Westermo Cellular Gateways In Galapagos Islands
Westermo Cellular gateways and WeConnect software ensure uninterrupted telecommunications services on the Galápagos Islands
Westermo cellular gateways with WeConnect
solve remote monitoring in harsh remote locations
(Galápagos, on the equator)
Westermo in the Galápagos Islands through Throughput Technologies
The Galápagos Islands are a volcanic archipelago, roughly 750 miles or about 1,200 km off the west coast of Ecuador, on the Equator, in the Pacific Ocean. The isolated islands inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and is today a World Heritage site that showcases the preservation of a diversity of unusual plant and animal species. The Galapagos is a unique destination on any wildlife enthusiast’s bucket list.
As a province of Ecuador, mobile network operators (MNO) from the mainland are obligated to provide cellular services on the islands. This supports both the 30,000 permanent residents and close to 300,000 tourists that visit the islands each year. Connectivity is provided by several MNOs and internet service providers. However, the only connection back to the mainland is via satellite.
Westermo industrial cellular gateways installed on the main radio towers on the islands help provide remote access
Baltra is one of the gateways to the Galapagos Islands where Seymour Airport is located, also known as Baltra Airport.
This small island is also known by the local name of South Seymour.
To maintain uninterrupted services in accordance to stringent regulatory conditions, remote monitoring solutions and access to equipment at various sites across the islands are essential. To support a satellite operator-managed service to one of its MNO customers, telecommunications consultant Specialized RF, developed a remote access solution for the monitoring and control of critical equipment. The solution utilises Westermo industrial cellular gateways and easy-to-use remote access management platform WeConnect, which enables secure remote connections to applications on the network edge.
“I needed a way to establish secure remote access, for my clients, to the equipment deployed on the islands, because typically it takes hours for human resources to travel to these sites,” said Jens Langenhorst, consultant and owner of Specialized RF.
“After researching various options, Throughput Technologies, the Westermo distributor in South Africa, introduced me to the Westermo cellular gateways.”
Westermo industrial cellular gateways installed on the main radio towers on the islands help provide remote access.
"Deployment of the remote monitoring solutions are at cellular tower sites located across the islands. These applications had specific criteria and limitations to work within. For example, the available power source at the sites is only 48V DC.
"Furthermore, to provide redundant connectivity, a dual SIM gateway with external antennas that can be positioned outside of the typical metal racks or shelters was needed. The Westermo industrial cellular gateways were ideally suited for these applications, providing the required functionality and designed to withstand the environmental demands ensuring reliability and a long lifecycle.
“The selling point for me was the WeConnect secure VPN service. Not only was it easy to set up and configure, but it was already integrated into the Westermo cellular gateway. My satellite clients employ specialists around the globe and using WeConnect they can access and recover any issue remotely, within minutes.
The Westermo range of industrial wireless cellular routers provides resilient remote access and eliminates the need for costly site visits. Whether you’re using a 4G LTE, 3G or 2G connection, Westermo have a solution. With support for secure VPN communications, static and dynamic IP routing, NAT, port forwarding, OpenVPN (SSL VPN), and a stateful packet inspection firewall, the Westermo cellular mobile broadband routers provide secure, reliable communications.