SMOAD Networks

5G SD-WAN
July 13, 2022

SD-WAN contribution to the growth of IoT devices

Smart homes, innovative workplaces, and intelligent shops are no more a distant dream. Internet of Things (IoT) has made automation, and seamless communication go hand in hand. It is changing how organizations do business; tasks requiring manual labour can now be automated. There is little to no dependency on manual assistance these days. From tracking and updating inventory, and processing orders to automating the manufacture of goods, IoT is proving beneficial in all areas. But if you wish to make a successful deployment of IoT devices, you will need to embrace Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN). To handle and process massive data created and used by the devices, relying on SD-WAN has become the order of the day. Besides being a cost-effective network architecture, using an SD-WAN router allows you to process and manage traffic from various networks from a single remote location.

How can SD-WAN solve IoT challenges faced by Retailers?
SD-WAN can help resolve challenges faced by retailers in the following three ways:

1) Lower Security Risks
When connected devices experience an internet breakout, hackers can use it as an opportunity to access important retailer information. But since SD-WAN uses IPsec tunnelling, information travelling from one site to another or one device to another device is fully encrypted and leaves no space for hacking. Most SD-WAN solutions come with built-in security options like anti-virus functionalities, filtering of URLs and TLS packet survey, etc.

2) Minimized Operational Expenses
When IoT devices come into use, you cannot deny the dependency on Cloud. Most retailers use MPLS to interconnect branches, data centres, and headquarters. But MPLS is not designed to work on the Cloud. If MPLS has to connect or access the Cloud, traffic must be backhauled, which will degrade the quality of the overall connection. It is both time-consuming and uneconomical. So when retailers replace this with SD-WAN, they can enjoy better connectivity, and they will experience a significant reduction in operational costs.

3) Optimized IT resources
Touchless onboarding is the latest trend that most solution providers are following. Zero-touch onboarding means SD-WAN hardware comes with pre-customized deployment settings. This way, the connection between all devices, including IoT devices, is automated and simplified. So, even if the retailers are short on IT resources, they can install these fully managed solutions and efficiently perform future upgrades.

The security, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of SD-WAN solutions have facilitated retailers to add more IoT applications to their systems:

  • Smart Shelves: Weight sensors send alerts when the supply runs out. Electronic Price Tag options allow retailers to update the prices on each shelf automatically.
  • Traffic Counting: Some devices allow retailers to automatically count the number of people entering and leaving their shop. This enables them to keep a check on theft and also allows them to analyze if they have the correct number of staff to cater to the customer’s needs.
  • AR Mirrors: Augmented reality mirrors allow customers to try on a dress or make-up and check how they look without having to wear them.
  • Cashless payments, loyalty programs, and robots are a few other applications that retailers can introduce without worrying about connectivity issues.

Routers – Most Widely Used IoT Gateways
Using routers as IoT Gateways has many benefits. You can enjoy a seamless connection at a meagre cost. Since some routers come with edge computing functionalities, data is pre-processed at the edge, and you can enjoy lower bandwidth analysis and quicker insights. Routers help transfer IP packets to and from IoT devices, thus, making it possible for your smart devices to efficiently connect to the internet and share information generated.

Software-defined routing services and cloud routers have added advantages over traditional ones:
1) Multi-WAN Routers
When retailers adopt IoT in their businesses, they must equip themselves with load balancing, failover backup, and security solutions. Multi-WAN routers make it possible. When there are two or more WAN internet ports, you can connect to any number of Internet ISPs. So even if one fails, the other would serve as a failover router.

2) LTE Routers
Adapting to LTE router utilities is advisable if your IoT project depends on cellular connectivity. This will allow retailers to eliminate dependence on fibre optic cables, Ethernet cables, or any wired connection to access the internet. You can take advantage of a router with SIM card slots since they offer the benefit of mobility along with seamless connection.

3) SIM Card Routers
Many IoT solutions rely on mobility, and that’s where SIM card internet router finds their usage. Besides offering unfailing connections, it enables choice and control across different locations. An IoT SIM card router also allows easy access to the machine-to-machine networks.

IoT isn’t a dream; many businesses and organizations adapt to automation. Adapting to SD-WAN network solutions is mandatory for better connectivity and efficient running of IoT applications.

SMOAD for Retail
SMOAD (Software Defined Mobile Aggregated Data) is the next-generation SD-WAN-based solution. It aggregates bandwidth across mobile uplinks as a network overlay with control functions. This provides redundancy, higher bandwidth, and smoother traffic flow.

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