (LANs) to the internet, using various access technologies such as fiber, ADSL, Wi-Fi, 4G, and 5G. They are also used within production environments to connect different networks via Ethernet. Common application areas include:
- Industrial facilities
- Machine automation applications
- Transportation and tunnel systems
- Telecommunications applications
- Renewable energy systems
Advantages of Using Industrial Routers
- Operational Efficiency: Industrial routers significantly enhance operational efficiency by monitoring assets, equipment, employees, and critical processes.
- Scalability and Future-Proofing: They offer multiple communication options to meet current needs, while providing a modular network system with advanced features that can be easily upgraded in the field to meet future requirements.
- Comprehensive Security: Industrial routers ensure complete protection of industrial assets with full end-to-end security features.
- Simplified Management: They enable easier remote deployment and management of IT systems.
- Improved Troubleshooting: Remote access and troubleshooting become more secure and convenient, allowing for quicker response in case of failures.