Article: The ups and downs of 4g hotspots

When you start to look at a connection to the internet for secure, fast, and reliable data transfers, the questions might come in as which is the best for "us". In this article I will show the advantages and disadvantages of 4g hotspot connections. 

The first thing to look for is the most important piece, security, anyone who has worked in network administration and security knows that it the network is only as good as its weakest point. The problems that can come from a 4g network is that there are so many different pieces and variables that it's hard to pinpoint the many potential points of security failure. Some of the main points are as follows:

• The wireless network
• The core network
• The Internet connection
• The PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)

How the hotspot connections work:

1. The cell phone/device users will access the network by radio signals between their device and the cell towers. (wireless network)
2. The wireless network then is connected to the core network. The core is a wired connection at this point.
3. The wired connection of the core network is then connected to the internet using gateways and other multi mobility managers. The wired core also connects to the PSTN for making calls.

The wireless communication from a hotspot device through a carrier, retrieving information and back is more difficult to control because at any given point the signal through the airways can be intercepted, cut off, or lost. So there are two main parts that can be controlled. The first being, what you can control. These are the Firewalls, anti-virus, make sure all devices are up to date, enable logging and alerting, strong passwords and if the device supports MAC filtering, enable it and create a whitelist of physical address of devices that you want to be able to use the device and block everything else. So if security is in place and properly maintained by not only you but the carrier, the experience should be good with the small chance of security holes.

The second and third piece go hand in hand. Is the connection fast and reliable? Technology is only getting better as the years go on but that does not mean that all connections will fast and reliable all the time. 4g hotspots can be great at times but as far as fast and dependable all the time it is not. Cellular connections are great, when there is limited users/connections getting the information when you need something fast and now. Also, just because it is a 4g hotspot, it does not mean that you will have a dedicated 4g connection at all times. The towers could only be relaying a 3g or 2g connection at points depending on weather, towers relaying the signals, and how many users are connecting at that same time. Thus, there could be issues with reliable speeds and loss of funtionality. If a program relies on the constant connection or a decent speed 4g hotspots might not be the way to. If the users are on the move and running applications on their devices that does not need the fully dedicated connection then 4g is the way to go. Especially if you are already paying a Cellular connection.