3.4 KiB
title, date, draft
| title | date | draft |
|---|---|---|
| Teltonika Router | 2025-01-18T22:42:23+02:00 | true |
This is my first product review. I really wanted to write it, because:
- from my very limited use, it promised a really good start.
- I haven't heard of the product line, even though the company HQ is a few kilometers from me (and is a well-known brand and employer, but not for routers!).
Background
I am building a house. Huge thanks to my very helpful neighbors for putting a webcam on his windowsill and sharing the feed (and recordings), I was able to see a view the construction. It was extremely helpful for reasons I will not get into here.
The construction will soon continue, and, thanks to the success of the neighbor's camera so far, I decided to set up my own for a better, closer-up view. I spent a good amount of time over the last few days looking for a device combination that would:
- Do the feed. Friends of friends at jpg.lt recommended going with Dahua. The recommendation is consistent with Frigate hardware recommendations page. I bought the camera from jpg.lt.
- 4G/5G modem, so the feed can be downloaded by the NVR. My first choice is Frigate, we'll see how it goes.
- WiFi router, so I have more on-site troubleshooting options, besides climbing a 4m pole to attach the RJ45 cable.
- Should be installable and service-able by a non-specialized contractor.
- Highly desired, but optional: tailscale support.
- Highly desired: as little devices as possible.
- All equipment will be outside, on a pole, in Vilnius climate, during winter & summer seasons.
Having been Mikrotik user for the last few years, that was obviously my first choice. However, Mikrotik does not have a device that is both an LTE modem and a WiFi router. Internet searches for this combination uncovered Teltonika Networks. Teltonika, as you may know, is headquartered in Lithuania. I did not know they are making routers right until this search. Bad marketing?
Anyhow, RUTX11 is the cheapest 4G+WiFi router that meets my spec (not that it's cheap; they have more expensive stuff that's higher-specced, which is just unnecessary for me). They also sell a separate enclosure that makes it into an outdoor-capable device (IP67).
Setting it up felt like using a yet-another consumer router, which is good. This is a prerequisite, so I can recommend it to my non-geek friends. Setting up tailscale felt like setting it up on a consumer router, glitch-free, which is great.
OpenWRT origins
RutOS is based on OpenWRT, which is great, as OpenWRT is a solid choice engineering-wise. Teltonika is a hardware company, not a Router OS company. Talking from my personal experience, customizing OpenWRT does not take much Router OS is not something where one needs to "differentiate". The differentiation is in:
- the hardware build, which is very solid,
- hardware reliability and service-ability, about which feel free to ask me in 2-3 years.
- software and hardware integration (the "add-ons").
- system upgrades.