Cradlepoint MC20BT Bluetooth Low Energy 5.2 Module for E300 and E3000 Routers

The Ericsson Cradlepoint MC20BT is a Bluetooth Low Energy 5.2 module and antenna for the E300 and E3000 enterprise branch routers. It is built for small to mid-size branches that want BLE-based IoT without deploying a dedicated Bluetooth network. The module inserts into the router's expansion slot. The result is a single device that combines networking, Wi-Fi 6, security and Bluetooth, managed from Ericsson NetCloud. In gateway mode, the MC20BT collects data from Bluetooth sensors, such as temperature, occupancy and vibration sensors used for food safety, foot-traffic and environmental monitoring. It can also capture data from BLE-enabled medical equipment. With bridge mode enabled, sensor data is sent upstream to cloud services such as AWS IoT Greengrass, Microsoft Azure IoT Central or an MQTT server. With bridge mode disabled, data is stored locally on the router for retrieval. NetCloud shows BLE interface status and client analytics on a dashboard while the module is in gateway mode. In beacon mode, the module sends periodic advertisements in iBeacon, Eddystone or AltBeacon format. When a nearby Bluetooth device has the right privacy settings, it can trigger a marketing platform to deliver a welcome message or coupon. The radio operates at 2.4 GHz with up to 10 dBm transmit power and roughly 150 ft (46 m) of indoor range, which varies with the environment. It supports up to 32 connectable devices and unlimited non-connectable devices. Wi-Fi and BLE coexistence reduces interference when both radios are active. Activation requires an E300 or E3000 router licensed to an Ericsson NetCloud Service plan. A manufacturer datasheet is available.