Written by: Todd Dorn, Sr. Information Security Engineer at Secured Retail

Cradlepoint saved my butt! While performing regular upgrades on a distributed remote network for a client, I ran into an issue where the firewall at one of the sites would not boot up. I was able to immediately use the Enterprise Cloud Manager (ECM) to log into the Cradlepoint at this site and then use the serial connection to view the firewall’s boot sequence. I found a bad image and used it to break the boot sequence, soon forcing the device to boot up with its backup firmware and image.

The Cradlepoint device deployed at this location, with its remote console Out-of-Band Management, served as a secondary secure path to the downed firewall. It significantly reduced the downtime at this site to 30 minutes compared to a full business day it would have taken to resolve this issue otherwise with legacy troubleshooting methods. We would have had to ship a replacement unit immediately and then dispatch a technician to the site which would have been a $250 field service call at a minimum. Cradlepoint empowers us to save time and money spent managing network issues and ensures business continuity at our clients’ distributed remote locations.