Last updated: 22.01.2026

Summary

In many 5G use cases, such as in buildings, on ships, or in industrial facilities, the central challenge is ensuring a sufficiently strong mobile signal.
    • The placement of the router and the mobile antennas is crucial.
    • An indoor antenna location often provides no signal or an insufficient signal.
    • The maximum possible antenna cable length is severely limited by line losses. High-quality, low-loss antenna cables are expensive and often allow little more than 10 meters of distance between the router and the antenna without negating the antenna gain.

1. Problem Statement
    • Challenge: Good mobile signal in buildings, ships, or industrial facilities.
    • Limitations:
        ◦ Antenna location indoors → poor signal.
        ◦ Antenna cable length severely limited by line losses.

2. Solution: Router integrated into the antenna
An efficient and practical solution is the integration of a Robustel R5020 5G router directly into the Poynting EPNT-4 outdoor antenna housing.
    • Device Combination:
        ◦ Robustel R5020 router in the Poynting EPNT-4 housing (outdoor).
        ◦ Connection via Ethernet cable to a PoE switch (Indoor).
    • EPNT-4 antenna housing:
        ◦ Weatherproof, dustproof, and vandal-resistant (IP67 & IK10).
        ◦ Includes:
            ▪ 4x4 MIMO 5G/4G antennas
            ▪ 2x2 MIMO WiFi antennas
        ◦ Router is placed directly inside the antenna housing.
        ◦ Power supply via PoE-PD port.

3. Advantages of the Solution
Combining cellular and WiFi antennas with the router in a single enclosure offers significant performance advantages:
    • Improved system performance: High data throughput thanks to integrated antennas and router.
    • No signal loss due to long antenna cables.
    • Flexible and cost-effective networking: Cost savings on cabling.
    • PoE enables greater distances between the router and end devices.
    • UV-stable, saltwater-resistant, and resistant to highly corrosive environments, including chemical and toxic areas.

4. Power Supply and Network Components
The router in the enclosure is powered via its PoE-PD (Powered Device) port, which is provided by the indoor switch. For reliable PoE power supply, the ISON IS-DG306P industrial PoE switch is recommended.
    • Industrial PoE Switch IS-DG306P (ISON):
        ◦ 4x IEEE 802.3af/at PoE ports with Gigabit speed.
        ◦ 2x SFP ports for fiber optics: Suitable SFP modules for industrial temperature ranges are available.
        ◦ Redundant DC voltage input → increased reliability:
            ▪ 46–57V DC input voltage.
            ▪ 24V DC version (optionally).

In many 5G applications, the challenge is to get a good mobile signal, e.g. in buildings, on ships and in industrial plants. The location of the router and the mobile radio antennas must be selected accordingly. An antenna location indoors often provides no or insufficient signal. The possible antenna cable length is also severely limited by line losses.

A practical solution is to integrate a Robustel R5020 directly into the Poynting EPNT-4 housing outdoors with a connection via an Ethernet cable to the IS-DG306P industrial PoE Switch indoors.

Thanks to its special design, the Poynting EPNT-4 outdoor antenna allows a 5G router from Robustel to be accommodated in its IP67 & IK10 weather, dust and vandalism-proof housing. The router is connected internally to the 4x4 MIMO 5G/LTE antennas and the 2x2 MIMO WiFi antennas of the EPNT-4. The router is powered via its PoE-PD port.

The combination of the mobile radio and WiFi antennas with the router in one housing results in exceptional performance with increased data throughput. The high antenna gain of the EPNT-4 is not diminished by long antenna cables. In addition, PoE enables significantly longer distances to the devices to be supplied with 5G while at the same time saving on cabling costs. High-quality antenna cables with low attenuation are expensive and generally allow a distance of barely more than 10 m between the router and the antenna without nullifying the entire antenna gain.

The UV-stable housing of the EPNT-4 is fully protected against salt water and can be used in highly corrosive environments, including chemical and toxic environments.

The industrial PoE Switch IS-DG306P from ISON is used in this setup to supply power via PoE. This offers four IEEE 802.3af/at PoE ports with gigabit speeds as well as 2 SFP ports for networking via fiber optics. We also offer corresponding SFP modules for the industrial temperature range if required. A variant of the IS-DG306P for 24V DC instead of 46-57V DC input voltage is also available and may allow additional power supplies to be saved. With its redundant DC voltage input, the ISON PoE Switch contributes to increased system reliability.

POYNTING EPNT-4 outdoor antenna

• For harsh environments

• X-Polarised, Omni-Directional

• 4x 5G/LTE, 2x WiFi, GPS

• Operating Temperature -40°C - +80°C

• Weather, dust & vandal resistant enclosure (IP67)

Robustel R5020 Rugged 5G Industrial Router

• 4x GbE LAN, PoE-PD IEEE 802.3at support at ETH0

• WiFi, Operating Temperature -25 ~ +70 °C
  

ISON® Industrial Ethernet Switch IS-DG306P

• 6x unmanaged ports: 4x Gb PoE IEEE 802.3af/at, 2x Gb SFP ports

• Redundant DC Power Input (46~57V DC)

• Operating Temperature -40°C bis +75°C
  

Applications

• Industry 4.0: IoT, Automation, Robotics and other M2M systems telemetry

• Agriculture: Farming Automation: M2M, IoT

• Smart City: Outdoor antenna for Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)

• Transportation: Passenger WiFi, Broadband cellular to WiFi distribution for marine/boats

• Other Industries: Energy, Construction sites, Smart Ports

• 5Consumer 5G/LTE internet connectivity

Now it's your turn: get informed and provide your company with efficient 5G connectivity.

Consult your expert
Sven Trommer, Tel. +49407003550

More Robustel Industrial Cellular Routers
at 1ST-embedded.

More ISON Industrial Ethernet Switches
at 1ST-embedded.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Jelena Dronowa, Head of Digital Media, Dipl.-Ing for Systems Engineering