Rendezvous Points
Overview
Rendezvous Points are network infrastructure regions where Soracom Air for Cellular devices establish IP network connectivity. When an Air for Cellular device connects to a mobile network, the cellular connection will be routed to one of Soracom's Rendezvous Points in order to connect to the Internet, as well as to access Soracom platform services such as Beam, Funnel, Funk, and Harvest Data/Files.
By default, Soracom Air for Cellular devices connect to a Rendezvous Point based on their subscription plan and device location. For example, and SIMs route to Frankfurt (Germany) for most locations, but automatically use regional Rendezvous Points when devices are located in the United States, Japan, or Australia:
Rendezvous Points
Currently, Soracom maintains the following Rendezvous Points:
- Frankfurt (Germany)
- Oregon (United States)
- Sydney (Australia)
- Tokyo (Japan)
Routing is based on the SIM type or subscription container, the country where the device is located, and whether or not the SIM is attached to a Virtual Private Gateway.
Routing with a VPG
When creating a Virtual Private Gateway, you can select the location where your VPG infrastructure will be created from the list of Rendezvous Points above. When you then attach your SIMs to the VPG, network connectivity for your devices will be served from the location of your VPG.
If an IoT SIM with global coverage belongs to a VPG, the countries and networks where data communication is possible depends on the Subscription Plan and VPG Rendezvous Point. The following restrictions apply:
| VPG Rendezvous Point | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription Plan | Frankfurt (Germany) | Tokyo (Japan) | Oregon (United States) | Sydney (Australia) |
| Japan carriers only | *1 | Australia carriers only | ||
| Japan carriers only | *1 | Australia carriers only | ||
| Africa & Europe carriers only | Asia Pacific & Oceania carriers only | *1 | Australia carriers only | |
| *3 | ||||
| *2 | ||||
*1 - Some individual carriers may be unavailable. For more information contact Soracom Support.
*2 - Satellite communication on is only possible when using a VPG whose Rendezvous Point is set to Frankfurt (Germany).
*3 - Carriers in the United Kingdom, Germany, or France are unavailable
Some examples from this chart would be:
- If a SIM belongs to a VPG whose Rendezvous Point is set to Frankfurt (Germany), data communication will be possible in all countries and networks supported by .
- If a SIM belongs to a VPG whose Rendezvous Point is set to Sydney (Australia), data communication will be possible only when the device is connected to a network in Australia.
- If a SIM belongs to a VPG whose Rendezvous Point is set to Frankfurt (Germany), data communication will not be possible.
Virtual SIMs (Arc) attached to a VPG have no geographic restrictions for data communication.
Routing Without a VPG
When your SIM is not attached to a VPG, the Rendezvous Point will be selected based on its Subscription Plan and the country where the device is located:
| Device Location | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription Plan | United States | Japan | Australia | Rest of World |
| Oregon (United States) | Tokyo (Japan) | Sydney (Australia) | Frankfurt (Germany) | |
| Oregon (United States) | Tokyo (Japan) | Sydney (Australia) | Frankfurt (Germany) | |
| Oregon (United States) | ||||
| Oregon (United States) | ||||
| Oregon (United States) | Oregon (United States) *1 | |||
| Tokyo (Japan) | Sydney (Australia) | Tokyo (Japan) *2 | ||
| Tokyo (Japan) | ||||
| Tokyo (Japan) | ||||
| Frankfurt (Germany) | Tokyo (Japan) | Frankfurt (Germany) | Frankfurt (Germany) *3 | |
| Frankfurt (Germany) *4 | ||||
| *5 | Oregon (United States) | Tokyo (Japan) | Sydney (Australia) | Frankfurt (Germany) |
*1 - For , Rest of World refers to Canada & Mexico coverage. See Supported Carriers for more information.
*2 - For , Rest of World refers to Asia Pacific coverage (excluding Japan and Australia). See Supported Carriers for more information.
*3 - For , Rest of World includes Asia excluding Japan and any locations not listed separately.
*4 - For , Rest of World refers to Europe & United Kingdom coverage. See Supported Carriers for more information.
*5 - All satellite traffic for will use the Frankfurt (Germany) Rendezvous Point. This table refers to routing for cellular data.
For example, if your device connects to a cellular network in the United States while using a SIM, its network connection will be routed to the Oregon infrastructure region, and Internet connectivity and Soracom platform services will be provided through this region.
Limitations
- When using an Air for Cellular device without a Virtual Private Gateway, the Rendezvous Point is selected automatically based on the country where the device is located and cannot be changed.
- When using a device with a Type-E or Type-F Virtual Private Gateway, the Rendezvous Point is based on the VPG's Rendezvous Point setting, regardless of where the device is located.