Question

Hi Folks.

I am looking at the Rut240 as a 4G modem for a small office. The 'use cases' listed on the website product page lists industralial applications. I have used Teltonika units before and think they are great.

But i am wondering about use in a small office, max 15 users, but those users have heavy video conferencing demands. The Rut240 will be patched into the existing managed switch, users will connect via etho cables or separate WIFI APs. The Rut240 will act only as the 4G modem (and perhaps also firewall). I am interested to know how the unit will work in this type of environment, that is, heavy and sustained i/o data througput.

Is the Rut240 suited to high data traffic demand office use?

Thanks. Jake

Answer 1

Hello,

RUT240 will be able to take care of 15 WiFi users easily (plus, some of them will be connecting to separate APs?). Also, video calls don't generate that much traffic. I've done a quick Google search a found an article comparing the data usage of some of the more popular video call platforms. According to that article, the data consumption for a 4-minute call was:

Apple’s FaceTime: 8.8 MB
Skype: 12.3 MB
WhatsApp: 12.74 MB

(the source of this info is from here)

So if you compare it against the one with the highest data usage (WhatsApp), that's just 0.053 MB/s or 0.42 Mbit/s.

The calls in the example were made from a phone, but you may be using laptops or PCs, which may use different amounts of data, and maybe other call platforms. Even so, the data consumption shouldn't be much higher.

Since you say the routers will be patched to an existing switch, I assume you will be using wired WAN, which will provide a speed of 100 Mbit/s (which in reality will be closer to 94-95 Mbit/s). So if all 15 users are connected at once, they'll each get 94 / 15 = 6.266666 Mbit/s. Subtract about 30 % speed loss due to WiFi you still get 6.266666 * 0.7 = 4.3866662 Mbit/s for each user. (I got the 30 % WiFi speed loss number from here)

So I think RUT240 should suit your needs if they are as you described them.

If you'll be using LTE WAN, it's an entirely different story, since a lot will depend on the location of your office. If you're in an area with poor coverage or a heavily populated area, the mobile speeds will be lower, of course. The best solution here would be to do some tests in your office to see what kind of speeds you get and determine whether that will suit your needs.

Answer 2

Hello Jake,

RUT240 has the same LTE module as RUT9XX and RUT850 series devies. If previous Teltonika routers suited your needs RUT240 should be enough as well.

Of course LTE speed highly depend on environmental factors so it would be the a good idea to check if throughput and signal quality is good with a sample device at first.

Comments

Thanks for the information Vilmantas1, it is good to know the module is the same.

My issue however is that my two other units Rut950 are deployed in the field and during the last 12 months of use, the units have been used for small data transfer and regular intervals. Put simply, they have not be hammered with high data flows that sustained video and audio transfer (in and out) would require.

If you have any additional thoughts please consider sharing.

Thanks. Jake

Answer 3

Hi All,

Just reporting back following the puchase and installation. So far so good. The RUT240 works well in an office environment, tested with 10 users so far with normal office administartion internet needs, as well as at least 3 Zoom Conference video calls. Following the holiday season, it will have more users - so if there is a change on preformance, i shall update this posting.

Other than reduced etho ports from the RUT950, the RUT240 has only one WIFI antenna. This isnt an issue for me as i shall use a separate AP.

Thanks.

Jake