As describe by Peplink, their SIM injector integrates up to 8 additional SIMs into your network without the need for physical intervention which is perfect for hard to reach deployments. In our case, we have multiple routers anywhere in the country at any given time.
the challenge
Providing internet in locations all around the United States was a daunting task, whether it was for streaming, hybrid-virtual meetings, or providing mass audiences with WiFi. It was difficult to predict which carrier would perform best in each situation, which required us to run tests on all the networks at each site. The management of SIM cards and data plans quickly became overwhelming for our staff, and regularly ended up with surprise data charges that affected our pricing.
This forced us to try to write standard operating procedures (SOPs) to combat accidentally card activations and unexpected charges. This was a timely process and while it worked OK, it never seemed to work great. We knew there had to be a better way
the solution
Enter Peplink’s SIM injector and SIM injector mini. This is a solution that quickly took care of all of our SIM management headaches. The SIM injector mini is a device that lives on the network and houses up to 8 SIM cards. These SIM cards can then be assigned to any router on the network remote, alleviating the need to physically access the router.
A use case for this that Peplink boasts is when using their domes in a factory. Often, these devices are not easily accessible if a service provider needs to change. Thus, the SIM injector can remotely assign a SIM card to that device without needing to access it.
In our use case, we house our SIM injectors at our office in Lititz, PA, and our routers in the field can connect back to the office to have a SIM card injected. Therefore, all of our routers are loaded with IoT (internet of things) SIM cards that share a single inexpensive data plan. Such a data plan is great for low data usage, but data can cost upwards of $6-$10 per GB, which is why we cannot use them for production data.
Called ‘ignite’ SIMs, the shared data SIMs provide our routers with the initial connectivity required for the router to reach the internet and run a speed test on each carrier (Verizon, TMobile, and AT&T). Once connected, we can remotely run detailed speed tests on each network, and then remotely inject a SIM card on a business-class data plan that we have activated at the office.
the result
The result of having SIM injectors in our inventory was astounding. We were able to instantly reduce data waste from accidental SIM mis-management pretty much immediately. What’s more is we have been able to overall reduce the amount of cellular data plans activated at a single time by using the same data plan in different routers at different times.
By creating a more efficient and cost-effective operating model, we have been and will continue to refine our pricing to be as aggressive as possible in order to maximize the result at a lower cost for our clients. If that isn’t Innovative, we don’t know what is!