Five top tips for evaluating in-vehicle network solutions

For commercial and public vehicle fleet managers everywhere, reliable and secure internet connectivity is a top-of-mind priority.

As fleet vehicles become complex and highly computerised machines, fleet managers are racing to find the right connectivity solutions to maximise vehicle efficiency and on-the-road time.

Whether you're replacing legacy in-vehicle hardware or completely new to in-vehicle networks, you need to know the best practices for evaluating, choosing, and preparing to instal an in-vehicle network.

Cradlepoint has collated some top tips for evaluating your in-vehicle network solutions so your organisation can succeed.

Today, GPS and AVL systems are critical components of effective vehicle fleet management. Fleet managers need to be able to monitor vehicle speed, route, and location at any time, and record data for future review.

And if you're a fleet manager - like the many that must be able to report this data to multiple entities - you should look at your current and potential future GPS reporting needs, and ask the important questions.

• To whom do reports need to be sent?
• In what format should reports be delivered?
• Over which medium should they be delivered? (TCP/IP or COM port? TAIP or NMEA format?)

Start with these questions, then narrow your list of potential solutions to ones that can accommodate or enhance your current and future needs.

A general-purpose wireless router isn't going to last very long in an in-vehicle setting.

From the voltage drops that occur whenever the operator turns the ignition to spikes that can occur if the voltage regulator goes out, power fluctuations occur frequently and you need to plan for them.

Consider whether you need a DC power converter.

Evaluate whether a power conditioner is needed to protect the router from "dirty" power.

Choose a router with a voltage input range of 9-36V.

Look for a solution that not only protects against power fluctuations, but also reverse polarity.

There will be times when you'll want the router to stay powered up, such as when you need a vehicle to offload data during its down hours or when your operator might be turning the vehicle on and off multiple times each day.

In this case - you need to think about the following:

• Will you make the operator flip a power switch to turn power to the router on and off?
• Does your router need to have ignition-sensing? 
• Should it only shut off at a certain interval after the ignition turns off?
• Do you want the router on 24/7? In this case you'll potentially wire the router directly to the vehicle battery.

You need to know what makes sense for you and your application so you can choose a solution that meets those needs.

With telematics reporting poised to become increasingly prevalent over the coming years, there has never been a more crucial time to choose a solution with advanced capabilities to transmit this data.

A purpose-built in-vehicle router can serve as the cellular conduit between the vehicle and third-party tracking platforms. Besides GPS, you can remotely track a wide variety of analytics — for example, idle vs. driving for commercial trucking.

The result?

A much more granular view of fleet efficiency.

So know that you've covered the ability to transmit telematics data - it's time to think about how a router solution addresses the need for always-on connectivity and wireless-to-wireless failover in case of a carrier outage or coverage gap.

A vehicle's metal body panels, glass, and window tinting can hinder the cellular signal. So, if you want to maximise performance and reliability, purchase antennas that are designed for external use.

Viable solutions range from permanent roof-mounted antennas to MagMount or temporary models for almost any scenario.

The highest, most centered point of a roof is the best spot to instal an antenna, for radio efficiency. Select an antenna solution that works well with the frequencies available from the cellular carrier you've selected.

For instance, some antennas have higher gain in the 700Mhz range, where others focus more on say 1900-2500Mhz; the former supports Verizon better, while the latter supports Sprint better.