@netboy said in When will prosumer netgate router have sim card slot:
One of the feature I would like to see is a sim card slot (or better eSIM) in the prosumer routers
A sim card is easy.
But you probably also want a radio device that can send/receive 3G/4G/5G radio signals.
And that's close to impossible for a device like these.
Let me name some issues :
Companies : most routers/firewalls are placed in metal cases .... deep below underground, nearby the point where the fiber comes into the building. So forget about any 3/4/5G signals.
Ok, you've said it, for the pro consumer. Maybe the router can be placed in a place where the main internet access is available, and where some 3G, maybe 4G but certainly not 5G can be received - and transmitted (5G in hous is ... forget it - except if you live in Japon where the houses are all from paper and wood ?). So people will live very close to a 4G/5G transmitter, and it won't be like your phone that sends a packet ones in awhile, no, this one will send a lot.
Even if you believe that these radio signals won't harm you, there are many counties where this is simply 'not done'/'forbidden'.
Also : "Wifi", the frequencies it used, the max emission power used etc, is somewhat tolerated.
4G/5G transmitters have to be certified or each country, and this procedure is way more difficult as a classic Wifi setup.
Making a router device with 4G/5G transmitter that can be sold in every country, where a user can put in the SIM card of his choice ..... that's hard.
Exposing antennas, which send out 'huge' energy waves, and nearby 'way to cheap' Ethernet cables will create a huge electrical mess. Every electric device nearby that isn't probably shielded will start to be have strangely - and then fail.
The router, the computer part, has to be shielded to protect itself from the radio and antennas. So, the device has already a build in radio wave blocker ... Like turn the box : no more 5G, tilt is somewhat : 5G works .. etc. Go explain that to an end user.
Because the devices will have to be shielded, it more difficult to service.
And 3G/4G/5G radio transmitters have good FreeBSD support ? No way, FreeBSD isn't even brilliant with the most common Wifi chip sets.
When I look at a device like this I know its closed-source firmware. The constructor can not allow that some one else (open source) changes the firmware and starts to mess with 3/4/5 G radio device, as this would break the agreement to use that device.
If you really need 3/4/5G access, you need to have an extra box, like the Archer shown (I showed that device as an example as I have a friend that uses one in France - his version is 'locked' to the operator, he can't put a SIM card of another operator in it - That's how things work in France).
Mai advantage : connect it with a long Ethernet cable to pfsense and place it under the roof of your house, there where 3/4/5G reception/emission is optimal with having it to fry your brains all day long ^^
Btw : I'm just thinking out loud here.