Quick SIM & cellular information for planning and deployment.
1) Will it work at my site?
- Check carrier coverage at the installation location (indoor vs outdoor matters).
- Confirm the PDU modem supports the carrier’s LTE bands for that region.
- Antenna placement affects reliability — avoid deep metal cabinets or blocked locations.
2) Expected costs & data usage
- Typical telemetry and status traffic is very small (tens of MB/month).
- Firmware updates or large log uploads are the main spikes — schedule these over wired LAN when possible.
- Start with a small IoT/M2M plan for a 30‑day pilot and size after measuring real usage.
3) Recommended access & management (Cloud — default)
- Recommended: manage via Synaccess Cloud — simplest and most secure for evaluation and production. Pair the device to your cloud account to view and manage the PDU.
- Cloud avoids the need to request special carrier services during evaluation and reduces time‑to‑test.
- Pairing & setup: https://synaccess.readme.io/reference/connect-a-synlink-pdu
4) On‑prem management option (if you self‑host)
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We offer an on‑prem management portal if you prefer to host management internally.
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Typical customer approach to connect cellular PDUs to an on‑prem portal:
- Request a private APN from the carrier for the SIMs.
- Establish an IPsec (VPN) tunnel between the carrier private network and the customer network.
- PDUs on the carrier private network can then reach the on‑prem portal over that secure tunnel.
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This approach provides private addressing and secure connectivity but requires carrier coordination and network team involvement.
5) Security & Accessibility
- Cloud-first: Cloud management avoids exposing the device directly and is the recommended, lower‑risk option.
- If you need inbound access (public IP or private APN), ask your carrier about IP whitelisting to restrict which source IPs may reach the PDU.
- Always change default admin credentials, enable HTTPS for local UI, and use strong passwords.
- If you self‑host the portal, secure the portal network with VPN/IPsec, firewall rules, and access control lists.
- Consider disabling SIM roaming if not required to avoid unexpected charges and exposure.
6) Data reliability & failover
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The PDU supports configurable LTE policies to control when and how cellular is used:
- LTE‑Fallback — prefer LAN; switch to LTE only when LAN fails
- LTE‑Primary — prefer LTE; use LAN only when LTE is unavailable.
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These policies let you balance cost vs. availability. For most deployments use LTE‑Fallback so cellular is a backup channel.
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Antenna placement and carrier selection affect real-world reliability — validate with a pilot at the actual site.
7) eSIMs
- Pros: remote provisioning, no physical SIM logistics, good for sealed/remote devices and large fleets.
- Cons: carrier support varies; provisioning/platform fees may apply. Good for fleet deployments; physical SIMs work well for pilots.
- We can recommend eSIM provider — contact Sales or Support for details and provisioning help.
Quick checklist
- Verify carrier coverage at the site.
- Run a 30‑day pilot SIM and monitor usage.
- Use Synaccess Cloud for the pilot (fastest route).
- If self‑hosting, plan for private APN + IPsec with the carrier and network team.
- Contact Sales/Support for our recommended eSIM provider and on‑prem portal details.