Please add 5G LTE Modem/WIFI on Watchguard M4800/4900
Please add 5G LTE Modem/WIFI Access on Watchguard M290/M300 or M4800/M4900. It would be great if it has E-SIM or SIM, that could be used to get backup WAN Service during outage. Also having USB-C Port on the port to add Modules Like Modem or WIFI or External Storage would be great.
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Hi @ThomasGV
-We support a number of USB modems across our entire Firebox line. You can find a list of supported modems here:
https://techsearch.watchguard.com/KB?type=Article&SFDCID=kA10H000000g3PeSAI&lang=en_US
-We also offer a expansion module for the T80 that accepts a SIM card directly.
As our devices are offered globally, having an onboard modem w/ e-sim is problematic as there would either need to be multiple SKUs to support each country's wireless bands, or it would need to support all of them, both of which would raise the cost of the appliance.
The firebox can interface anything USB-C with a USB A to C adapter. The vast majority of devices that interface with the Firebox over USB are still standard USB-A connectors. USB-C may make it into a new appliance as things change, but it's very unlikely that an existing appliance model will be changed to add ports.
-James Carson
WatchGuard Customer Support
The issue is 5G modem is not Intergrated right now, we now need to buy it separately and make sure it is compatible, we just spend 70K on only the M4800 but don't have 5G modem doesn't make any senses for the money we spend the unit.
We also prefer to have 5G Modem Built-in on M290's also. We purchased 30 Units, We just spend 75K on this unit but having wireless support would make it reliable product during outage.
If you look at IPhone 14 Pro/ S22 Ultra. They don't have multiple SKU, they one universal product that supports all Wireless bands
@ThomasGV We can certainly look into it for newer models down the line, but it's not something that would be included in the existing product line. If you require 3G/4G/5G at this current point in time, it'll either need to be via a USB modem, or via an external device that interfaces with the firewall via ethernet.
-James Carson
WatchGuard Customer Support
Also, you dont support 5G C Band /Low Band/MMWave right now for AT&T or Verizon
Why did you not verify the products meet your requirements before buying in the first place?
/Robert
Granted I've only had to deal with two other brands of routers (not firewalls) that have integrated LTE modems and even those ones have different SKUs for different markets.
The comment about mobile devices having one SKU is not quite correct - again there are different models for different markets (even if only a few globally).
For the firewall context, I find it is easier to use a 5G modem which has an Ethernet handoff since all we need to do is configure an Ethernet interface for the handoff.
It also allows for a quicker upgrade (eg. going from 4G/LTE modems to 5G only required changing of the modem, not the whole firewall) - granted this does not suit everybody's use case, but it does mean only having one firewall type to deal with globally and then adding on whatever backup is site specific (eg. we're looking at Starlink for one remote site which would just be an Ethernet handoff).