Cradlepoint CBA250, PHS300, MBR1200 manual Solution

connectivity were available, but buying four of them would have cost more than $10,000. Further, 3G-enabled scanners are compatible with a limited number of wireless providers (e.g., AT&T, Verizon and Sprint). Benjamin Plumbing had a long-term contract with a regional wireless provider—U.S. Cellular—that 3G-enabled scanners do not support. Thus, even if Benjamin Plumbing could afford to pay $10,000

for 3G-enabled scanners, they’d still have to undertake a highly-expensive and disruptive migration to switch wireless providers.

“The MBR1100 is simple to use [and] provides a lot of options for the price.”

SOLUTION

David deployed a CradlePoint MBR1100 Mobile Broadband ‘N’ 3G/4G Router with VPN in every truck. The MBR1100 creates a W-Fi spot that each MC9000 scanner and wireless printer can connect with. A USB modem plugged into each MBR1100 connects it to the Internet via the company’s U.S. Cellular broadband wireless service. This approach solved the problem for about one-tenth the cost of buying new scanners while avoiding the pain of switching providers.

“The MBR1100 allowed us to develop a solution that works with our customer’s existing equipment,” says David. “It’s simple to use, but at the same time, it provides a lot of options for the price.”

David continues: “For example, we use Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections to ensure security. With the MBR1100, we set up the VPN once and the field service guys never have to mess with it. Using the MBR1100 instead of Windows Mobile to establish the VPN connections is a big plus. VPN sessions in Windows Mobile tend to time out and reconfiguring or restarting a new VPN session is tricky. We wanted to avoid that. After all, these are plumbers, not computer techs.”

BENEFITS

•Simple. “Setting up [the MBR1100] was pretty straightforward,” reports David. “Plus, I was able to save the first set up I did as a configuration file. Then I just uploaded that configuration file to each of the remaining three units. That saved quite a bit of time.”

•Value. “I think [$350] is at the right price point,” notes David. “If you look at a Cisco firewall, they start at $700 or $800 and they go up from there.”

•Support. “CradlePoint support is very good,” notes David. “Very good. While configuring the VPN, I had questions about setting it up. When I called their support people, they were knowledgeable and helpful.”

•Robust. “I saw the Linksys, but didn’t care for it,” says David. “[The MBR1100] gives you a lot more options. For example, it was pretty easy for me to limit each MBR1100 to specific IP ranges, so if the trucks are parked next to each other, the scanners don’t get confused about which hotspot to use. I’m kind of surprised that [the MBR1100] came out with VPN capabilities and they kept the price where it is.”

David sums up his thoughts about the MBR1100: “Even though Benjamin Plumbing had equipment that was 4 years old, the MBR1100 made this solution work. It was less expensive than buying all new scanners. And my customer didn’t have to switch providers.”

“On service calls Benjamin Plumbing is not yet doing credit cards with a reader, but when they do, we’ll be able to take advantage of the MBR1100’s hotspot. We’ll save money on the credit card swipers, because we won’t have to buy 3G-enabled models—they’re more expensive—and we won’t have to spend $69 a month on a different 3G plan just to support the swipers.”