The technology depends on your intended use and the required bandwidth.

I want to use the remote access for...

DSL

LTE & UMTS

GPRS

TV cable

Metro ethernet

RF-based

Remote access to Desigo CC

o/+

o/+

-

+

+

o/+

Remote access to another BACnet client

+

o

o/-

+

+

+

Connecting a Desigo system to Desigo CC

o/+

-/o

-

+

+

o/+

Alarm forwarding

+

+

+

+

+

+

Key

+

Good

o

Slow but still possible

-

Not possible or too slow

The different access technologies are available with different bandwidth, e.g., DSL (o/+) can be fast or relatively slow.

Costs

The costs are divided into monthly basic costs and usage costs. To optimize costs, analyze your usage profile, that is, how many times per month do you use it and how much data do you exchange per use.

A data flat rate ensures that the costs are capped. Choosing an inappropriate rate plan for a mobile subscription could result in high costs.

Availability

RF-based links and all mobile network-based transmission standards can suffer from transmission problems due to bad weather especially at the cell border. The bandwidth that can effectively be used in the project can vary over the day, because the bandwidth is shared by all users. The bandwidth variations for cable-based technologies are lower.

Recommendations

To ensure a reliable remote access, use cable-based technologies even if the cost is slightly higher. Use mobile networks or RF-based systems only if no alternative is available. If you require a high availability remote access, you can additionally establish a mobile network-based link as a fallback solution. To do this, use a router that offers both a DSL and a GPRS/UMTS/LTE modem.

Every remote access can be attacked. See the safety measures in the document Desigo Cybersecurity Guidelines Application Guide (A6V14142297).

Access to the PXC..D/-U automation stations via Xworks Plus (XWP) can be protected with a password (password property for remote access [RemAcpwd]). You can enter the password in the Device Property dialog in XWP.

Migrating from an analog modem-based method

Analog modems should not be used in new installations and are not future-proof due to the migration of the networks to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

ISDN also is not a future-proof technology and should therefore not be used.

If DSL is available, use DSL. Otherwise, use other cable-based internet access networks. If you cannot use such a network, use a mobile network or an RF-based access.

If a project is based on LON, use the PXG3.L router, to connect the remote access on the IP side of the router.