Two Networks, One Blind Spot: Solving the Gap Between Satellite and Cellular Connectivity
Keri Gunther, General Manager
Cellular and satellite make a great team…when they know they’re on the same one. For one of our longtime customers, that wasn’t the case. Cellular already covered most of their sites, and satellite came in later to patch coverage at a few remote locations. Both were the right call, but they weren’t set up to run as a single system.
The customer is a manufacturer of gas treatment equipment that takes contaminated byproducts from gas processing and converts them into something safe to release into the environment. Their business is a good example of why connectivity can’t be an afterthought: if a treatment system loses its connection without anyone noticing, the risk isn’t just downtime — it’s not knowing whether the byproduct leaving the site was actually treated.
This is where the guesswork started:
We’ve worked with this customer for years, starting with straightforward cellular connectivity across their sites, which we’ve continued to manage for them. Some of their locations are remote enough that cellular coverage alone wasn’t reliable, so they introduced satellite and kept cellular as backup.
When they first introduced satellite, it was managed entirely separately from cellular. That meant:
- different vendor relationships
- different billing cycles and teams
- different technical oversight
Not to mention, two systems to monitor instead of one. When something looked “off” at a site, their team had to figure out which system was responsible before they could begin troubleshooting.
Data usage compounded the problem. Consumption varied significantly from site to site and month to month, depending on what each piece of equipment was doing at the time. Building individual data plans around that kind of variability amounted to educated guessing, which got expensive. Plans sized for peak usage sat underused most of the time, while others ran short when it mattered most.
How did Solve address the connectivity blind spot?
When Solve Networks launched our LEO satellite connectivity offering, this customer was among the first to reach out. They’d already identified exactly what they wanted to change, and they trusted our team to do it.
We brought their satellite and cellular connectivity together under one system, managed entirely by Solve.
The customer moved onto pooled data plans, so usage is now aggregated across the account rather than estimated site by site. Because their consumption can be unpredictable, it helped remove the choice between overpaying for unused buffer and running short at the wrong moment.
Plus, they now have a single view into both networks, so satellite and cellular status can be monitored in one place. Support also runs through a single point of contact rather than two vendors, and their accounts payable team has one fewer vendor relationship to manage.
Those changes turned two disconnected systems into a single connectivity setup the customer no longer has to actively manage themselves. With their connectivity tied directly to environmental safety, that reliability is non-negotiable.
Closing the gap, for good.
Getting multiple connectivity systems to work together in real time is a big problem, and I don’t think it gets easier just because more providers enter the market. It’s also the problem Solve Networks exists to combat — not only connecting equipment, but making sure our customers have one clear view of that connectivity.
If you’re currently managing satellite and cellular connectivity as two separate systems, this story may sound familiar. Learn how our LEO satellite and cellular management works together or talk with our team directly about what consolidation could look like for your sites.
About the Author
Keri Gunther is the General Manager of Solve Networks and has spent the last two decades in the industrial technology space. He joined Solve five years ago to focus exclusively on the IoT connectivity problem, and he’ll tell you it’s the most interesting work he’s ever done. When he’s not keeping industrial operations connected, Keri is working on his golf handicap, reel mowing his grass to look like a fairway, cheering on the Houston Astros, and making regular trips to Switzerland to visit a large extended family.
