We’ve all heard about prepaid cellular phone plans and the prepaid cards you can pick up at a local convenience store. But a prepaid industrial cellular plan? Why not? After all, so much consumer technology is finding its way into industrial environments, why not the cellular plans too?
B&B Electronics and Raco Wireless, have jointly developed the Spectre cellular router packaged that comes with a prepaid wireless data plan as a starter kit for customers developing industrial M2M monitoring and control applications. The Spectre 3G cellular router’s free, prepaid, 60-day trial 100MB/100 SMS RacoWireless 3G data plan allows customers to wirelessly connect their mobile equipment over the T-Mobile 3G cellular USA network.
The Spectre cellular router was developed to help network engineers jump-start their industrial M2M network designs by allowing users to develop their system design before having to commit to a full data plan. The router wirelessly extends local M2M networks connected via Ethernet 10/100 and RS-232/422/485 with enhanced features such as Modbus and Wi-Fi. Users manage the router's configuration options through a secure Web interface or a scripting engine. A rugged design enables the router to operate from -30 to 60°C.
When installing the router, users contact B&B Electronics’ technical support to activate their 60-day trial data plan and for technical assistance. At the end of the trial, customers can contact RacoWireless to purchase a data plan that best fits their M2M application.
The B&B Electronics/Raco Wireless starter kit includes:
• Spectre 3G HSPA+/GPRS/GSM cellular router;
• 10/100 Ethernet, RS-232/422/485, 802.11 Wi-Fi;
• Free 60-day prepaid trial;
• 100 MB data usage;
• 100 SMS;
• B&B Electronics’ technical support; and
• Raco’s Omega Management Suite for account management, control, and reporting.
