Software-Defined Network Advantages of Digi Cellular Routers

Networking devices all have different ports, specifications and supported protocols. But what’s inside is just as important – enabling the features and capabilities that support reliability, security and more.

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Recorded Webinar

Software-Defined Network Advantages of Digi Cellular Routers

Jan 27, 2021 | Length: 36:06

Networking devices all have different ports, specifications and supported protocols. But what’s inside is just as important – enabling the features and capabilities that support reliability, security and more.

Watch our recorded webinar on the Digi Accelerated Linux operating system (DAL OS) – the intelligence in Digi routers and infrastructure management devices that enables sophisticated capabilities, high reliability, customization and more.

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Follow-up Webinar Q&A

Thank you again for attending our session on Software-Defined Network Advantages of Digi Cellular Routers. Here are the questions that followed the presentation and their answers. If you have additional questions, be sure to reach out.

Regarding reliability with failover from a third-party vendor, how is the signal control implemented from the Digi router to detect failover? What is required from the third-party router to work with Digi?

Nothing is required on the third-party router for VRRP failover. Digi Surelink® on the Digi router will set up some internal routes and perform connectivity validations through the third-party router. If those validations fail, the Digi router automatically promotes itself to be the VRRP primary. While it’s the VRRP primary, it still performs Surelink validations to the third-party router; once those validations pass again, the Digi router automatically demotes itself to its original VRRP backup state.

Is the Digi router capable of acting like two routers with Dual SIMs, SIM 1 creating a separate network from SIM 2, creating another separate network in the same equipment?

There are two answers here:

  1. All Digi cellular routers are capable of dual-APN (aka split-tunnel routing) as long as the cellular carrier SIM card supports it. This allows you to establish two simultaneous cellular connections with a single modem and SIM card, where one APN is utilized for public Internet traffic and another APN is utilized for private traffic back to your corporate network/datacenter. The benefit here is the Digi router or any equipment doesn’t have to establish a VPN; that is all handled by a VPN between the carrier and your corporate network. The Digi router then sets up routing to send the appropriate traffic through the private APN versus the public APN.
  2. Several of our Digi routers have dual modems. In particular, the Digi TX54 and TX64 products have either dual LTE CAT 11, dual LTE CAT 12, or dual LTE CAT 18 modems. These offer you two fully independent cellular modems, each with dual SIM slots. This could be utilized to provide up to four simultaneous cellular connections when combined with the dual-APN functionality.

Which Digi router is best for Vehicle Area Network for public safety applications?

Our Digi TX54 or TX64 products, thanks to their rugged design, multiple Ethernet ports, high-speed LTE-Advanced modems, and strong Wi-Fi range.

Are you able to get cellular latency reports and the time of outage, etc.? How can I do this?

This is available through the metrics and device history available in our Digi Remote Manager® (Digi RM) portal. In Digi RM, you can view the history of the device’s cellular connection and stability over time. This data can also be viewed as a graph, exported into a datasheet, and even queried using Digi Remote Manager’s comprehensive API.

Can the Digi EX15 support multiple VLANs? For example a restaurant with a point-of-sale zone, a DMZ, a guest Wi-Fi, and an office LAN? If yes, can it be customized to disable less important VLANs when the primary WAN fails and it works on cellular?

Yes. Multiple VLANs can be tagged to one or more Ethernet ports, and those VLANs are then trunked. You can then set up your firewall and routing to control what type of access each VLAN receives. Also, Quality-of-Service (QoS) policies can be set up for each VLAN to prioritize/de-prioritize each segment of the network and allocate a percentage of bandwidth for each network.

Will the new Digi DAL operating system be much better than the operating system developed for the Transport router models (WR11, WR21, WR31, WR44, and WR44 R)?

There are several key benefits on the new DAL operating system compared to the OS that runs on the WR11, WR21, and WR31 products. To list a few:

  • Full IPv6 support on all network interfaces (cellular, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, IPsec, etc.)
  • SureLink validations all network interfaces (cellular, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, IPsec, etc.), not just cellular
  • IP passthrough support for any type of Internet connection (cellular, wired Ethernet, Wi-Fi)
  • Dual-APN split-tunnel connectivity
  • Intelliflow

If there are any particular features or functional differences between the WR11/WR21/WR31 products you are using compared to their IX10/IX20 counterparts that run our DAL OS, please provide this feedback to Digi sales or support! We strive to make your transition to newer Digi cellular routers as seamless and easy as possible.

Do the Digi devices support carrier aggregation?

Yes. However, not all Digi cellular routers contain modems that support carrier aggregation. Only LTE CAT 6 or higher cellular modems support carrier aggregation, also called LTE-Advanced. The following products support carrier aggregation:

Does Digi have a 5G Strategy? When will Digi have devices to support 5G?

5G is one of Digi’s core strategies. For details and product announcements, please visit our Press Release page and our Journey to 5G page.

Is there a presentation from Digi regarding your 5G strategy?

Refer to the Journey to 5G page, as well as these additional resources:

Which LTE bands are supported (FDD and TDD)?

Different Digi cellular routers have different types of cellular modems in them. I’d recommend you check out the datasheet for the products you’re interested in, which list the LTE bands each product supports. If you want a quick list of the LTE bands supported in our various Digi CORE® LTE modems, refer to the Specifications tab on the Digi CORE Plugin page. If you’re also interested in the cellular certifications for various products, refer to our searchable Certifications page.

Is there any version of Digi Remote Manager on premise?

Please contact Digi sales for assistance with our Digi Remote Manager offerings.

How do I start using my Digi device in the Digi Remote Manager portal?

Your Digi device is set up to sync with Digi Remote Manager by default. All you need to do is set up an account in the portal and add your devices. Digi Remote Manager offers a free 90-day trial account for up to 25 devices, and several subscriptions once you're ready to move forward. Visit shop.digi.com for more details.

How much data does Intelliflow show you about your network?

Intelliflow tracks all traffic going through the Digi router. It then reports the top 10 local clients and top 10 destinations based on total data usage so you can easily sift through the noise to find out where the bulk of your data usage is coming from.

How expansive is the Python support on Digi routers?

A set of common Python modules come pre-compiled in the firmware of our Digi routers. The firmware also includes Python PIP for easily installing additional modules as needed.

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