WiFi vs Serial
Wi-Fi and Serial Boards are not acting the exact same way.
Their NFC detection are working the same. But the way they render the information is totally different.
With Wi-Fi interface, the CADS is autonomous. As long as it is CONNECTED, every event it detects is published to the Data Platform.
There is not so much intermediate until the data can be distributed to the Data Plaform (therefore to the user consumer). Its rendering can be considered as real time, if the connection to the internet is reliable.
Indeed, the path to internet is then a key for the Wi-Fi Board to act as expected. Wi-Fi Router must be installed at reasonable distance, without too much obstacle and so on…
Finally, the way to install these Boards are also easy. As soon as the Wi-Fi network is configured in the Board, providing internet access, the Board can work.
There is a tight relation between Wi-Fi network quality and the Board performance.
With serial interface, the CADS are acting on demand of the Data platform.
After RS485 enrolment, Platform Services can access to the different boards through their connected Gateway.
All the boards connected to a single gateway share the same data wires. Thus, boards can only be accessed one-by-one. This consideration is handled by the Data Platform.
Nevertheless, this also means that, the more boards you have behind a gateway, the slower the scan frequency will be.
There is a tight relation between boards performances and the RS485 setup (number of boards per gateways…).
| Interface | pros 👍 | cons 👎 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Easy to setup | Wi-Fi setup sensitive |
| Real-time detection | Not-joignable enclosed in metalic structures | |
| Any 2.4GHz Wifi router works | ||
| Serial | No integration constraints | Slower scan time |
| Requires aditional Centiloc Device |