Ericsson is bolstering in-vehicle connectivity with a new router for public safety agencies, transit operators, and commercial fleets.

The company this week unveiled the Ericsson Cradlepoint R2400, a new in-vehicle 5G router designed to deliver connectivity, positioning, and on-board edge AI for high-mobility, high-risk environments. The platform introduces a dual-SIM/dual-standby (DSDS) capability on a single modem, Wi-Fi 7 support, centimeter-level positioning, and modular hardware designed to evolve with carrier networks.

The launch builds on Ericsson’s Cradlepoint strategy, as the vendor positions wireless WAN as foundational infrastructure. The company acquired Cradlepoint for $1.1 billion in 2020, a bid to bolster its position in the enterprise WAN market.

At the core of the R2400 is its DSDS capability, which enables carrier failover roughly 10-times faster than traditional approaches, according to Ericsson. That speed is useful for applications like live video feeds, vehicle-to-command communications, and autonomous or semi-autonomous systems.

The router also supports up to five simultaneous cellular connections and can integrate low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite links.

Positioning is another upgrade. By combining real-time kinematics (RTK) with dead reckoning, the R2400 improves location accuracy from meter-level GPS down to roughly one centimeter. That level of precision enables lane-level vehicle tracking, asset monitoring, and drone coordination.

Edge AI comes on board

Ericsson said the R2400 delivers 2.5-times more on-device compute than prior Cradlepoint platforms, enabling local AI inferencing and computer vision without sending data back to centralized clouds.

The router pairs with Ericsson’s extensible RC1250 modem, allowing organizations to scale WAN capacity or adopt new 5G capabilities without replacing the core hardware. Ericsson framed the modular design as a way to avoid “rip-and-replace” upgrades as 5G standalone (SA) and network slicing services mature.

The R2400 doubles security processing throughput to support NetCloud SASE (secure access service edge) and SD-WAN services, while Ericsson’s NetCloud platform adds AI-assisted operations, including an agentic AI virtual expert designed to help lean IT teams manage large vehicle fleets.

A growing market for mobile intelligence

Ericsson cited data showing that nearly half of first responders expect daily AI use within five years, while most transit agencies plan to evaluate autonomous buses in the same timeframe.

IDC analyst Jason Leigh said the shift makes reliability and adaptability non-negotiable, as vehicles increasingly serve as “the critical hub for information, coordination, and incident response.”

The Ericsson Cradlepoint R2400 router and RC1250 modem are expected to be available by mid-year.