Personally I think a RB4011 or a RB1100AHx4 with a SIM slot and either a M.2 with USB support or a mPCIe would be nice to have for situations where you want to back up a single WAN and no other options are available other than cellular or you want to send SMS easily from the Dude edition.
you can easily just connect any existing LTE capable router (wAP LTE kit, SXT, ltAP) to it using ethernet and passthrough mode if you don’t want to have a multi-router deployment, and still have the cellular part on the outside where you can get the best reception.
also i think it is a bit more accessible, cause you don’t need to take apart the router, mess with antenna pigtails and leads, etc. if the cellular part breaks, you “just” replace the outdoor device and can keep your wired router running.
on the contrary it boosts the cost side a bit… but still far cheaper compared to any other ‘flexible & capable’ platforms out there.
Is interesting the option to add a miniPCI slot or USB to connect a LTE card/modem but I’m agree with doneware with the option to buy another equipment and use the option of passthrough to get directly the ISP IP on the RB2011 or RB1100AHx4 or similar. With this option you can get a LTE device that you really needs better for you.
Regards.
The CPU does have USB port, but Mikrotik decided it’s not worth to connect it anywhere… stupid decision.
Even if it was internal USB header (like you have on your motherboard) it would be useful. But no…
Well, I hope that on newer versions of RouterBoards MikroTik considers it.
Regards.
I agree that in some cases a separate device is better suited. However all in one devices like those made by Pepwave & Cradlepoint are also popular in many circles.