The sim / service is pay per use, for my application it's almost nothing due to occasional use of the console sv. $20 a gig I think it is, I had that wrong, but they have different plans. The IP is $2/mo and the only monthly fee. I think I loaded $100 into the account and haven't had to reload it in years.
On Thu, Nov 7, 2024, 3:03 PM Dan P via AF <af@af.afmug.com> wrote: > yeah that sounds almost too good to be true, need to dig into that. IPV4 > rentals alone are in the 50c/$1 a range now > ------------------------------ > *From:* AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com> on behalf of Adam Moffett < > dmmoff...@gmail.com> > *Sent:* Thursday, November 7, 2024 3:44 PM > *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <af@af.afmug.com> > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Cellular console server > > $2/month holy shit > > > On Thu, Nov 7, 2024 at 5:29 PM TJ Trout <t...@voltbb.com> wrote: > > We use open gear im72xx and acm7xxx I get them new old stock or used on > eBay for peanuts. Work fantastic, some even have a router and Ethernet > switch build in for ipmi oob access. I use thingsmobile.com I think it's > $2/mo for a sim with static ipv4 > > On Thu, Nov 7, 2024, 2:16 PM Adam Moffett <dmmoff...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Well, initially I talked to Verizon about their router offerings because > they'll often throw one in for no additional cost. Problems with Verizon > cellular routers were > > - I don't have any reason to have faith in their reliability, and > nobody will be there to reboot it > - Feature sets were kind of a grab bag. My worry is maybe I get a > model that does some particular thing that I rely on, but later they > discontinue that model and I won't like their new options > - All of them were 12VDC with a wall wart. We have -48 plant, so I'd > be adding converters or inverters, and we're paying a low voltage > contractor for that stuff so it's not as cheap as it was when I was in the > WISP world. > > Someone mentioned it, but most of the console servers are just a computer > running some flavor of Linux and then adding a cellular card. WTI is no > exception. To me that's actually a good thing. I can connect it both to > the console ports and via ethernet to our management VLAN. As long as I > can get into the CLI of the console server I should be able to use it as a > launchpad to ping, ssh, ftp, or whatever into the equipment, and that's in > addition to having console access. > > When I lived in "WISP World" this product wouldn't have made any sense. > When money costs more than time I would just take some kind of PC and slap > in a USB cellular card and a quad port PCI serial card or two. If I > couldn't get a -48V PC I'd just wire in an inverter or isolated converter. > However, where I'm at now I think my boss would be shocked if I spent labor > on hacking something together when there's a thing we could just buy and be > done with it. > > Oh and apparently since we already have a bunch of phones and tablets with > Verizon we can add devices like this to our account for $20/month on a 2GB > 4G plan (+$15 per additional GB), and adding the static IP was only > $4/month. That OpEx is peanuts next to everything else, and the data limit > doesn't matter because most of the time it'll sit there and do nothing. > That's affordable even in WISP World. We could have unlimited 5G for $40, > and the static would still be only $4 more, but obviously we just don't > need 5G for this. > > -Adam > > > On Sun, Nov 3, 2024 at 3:42 PM Forrest Christian (List Account) < > li...@packetflux.com> wrote: > > Sorry to hijack the thread. > > I've been considering developing a few different products to broaden my > product line so it isn't so WISP focused. One of the things I've looked > at is a terminal server device since the existing ones seem so rediculous > for the price. > > BUT.. to meet the price target I'd want to hit, cellular connectivity > would be out of the question, due to the excessive cost of the testing that > the cellular networks require to permit connection to their network. This > is probably why the existing products which have cellular connectivity cost > so much. > > I was sort of under the impression that it was pretty typical for out of > band cellular access to use one of the off the shelf wireless > routers/hotspots to provide management-only ip connectivity. That way, > you can connect to the management interface on every device. Is this > not the case? > > On Sun, Nov 3, 2024, 6:55 AM dbernardi <dberna...@zitomedia.net> wrote: > > > Not that device in particular but the number of locations and RS-232 > ports per device may drive you in a certain direction. > > I've been looking for a new solution as well. With 100's of locations I > find you need some sort of dashboard to track and manage devices, > whether home-grown or from a provider. > > We originally used Opengear 3G console servers but had to replace them > as Verizon phased out 3G service so we put together our own RPi with a > Verizon 4G USB cellular modem and a Startech USB/RS-232 adapter with > appropriate number of ports. That <$200 solution worked pretty well but > if you don't pay attention to tunnel management (make sure it switches > back to on-net link) it's easy to rack up a 5 figure Verizon bill even > with a M2M type service. > > So if you have a lot of devices to manage having visibility into them > and/or cellular is key. Tunnels become less important if you are > willing to pay for static IPv4 or stable IPv6 addresses from the carrier > but you still have to monitor them. > > I looked at some ~$1500+ devices but at scale it becomes a pretty > significant capital project and I consider tunnel/cellular management > more important anyhow. > > I tested the Digi Connect IT-4 with Hologram and it worked well but they > didn't have Verizon as a carrier at the time (they do now for additional > fee). We provide cellular backhaul to many T-Mobile and AT&T sites so > in the event our PoP/cabinet becomes isolated the concern is that same > towers we provide backhaul to would be how we would gain out-of-band > access to our equipment said outage. Point being in our case having > primary access to Verizon is important. > > I'm currently looking to test Symetry (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T)+ Peplink > router. Peplink has a what looks like a very nice tunnel service > dashboard (InTouch @ ~$40/year/device) but their hardware is lacking > console ports so you still need some type console/RS-232 server if you > need more than 1 port. I'm considering leaving the RPi and Startech in > place as a terminal server (works well) but using the Peplink+Intouch > for cellular access/tunnel management (where we struggled). > > There's also consideration of what you are planning to do with RS-232 > access. Are you just doing occasional "show interface" commands when > you lose in-band access, uploading firmware/bootloaders, or collecting > telemetry. > > Anyhow, based on what I looked at so far, I think most of the integrated > rack mount console servers are pretty similar in features, cost and > reliability but your cellular related requirements may matter (eSIM or > multiple carrier support for example). Some also seemed to differ in > tunnel options as well if that's a consideration. > > So if the cellular console server meets your needs and cost (scale) is > not as important, I think you'll find they all pretty much the same. > > > > On 11/1/2024 3:14 PM, Adam Moffett wrote: > > > > Has anyone used this product? Does it suck? > > https://www.wti.com/products/dsm-8dcnm-e-gige-console-server-8-port- > > rj45-dual-ethernet <https://www.wti.com/products/dsm-8dcnm-e-gige- > > console-server-8-port-rj45-dual-ethernet> > > > > I got spam from this company recently, and purely by chance I was > > researching a cellular OOB management option so I got the manual and dug > > into it a bit. It has exactly the features I'm looking for. I'm > > wondering if by chance anyone here has already bought from this company > > and maybe you can save me the trouble of finding out the hard way that > > they're terrible. > > > > > > > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > > -- > AF mailing list > AF@af.afmug.com > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >
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