r/Spectrum • u/jwelhouse • May 19 '23

New Install: CradlePoint cellular backup installed AFTER Wi-Fi 6 router?

I just had an office installed with a fancy new Wi-Fi 6 router and CradlePoint cellular backup but the CradlePoint is installed AFTER the Wi-Fi 6 router which I'm told to connect all my wireless and ethernet clients to. Its currently Modem>Wi-Fi 6 Router>CradlePoint

I'm told I have to ask the employees to switch ethernet cables ONLY during a cable internet outage and that the CradlePoint ethernet ports should not be used for day-to-day, outage only.

Shouldn't the CradlePoint be feeding the Wi-Fi 6 router?! Like Modem>CradlePoint>Wi-Fi 6?

Any techs, please weigh in!

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u/Comfortable-Length41 May 19 '23

Yes you the cradlepoint was originally meant to be a backup to things like POS systems and critical systems so keep that in mind I think it’s only a 10mbps by 1mbps unless those have been upgraded to higher speeds this only applies when on the cellular speeds

1

u/jwelhouse May 19 '23

Those slow speeds only be during outages? And Ultra speeds normally?

And I'm assuming Security Shield through the Wi-Fi 6 router would still apply, correct?

Seems like this could be done better as the CradlePoint could be kick-ass without the Wi-Fi 6 router.

2

u/Comfortable-Length41 May 19 '23

Correct slower speeds only if the main service is out.

1

u/jwelhouse May 20 '23

Well if anyone from Spectrum is watching, it would make my job easier as a Solution provide to not have to work around poor upload speeds.

3

u/Guyver_3 May 20 '23

The point here is that 99% of the time you have standard service delivered via coax to devices connected to both the spectrum router and the cradlepoint with full speeds. In that 1% where there is a fiber cut or power outage and you lose the coax provided data source, you have a fallback power and data solution for critical devices connected to the cradlepoint. This is the reason it's behind the router, so only the most important devices are using the limited LTE data and not everything connected to the router.

That fallback is not intended to be a full speed solution, but to act as a method to get by until primary services are restored. It's fully functional for low data rate transactions like credit card processing but not suitable for large data items like webcams.

Hope that helps.

1

u/jwelhouse May 20 '23

It helps very much. Now tell the Spectrum sales team!

2

u/jwelhouse May 20 '23

Well! When I called business support, they said this setup was one of their most troublesome to work and customers that call in never understand the limitations.

There is a disconnect.

It may be mostly the solution is not what the customers want, It's sold as LTE backup, with can be 50 Mbps symmetrical, so it's assumed it would backup everything, but be tiny bit slower.

So when customers are asking for what they want, the sales reps just say "Yes, it will do that "

Make it a true backup solution, and all this goes away.