I was wondering when the Peplink Balance 20x will come standard with a cat6 modem instead of a Cat 4 modem. Basically, I’m buying these balance 20x solutions but have to buy a separate cat6 module to replace the cat4 (Which goes to waste)
Also, does anyone know if a Cat 6 modem provides more stable reliability that a Cat4 modem? We run these units at radio towers and have hardly any traffic except for one continues AAC 64bit audio stream 24hours per day / 7 days a week. I’m not really concerned about speed as much as I am stability and having ZERO down time for my radio stations. So will a Cat6 provide better stability than a Cat4 modem?
I’m guessing it’s due to cost and not wanting to have multiple skus for the same model?
If you want to have zero downtime, why not add a module cat18 or cat20 (5g) in addition to the built in cat4. Bond all together with your own speedfusion, or use SFC. We are increasingly adding the module to have multiple redundant carriers. So we have wired wan and then two carriers like vzw and att, or add the 5g module and use tmobile.
We operate radio stations and these peplink devices will be at radio transmitter sites. Most of our transmitter sites already have 1 wired internet service provider that will be connected to the WAN input on the Balance 20x. (ie Spectrum, airspring etc) We want to provide backup internet and I’m thinking that a Cat6 modem will work better than a Cat 4 modem. (Is that correct and is it worth the upgrade price from Cat4 to Cat6?)
We need to limit cost and we are not buying a device on the other end to do speedfusion. I’m just going to put the ISP in the WAN port and use the Cat 4 or Cat 6 modem as a backup. I don’t think there is a free way to do speedfusion unless you have a device on the other side. Unless you have a suggestion.
I understand your issues as we have a number of similar devices in play at some of the tower sites my firm manages. The answer is “it depends.” Personally? I’d probably go with a Cat6 or greater module added to the B20X so as to take advantage of LTEA and its ability to connect on multiple bands simultaneously. You won’t need the “speed” per se but I understand reliability is important. We’ve had good luck with Cat6 and Cat 12 modules for this purpose, although you likely don’t need the speed the 12 has to offer.
As to your last comment, you may want to investigate SpeedFusion Cloud – a fairly inexpensive service Peplink developed which works very well for situations such as you describe. https://www.peplink.com/software/speedfusion-cloud/ .
You can connect unlimited 20x’s in primecare subscription to a speedfusion solo , self hosted or hosted in a low cost provider. The 20x with primecare will connect to the fusionhub with no limitations.
We are a peplink partner and happy to help you more. Feel free to send me a pm and I’m be happy to help you explore some options.