What’s the best industrial router—for you? – Cisco Blogs

When the ice cream choices are chocolate or vanilla, my decision is easy. (Chocolate.) When the choices expand to dozens of flavors, cone types, and toppings, the decision gets harder.

The same goes for choosing the best industrial router. Cisco now offers more than 10 industrial routers to meet widely varying edge requirements—industry certifications, access technologies, stationary versus moving assets, cloud or on-premise management, environmental conditions, and more. Painstakingly comparing data sheets is time-consuming, and not everyone knows exactly what features they need for their use case.

New online tool recommends the right industrial router

Now it’s simpler to select the best 5G router or best Wi-Fi 6 router for your needs, thanks to our new Industrial Router and Gateway Selector Tool. Take a few minutes to answer eight simple questions, and you’ll immediately see a recommendation for the best routers for your use case.

Here’s how it works. Visit the website and select your industry. The questions branch off from there. Say you’re in the transportation industry and need to connect assets on the move (e.g., security cameras and payment systems on buses). Your match will be the Cisco Catalyst IR1800 Rugged Series Router.

Or say you’re looking to modernize utility infrastructure. First you’ll be asked if you need a full-featured IP router with enterprise-grade security, or a basic IP router with simple, secure connectivity. Next, you’ll click to select the type of assets you’re connecting (substation automation, advanced metering infrastructure, etc.). If you select substation automation, you’ll be asked if the router will be in a cabinet or exposed to the elements. If you answer cabinets, you’ll match up with the Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series Router. Otherwise the tool will recommend the Cisco Catalyst IR8100 Heavy Duty Series Router, IP67-rated for the outdoors.

Whatever your match, you’ll have full visibility

All our industrial routers can run Cisco Cyber Vision, which conducts a dynamic asset inventory and lets you monitor real-time process data. Managing your industrial routers over Cisco SD-WAN gives you end-to-end visibility and stronger security through segmentation.

Expert recommendations

Bottom line: The new online tool takes the uncertainty out of selecting the best router for your edge needs. You’ll avoid overspending while making sure you have what you need to connect assets at the edge. I’d say that calls for a bowl of your favorite ice cream.

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