Case Study: Aerea

Aerea is the Sigfox operator in the Netherlands. It maintains Sigfox base stations all over the country to provide internet access to the Sigfox IoT objects.

The Sigfox base stations connect to DSL, fibre or any kind of landline internet that the national internet service providers like KPN or Ziggo have available in the area to provide internet access to the Sigfox IoT objects.

The problem is when KPN or Ziggo experiences landline internet outage, all the Sigfox IoT objects will be disconnected because the Sigfox base stations no longer have internet access.

Aerea needs a solution to maintain internet connectivity for the Sigfox IoT objects when the KPN or Ziggo landline internet fails.

Challenges

The Sigfox base stations provide internet access to the Sigfox IoT objects via the KPN or Ziggo landline internet connection. The problem is when KPN or Ziggo experiences internet outage, all the Sigfox IoT objects will be disconnected because the Sigfox base stations no longer have internet access.

The Sigfox IoT objects such as smart meters, logistic trackers, intelligent sensors, security equipment will not be able to operate at full capacity, when they lose internet connectivity. This poses a serious problem for Aerea.

Solutions

Instead of connecting the DSL or fibre landline internet directly to the Sigfox base station, which will lose internet access when the landline internet fails, the Sigfox base station connects to the Peplink MAX BR1 router.

The Peplink MAX BR1 router features one ethernet WAN port and an embedded 4G LTE/3G modem. It is able to connect to the DSL or fibre landline internet as well as a mobile internet provider e.g. Tele2 or T-Mobile for a 4G LTE/3G internet backup.

When KPN or Ziggo experiences service outage, the MAX BR1 router will detect the connectivity failure and automatically switch to the backup Tele2 or T-Mobile 4G LTE/3G network. The Sigfox base station will remain connected to the internet, and so do all the Sigfox IoT objects.

Benefits

Peplink MAX BR1 router leverages the existing Tele2 or T-Mobile 4G LTE/3G network to backup the KPN or Ziggo landline internet. Smart meters, logistic trackers, intelligent sensors, security equipment, and other Sigfox IoT objects, will maintain internet connectivity via the Tele2 or T-Mobile 4G LTE/3G network when KPN or Ziggo landline internet fails.

Peplink InControl 2 cloud management service allows Aerea to monitor and manage their 400+ MAX BR1 deployment all over the Netherlands on a single cloud platform. InControl 2 provides instant email alert and detailed log on landline internet failure which help Aerea to assess and maintain the highest level of network availability.

With the MAX BR1, Aerea is able to achieve a network availability higher than that of any individual KPN, Ziggo, Tele2 or T-Mobile network.

400 +

Peplink MAX BR1 deployed

“In the Netherlands, Aerea works with established telecom operators and hardware and platform builders. The network is already being used successfully for parking sensors, smoke detectors, water meters and GPS trackers.”

Nicholas van Hoey SmithCEO, Aerea - Sigfox-operator, NL

Sigfox for Internet of Things

Aerea is the Sigfox operator in the Netherlands. It provides Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) connectivity services for Internet of Things (IoT) objects.

Applications for LPWAN connectivity include smart metering, logistic tracking, intelligent sensors in buildings and cities, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, and connecting any IoT objects in a large scale, for both private and public sectors. Read more about how Aerea uses Sigfox to power business and enable a connected world here.

Sigfox is one of the biggest LPWAN providers for IoT. It connects and gives life to millions of objects all around the world.

Point of Failure

Aerea maintains Sigfox base stations all over the Netherlands to provide internet for Sigfox IoT objects. The Sigfox IoT objects connect to the Sigfox base stations and the base stations connect to DSL, fibre or any kind of landline internet that the national internet service providers like KPN or Ziggo have available in the area.

The Sigfox IoT objects such as smart meters, logistic trackers, intelligent sensors, security equipment will not be able to operate at full capacity, when they lose internet connectivity.

This poses a serious problem for Aerea. They need a solution to maintain internet connectivity for the Sigfox IoT objects when the KPN or Ziggo landline internet fails.

network-diagram-sigfox-iot-dsl-fibre-failure

network-diagram-sigfox-iot-dsl-fibre-4g-lte-backhaul-redundancy

Peplink Software-Defined WAN

Aerea was introduced to Peplink while looking for a solution that would provide their Sigfox base stations a backup internet.

Peplink specialises in Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) for unbreakable internet. With more than 10 years of R&D and engineering, Peplink’s dedication, commitment and focus makes it a leader today in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN), bandwidth scalability and bonding solutions.

When Aerea was explaining the issue to our team of Peplink Certified Engineers (PCE), it was clear that Peplink MAX BR1 router would be able to help.

Proposal was drafted based on the challenges Aerea faced. Instead of connecting the DSL or fibre landline internet directly to the Sigfox base station, which will lose internet access when the landline internet fails, the Sigfox base station connects to a Peplink MAX BR1 router.

The MAX BR1 will continuously monitor the KPN or Ziggo landline internet, and will seamlessly switch back to it once its service restores.

Peplink for Sigfox Internet of Things

Peplink MAX BR1 router leverages the existing Tele2 or T-Mobile 4G LTE/3G network to backup the KPN or Ziggo landline internet. Smart meters, logistic trackers, intelligent sensors, security equipment, and other Sigfox IoT objects, in both private and public sectors, will maintain internet connectivity via the Tele2 or T-Mobile 4G LTE/3G network when KPN or Ziggo landline internet fails.

The MAX BR1 will continuously monitor the KPN or Ziggo landline internet, and will seamlessly switch back to it once its service restores to ensure minimum data usage and data cost on the Tele2 or T-Mobile 4G LTE/3G network. The MAX BR1 features a Bandwidth Allowance Monitor to help Aerea keep track on the data usage and cost on the Tele2 or T-Mobile 4G LTE/3G network.

The MAX BR1 also features a redundant SIM slot which can house a SIM card from a secondary 4G LTE/3G network provider. It will use the secondary SIM when the primary 4G LTE/3G network experiences outage or is out of data quota.

At the scale that Aerea is operating, central management is crucial to a successful nation-wide roll-out. Peplink InControl 2 cloud management service allows Aerea to monitor and manage their 400+ MAX BR1 deployment all over the Netherlands on a single cloud platform. InControl 2 also provides instant email alert and detailed log on landline internet failure which helps Aerea assess and maintain the highest level of network availability.

With the MAX BR1, Aerea is able to achieve a network availability higher than that of any individual KPN, Ziggo, Tele2 or T-Mobile network.

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This post is also available in: Dutch

Case Study: Aerea

Challenges

Solutions

Benefits

Sigfox for Internet of Things

Point of Failure

Peplink Software-Defined WAN

Peplink for Sigfox Internet of Things

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