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Mobile 4G Office in a Box

Thought I'd share our Mobile 4G Office in a Box setup we use for regional Australia touring.

This is a Mark I setup with the case and we'll probably look to move it into a Pelican case for Mark II.

Gear list:
RED 10
AP 10
Dovado Tiny
Telstra 4G modem (Sierra / Netcomm 320U)

Due to the lack of 4G modem support on the UTM & RED at the moment, we've used a Dovado Tiny router to connect the 4G modem as an ethernet device. The WiFi on the Dovado is disabled and the antenna removed (it just unscrews).

Staff just open the case and remove the board with everything mounted.
They connect the powerboard to a power source, plug in the 4G modem and extend the cable with modem away from AP 10 to minimize interference.

Worked flawlessly for the 6 weeks of the tour.

Things to do:

Mark II roadcase - just remove the lid?
SOPHOS - 4G modem compat. Remove requirement for Dovado
SOPHOS - RED survivability. RED provides internet if no connection to UTM
Redundant path home - We have multiple UTM sites. Need to configure things that the RED can try a different path into the Corporate network.

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0 frank1985au over 9 years ago
Hi Bob

I'd thought of a possible way to reduce the number of boxes that I plan to try for my next job - it does involve a certain amount of Linux fu, though.

I'm about to go into a job as the IT Manager for a home builder and they regularly need to set up shop temporarily in display homes.  They currently have a setup where they have a 4G modem, router and wireless AP that they have to drag around with them, and I would love to be able to reduce that workload by providing a plug and play (as opposed to plug and pray) alternative.

My plan is to do a similar thing but using an ALiX 2-2 with wireless from Yawarra - plug the modem into that, then have the WAN port go into one port on the ALiX (configured for NAT), and the other plugged into the LAN ports, bridged to the wireless interface.

Essentially something like:

    +---------------+
    |               |             +---------------------+
    |   ALiX   +----|=            |                     |
    |    2-2   |   [---------+    |       RED 10        |
    |          |    |        |    |                     |
  ---]U    WiFi+---[------+  |    |    _     _ _ _ _    |
  | |          +----|=    |  |    +----|-----|- - - ----+
  | |               |     |  |         |     |
  | +---------------+     |  +---------+     |
  |                       +------------------+
  |
  |
+--+
|4G|
+--+

I'd also look into a hard plastic case to which I could attach external antennae and an incoming power connection, thus eliminating the need to open the case.  It would need to be designed in a way that means they couldn't be broken off accidentally, of course.
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0 frank1985au over 9 years ago
Hi Bob

I'd thought of a possible way to reduce the number of boxes that I plan to try for my next job - it does involve a certain amount of Linux fu, though.

I'm about to go into a job as the IT Manager for a home builder and they regularly need to set up shop temporarily in display homes.  They currently have a setup where they have a 4G modem, router and wireless AP that they have to drag around with them, and I would love to be able to reduce that workload by providing a plug and play (as opposed to plug and pray) alternative.

My plan is to do a similar thing but using an ALiX 2-2 with wireless from Yawarra - plug the modem into that, then have the WAN port go into one port on the ALiX (configured for NAT), and the other plugged into the LAN ports, bridged to the wireless interface.

Essentially something like:

    +---------------+
    |               |             +---------------------+
    |   ALiX   +----|=            |                     |
    |    2-2   |   [---------+    |       RED 10        |
    |          |    |        |    |                     |
  ---]U    WiFi+---[------+  |    |    _     _ _ _ _    |
  | |          +----|=    |  |    +----|-----|- - - ----+
  | |               |     |  |         |     |
  | +---------------+     |  +---------+     |
  |                       +------------------+
  |
  |
+--+
|4G|
+--+

I'd also look into a hard plastic case to which I could attach external antennae and an incoming power connection, thus eliminating the need to open the case.  It would need to be designed in a way that means they couldn't be broken off accidentally, of course.
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