Reliable Internet Connection for SOHO and remote locations

VigorLTE 200n is an LTE broadband Wi Fi router with embedded dual SIM card slots for 4G/LTE failover. It is equipped with 2 x Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, one of which is switchable to an additional backup WAN interface.

The supported SIM cards include those from the major broadband service providers in Australia (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, etc.), as well as those in New Zealand (Spark, 2Degrees and Vodafone) with speeds up to 150Mbps downstream and 50Mbps upstream.

VigorLTE 200n is a versatile router for a business network with around 30 devices. It can have two concurrent VPN tunnels to link to the main offices or provides remote access for Network Admins. It also offers the flexibility for network management, including Port Forwarding, SPI Firewall, Content Filtering, Bandwidth Management, QoS and more.

DrayTek 4G LTE routers, including Vigor2862L, Vigor2926L ,Vigor2620L series and VigorLTE 200n, have all the features you need for a network in a small to medium size business. Each of these routers has an integrated LTE modem and accepts one or two SIM cards from any of the major broadband service providers in Australia (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, etc.) as well as those in New Zealand (Spark, 2Degrees and Vodafone). Speeds up to 150Mbps downstream and 50Mbps upstream are supported. What’s more, each of the wireless models, Vigor2862Lac, Vigor2926Lac, Vigor2620Ln and VigorLTE 200n has a built-in 802.11ac or 802.11n wireless Access Point.

With the 4G LTE internet access and strong network features, the DrayTek 4G LTE routers support a wide range of application scenarios besides indoor offices, including internet access for mobile and PC devices on public transport, outdoor events and mobile offices.

One ideal application of Vigor2862Lac, Vigor2926Lac, Vigor2620Ln and VigorLTE 200n routers is to provide Internet access for passengers on public transport such as tourist bus or coach. For the transport company to provide free Wi-Fi access for its passengers, the wireless router can be placed in a suitable location on the bus to provide good Wi-Fi coverage. On larger busses or double decked busses, you can install a Wi-Fi Access Point such as the VigorAP 902 or VigorAP 903 to extend the Wi-Fi coverage.

The passengers can be given unrestricted access to the Internet, alternatively, the User Management feature in the router can be used to issue usernames and passwords for the passengers to prevent unauthorized users outside the bus from getting free Internet access. In addition, users can be directed to the company’s web portal for information on the services. Other security measures that can be implemented are the use of the Firewall and Content Security Management (CSM) to protect the users from undesirable website contents (e.g., for under aged passengers).

A range of leisure and social activities such as sports events, weekend markets or special functions, require short term internet access. At most such outdoor locations, there is no fixed cabling to provide ADSL, VDSL or NBN services, and the only way to provide internet access is to use wireless broadband. One of Vigor2862Lac, Vigor2926Lac, Vigor2620Ln and VigorLTE 200n routers can be set up quickly to provide Internet access for these events.

The user management, web portal, Firewall or CSM features can be used to enhance the operations. You can also use the Wi-Fi hotspot feature where users connect to your Wi-Fi network using the social login accounts such as Facebook or Google login, and monitor who is using your services.

Mobile offices for businesses or projects may be at temporary sites without permanent Internet access facilities. Any of Vigor2862L, Vigor2926L, Vigor2620L series and VigorLTE 200n routers can provide Internet access for these mobile offices.

For your inter-office communication needs, you can set up VPN connections over the 3G/4G network to share network resources such as files and servers. To protect your network, you can configure the Object-Oriented SPI Firewall, DoS Defense, CSM (Content Security Management) and WCF (Web Content Filter) as required.

Additionally, the VLAN feature of Vigor2862L, Vigor2926L series routers allows up to 8 workgroups to be set up to improve on security and to provide different levels of network access based on the workgroup.

Vigor2862L, Vigor2926L, Vigor2620L series and VigorLTE 200n routers require a 12–15V DC power supply. When used in vehicles such as busses or trucks which have a 24V supply, you will need to use a DC to DC converter to produce 12VDC regulated output. These converters are available from electronic suppliers. They plug into the cigarette lighter socket in your bus or truck and have an output socket that plugs into the router.

The DC to DC converter shown here is available from Jaycar Electronics

It is recommended to also use the DC to DC converter when the router is used in a motor vehicle to ensure a constant voltage to the router. Although a 13.8 volt car battery output is still within the router’s power supply requirements, the voltage may fluctuate to outside the router’s requirements.

This guide shows how to configure the VigorLTE 200 series router to enable 4G communication via the embedded 4G USB modem. You will need a Standard size SIM card from a service provider. In our example we will configure the LTE interface (WAN 1) as the primary connection so it will be always on and WAN 2 will be the backup connection.

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You may come across a situation where you wish to add LTE as a backup WAN connection to a broadband router in a data centre or a data communications room but have a very weak or no LTE signal in that location. A typical scenario is shown in the diagram below. A USB LTE modem is attached to the broadband router for the backup WAN connection but since the LTE signal is non-existent, it will not be possible to use this option.

One option is to attach an external aerial to the modem. This will often require a long coax cable run to the aerial mounted outside the building. For long cable runs, the losses incurred in the cable will negate any gains from the antenna. Therefore, making this an ineffective solution.

Proposed Solution

The proposed solution is to install an external LTE bridge modem located in a strong LTE signal area and connect to the broadband router in the data centre by UTP cable which can be up to 100 metres long as shown in the diagram below. This will provide a reliable LTE WAN connection with no loss of signal to the LTE modem.

DrayTek Solution

The solution here is to use either the DrayTek Vigor2620L or VigorLTE 200 LTE routers.  These routers have the option to allow them to be configured as a bridged LTE modem. The LAN port of the router is then connected to the WAN port of the broadband router in the data centre.

Both the Vigor2620L and the VigorLTE 200 have an unlocked integrated LTE modem which accepts standard sized SIM cards from major service providers. These routers have two SIM card slots so a second SIM card from a different service provider can be installed to provide failover if the primary LTE connection goes down.

The diagram below shows the network topology where we have a Vigor2620L configured in bridge mode. A UTP cable is used to connect the LAN port of the Vigor2620L to the Ethernet WAN port of the broadband router.  The LTE router can be placed next to a window or other suitable locations which have a strong LTE signal. As mentioned previously the UTP cable can be up to 100 metres long so structured cabling within the building can be utilised for the connection.

Since the LTE router will become transparent when in bridge mode, the attached broadband router will need to provide authentication if required. Usually only DHCP client needs to be enabled in the broadband router WAN configuration details.

Video: Bridging a DrayTek LTE router to a broadband router

Vigor LTE Router Bridge Mode Configuration

To configure LTE bridge mode in the Vigor2620L and VigorLTE 200 use the following steps.

1. Go to WAN >> General Setup menu
   • Check that LTE is selected as “Always ON”

2. Go to WAN >> Internet Access menu

• For Access Mode, Select 3G/4G LTE Modem (DHCP mode)
• Click on Details Page

3. Enable Bridge Mode

• Select Enable
• Enter APN Name for the service provider
• Select Enable Bridge Mode (Use LAN port P1)
• Select required SIM slot to use (SIM 1 selected here)
• Click on OK to save

You will notice that LAN port 1 is used as the bridge port and this must be connected to the attached broadband router.

An optional step is to select the prefered LTE band. To do this click on the Preferred LTE Band option in the setup page.  Then select the required band from the next page.