CSL Outpost

INSTALLATION

In most cases, CSL Outpost is installed by CSL Field Engineers. If not, it is delivered ready to receive a configuration from our Service Desk. Before you contact them, please observe the following the following:

Ensure the installation location has AC power and space to install the antennae. Choose a location with good 4G coverage – us a CSL Signal Analyser or similar to check. Keep away from sources of interference such as microwaves, fridges etc.
Attach antennae to each SMA connector. If using external antennae, ensure each antenna has two connectors and connect in adjacent pairs.
Connect supplied 12V power supply to power and connect to Outpost 12V socket. Only use supplied power supply.
Power on via. black rocker switch at rear and ensure blue light at front illuminates.
Call support on 0333 1014101 with information including the installation location and the asset number on the side.
Once commissioning has completed, support staff will talk you through testing procedure, which will differ based on the network configuration.

Before calling support, please check the following:

Ensure power is connected and the blue light is on at the front of the unit.
If not, press the button on the front and the light should come on.
If it does not, check that the rocker switch on the rear of the unit is flipped to the “I” position.
Check the power socket and if possible, confirm that it works with another device.

If the device does not power on, or if it does power on and you aren’t receiving the expected connectivity, please contact our support team on 0333 1014101.

CPU	Dual Core Intel®
RAM	16GB DDR4
Storage	512GB SSD
Ethernet	4 x 1Gbe (2 x802.3af POE)
Wi-Fi WAN	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Battery backup	4,500mAh LiFePO4

LTE radio technology	4 x LTE-A or 5GNR
Antenna connections	8 to 13 SMA male for LTE/5GNR and Wi-Fi
LED’s	Single operating LED (power)

Monitoring options	CSL monitored with customer portal

Dimensions	TBC
Operating temperature	-20 to 70°C
Power	12V

Figure 1 – Public Internet-facing connection

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Figure 2 – Multiple sites on private WAN

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The full CSL Router portfolio is designed to solve many difference problems for customers. CSL Outpost offers a more software-defined approach to networking and being tightly integrated into our network core allows a wide range of different configurations, including:

Fully routed public IP’s with integrated next-generation firewalls
Fully routed private networks (an “IP-VPN”)
Multi-tenant networks and combinations of the above

CSL Outpost also offers on-board virtualisation and compute, allowing you to move your cloud workloads closer to the source of the information.

Outpost is also more suited to high data usage applications, as it comes with SIMs with higher included data allowances.

This is entirely dependent on the performance of the networks at the installation location but assuming an all-4G deployment, you can expect about 3x the performance of the best network.

Typically, the fault tolerance is sub-second and the end user isn’t aware.

No – the IP addresses are provided by the SDN overlay, the underlying connections don’t affect the IP addresses you see at all.

CSL Outpost comes with 2 POE ports for connecting Wi-Fi access points, which are managed by CSL. The included Wi-Fi is typically used as a WAN though can be configured as an integrated access point if an external access point is not suitable.

CSL Outpost should be looked at as a piece in the larger network ecosystem that provides your connection. For that reason, we don’t allow any third-party access to the underlying operating system. If there are any particular network configurations you would like to discuss, please get in touch with the dedicated support channel.

When installed by a CSL field engineer, we include the most appropriate networks for the location, which can be any mix of

In the majority of circumstances, to get the best balance between price and performance we use fixed network SIMs but as we have 4 active 4G modems in each unit, we use a mix of networks to provide the best performance and fault tolerance.

The connection is fully supported, including the hardware. In the event of a hardware issue, CSL field engineers will attend and replace.

The exact network setup will be based on exactly what you require! Please contract us to discuss exactly how this can work for you.

The battery is designed to bridge smaller power outages or less reliable sources like generators. It has about 45m of runtime under normal circumstances.

As we provide full virtualisation, any operating system can theoretically be used, including Windows and Linux.

Each CSL Outpost can be fitted with one or two Google Coral Tensor Processing Units (TPU), providing up to 8 TOPS. This is typically used in machine vision applications, such as face and object recognition, ANPR and more.

Depending on the network design, a firewall can either be provided at the edge of our network and protect all your CSL Outpost installations or can be included on the CSL Outpost itself. These firewalls can be managed by ourselves or access can be given to your network team.

If you have a preferred firewall vendor, we can usually offer this too!