- The Inseego Wavemaker 5G cellular router FX4100 is designed exclusively for T-Mobile for Business
- The router with optional Wi-Fi mesh node is targeted at small- and medium-sized enterprises, retail locations, restaurants, coffees shops and more
- It’s Inseego’s first 5G Advanced device to hit the market
The folks at Inseego are celebrating a pretty big win today: They unveiled a new 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) indoor router that’s available exclusively at T-Mobile for Business.
What makes the Inseego Wavemaker FX4100 extra special is it’s capable of doing 5G Standalone (SA) with support for advanced network slicing. T-Mobile, the sole U.S. operator with a nationwide SA network, is going great guns on 5G network slicing, promising far more slicing deals this year beyond its T-Priority service for first responders.
The Wavemaker FX4100 is the first fixed wireless access (FWA) solution from Inseego that comes with a companion Wi-Fi mesh node, making it easier for small business and enterprise customers to connect mesh nodes and expand to a larger square footage footprint, according to Steve Harmon, chief commercial officer at Inseego.
It just so happens that this is Inseego’s third time launching an indoor FWA device with T-Mobile for Business and it reflects some lessons learned from previous generations, he said. The device, which comes with Inseego branding, sports a display that shows things like signal strength and whether it’s providing a 5G connection, as well as the ability to do speed tests.
The thinking is these types of additional features will make it easier for a retail shop, restaurant or tire repair store to set up a successful system on Day One. “If they do need to end up on a phone call with someone from the T Mobile care team, they have that little bit more information right there on that display screen to help troubleshoot any issues they may be having as they set it up initially,” he told Fierce.
Inseego started working on the device about a year ago, said Ryan Sullivan, SVP of carrier product management at Inseego. It’s Inseego’s first 5G Advanced device. T-Mobile announced in April that it’s 5G Advanced network is now nationwide.
Let’s get technical
The Inseego Wavemaker FX4100 is powered by Qualcomm Dragonwing FWA Gen 3 Platform, so it’s got better uplink performance, coverage and spectrum utilization than previous generations.
Additional features include three carrier aggregation on the downlink and two carrier aggregation on the uplink, resulting in better speeds that will make video calls run smoother and sharper than before, according to Inseego. The 5G uplink MIMO supports both time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex (FDD) bands for enhanced data transmission and greater spectrum efficiency.
“We think those things will contribute to improved experience when you’re doing things like sharing video or joining Teams meetings,” Harmon said.
It also supports both SA and non-standalone (NSA) modes, as well as 4G LTE Cat 20 for seamless connectivity across a range of spectrum bands.