Does anyone at CheckPoint actually know what carriers are supported by the 1590 LTE SMB firewall?
My employer as a need for a unified LTE modem/firewall/WiFi system to support mobile Covid-19 drive-through testing clinics. The first such clinic has been operating for the last two months using a hastily cobbled together solution that includes a non-checkpoint LTE modem and a wired 1550 SMB appliance operating in local management. But the solution is quite complex to troubleshoot, has some some management issues that were not able to be resolved before deployment, and has no WiFi capability. So in addition to the clinic transportation truck having to carry 300 foot of cat 6 patch cable for every device attached to the 1550 (eight to ten devices total), the setup has no remote management or troubleshooting options at all.
Anyway, after the initial rush job to get the first mobile clinic out the door, we started looking around for a unified LTE/Firewall/WiFi solution to use for the next one and any other major mobile endeavor (such as truck mounted mobile diagnostic imaging systems). We quickly noticed the new 1590 LTE SMB appliance that had been out since the beginning of March and asked Checkpoint to supply a POC device.
We took custody of the POC device in mid May, but had to delay working with it for a couple of weeks while we upgraded our management system to R80.40 in order to be able to place the device under central management. So, at the beginning of June, we purchased a Verizon wireless plan, ordered a SIM card and started working on the POC setup. Based on sk157412's list of supported radio frequencies, we had no reason to believe that Verizon would not be supported, especially since the 1590 LTE variant had been announced in sk157412 on the 3rd of March, so at this point, it was over three months since first availability. However, on June 8th, when we tried to register the 1590 with Verizon, it came back as unsupported. Verizon informed us that this was a CheckPoint issue, that the 1590 LTE had not completed certification.
So, we went back to out local CheckPoint engineer, who sent an inquiry to R&D. R&D sent back a reply saying that they were working on Verizon certification but it might be a few weeks yet. They also referenced a new SK, published on June 7th, sk167276, that seems to indicate with somewhat odd wording that there are actually no certified network carriers as of the date of publication. To whit:
Carriers support:
The 1590 LTE uses a fully certified cellular modem of Sierra, covering WW by 2 modules.
As such, all granted carriers/operators are approved.
There are a few exceptions that require a special process, as seen below.
Check Point will certify the below following market demand.
US/EU:
AT&T
Rogers
Sprint
Verizon
Verizon-ALO
Bell
Vodafone
Telus
US Cellular
SouthernLINC
BTW: The only special processes documented in the SK concern how to install the SIM card. Also, there is anecdotal evidence from US based CheckPoint engineers that T-Mobile works quite well with the 1590 LTE; but T-Mobile isn't even a listed carrier.
Anyway, I asked the local CheckPoint engineer to inquire of R&D to find out which carriers ARE currently certified. However, even with her pushing, her manager pushing and some others, R&D has been silent on this question for almost a week.
In the meantime, my boss is not very happy. My initial report on the project was that we have lots of experience with CheckPoint SMB devices, and while the 1590 and LTE modem are new to us, surely we would have something to show in a week or two at most. And my boss reported that good faith estimate to hospital senior leaders, who are keeping on top of anything Covid-19 related. Now he has had to retract that statement and report that our work on this front is at a standstill, with no progress currently in sight
The window of opportunity for CheckPoint in the arena is closing fast. The 1590 LTE costs three times as much as similar offerings we have seen from other vendors. In order to justify that price tag, it has to work better/faster/smarter. And the documentation has to make sense, not look like the device was released with major functionality missing. If my boss has to pull the plug on this POC, it's one more mark against CheckPoint as a reliable partner.
So, my question directly to CheckPoint senior leaders: Does anyone actually know what carriers are supported by the 1590 LTE? Pushing from the bottom to get answers isn't working, it's time for a push from the top.
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