Overview
ALPON X4
The ALPON X4 is an industrial edge computer for IoT gateway, telemetry, and remote-monitoring workloads. It pairs a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with multi-network connectivity (LTE Cat 4, Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet), hardware-level reliability features, and the ALPON Cloud platform for remote fleet management.
The ALPON X4 is Sixfab's industrial edge IoT computer built on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (Quad-core Cortex-A72 @ 1.5 GHz). It ships with integrated LTE Cat 4 cellular, eSIM, dual-band Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, TPM 2.0, a hardware watchdog, and a 10-year RTC battery. Housed in a fanless aluminum enclosure rated from -20 to +60 °C and managed remotely through ALPON Cloud.
Why ALPON X4
Reliable IoT operations at the edge fail for predictable reasons: flaky cellular links, unpatched devices in the field, and a single point of failure when one network drops. The ALPON X4 is engineered around those failure modes. Cellular, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet failover happens automatically in under a minute. A hardware watchdog and a 10-year RTC battery keep the device recoverable. TPM 2.0 anchors the chain of trust, and ALPON Cloud handles OTA updates, remote terminal access, and fleet monitoring from a single dashboard.
The X4 is optimized for IoT gateway and telemetry workloads where on-device AI inference is not required. If you need a dedicated NPU for computer vision or edge ML inference, see the ALPON X5 AI.
Key capabilities
Raspberry Pi CM4 host platform
Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 at 1.5 GHz with up to 8 GB LPDDR4 memory and 32 GB eMMC storage. Full software compatibility with the Raspberry Pi ecosystem, including Raspberry Pi OS and the standard arm64 Linux toolchain.
Multi-network connectivity with auto failover
Global LTE Cat 4 with eSIM, dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 / 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, and two Ethernet ports (1× Gigabit, 1× 100 Mbps). The network manager fails over to a backup link in under a minute, keeping the device reachable when any single path drops.
Hardware-grade reliability
Hardware watchdog auto-recovers the system from lockups. A CR1220-backed RTC keeps accurate time for up to 10 years without power. MTBF exceeds 70,000 hours, with a fanless aluminum enclosure rated IP40 for dust protection.
TPM 2.0 and end-to-end encryption
Onboard Trusted Platform Module 2.0 stores encryption keys and device certificates in hardware. All device-to-cloud traffic is double-encrypted, and remote access happens through a VPN tunnel managed by ALPON Cloud.
Container-native deployment
Push arm64 Docker workloads to a single device or your entire fleet from ALPON Cloud. Version control, rollback, and staged rollouts follow modern CI/CD patterns, without physical access to the device.
Flexible power and I/O for field deployments
Three power options: USB Type-C PD, 9–30 V DC screw terminal, and optional PoE+ (IEEE 802.3at). 2× USB 2.0, HDMI 2.0 (4Kp30), and an RJ45 GPIO breakout exposing I²C, UART, SPI, 5 V, and GND for sensors and add-on modules.
What's in the box
Package contents
- 1× ALPON X4 edge IoT computer
- 1× USB Type-C power adapter (27 W PD)
- 1× Screw terminal block (9–30 V DC)
- 2× LTE antennas (Main + Diversity)
- 1× GNSS antenna
- 1× Wi-Fi antenna
DIN rail mount kit, wall mount kit, and outdoor IP67 antennas are sold separately. Package contents may vary by variant (RAM, storage, PoE option). See Accessories for compatible add-ons.
Where to go from here
The rest of the ALPON X4 documentation, organized by what you need to do.
Quick Start →
Power on, connect to ALPON Cloud, and reach the dashboard in 5 minutes.
Hardware →
Physical layout, port pinouts, antennas, power inputs, and mounting options.
Specifications →
Full datasheet: mechanical, electrical, connectivity, and certifications.
ALPON X4 OS →
First boot, system configuration, package management, and OS updates.
Safety & Compliance →
Regulatory certifications, safe handling, and operating guidelines.
Troubleshooting →
Diagnostics for connectivity, power, OS, and common boot issues.
FAQ →
Common questions about deployment, accessories, and provisioning.
Compare X4 vs X5 AI →
Side-by-side comparison to help you pick the right device for your workload.
Common use cases
Workloads where the ALPON X4 is deployed in production.
Every ALPON X4 device is paired with ALPON Cloud for zero-touch onboarding, fleet inventory, real-time monitoring, OTA updates, and remote terminal access. The same platform manages ALPON X5 AI fleets, so you can run mixed fleets from one dashboard.
If your workload includes computer vision, real-time object detection, or other ML inference tasks, the ALPON X5 AI adds a 25 TOPS DEEPX NPU and a faster Cortex-A76 host. For a side-by-side spec comparison, see Compare ALPON Devices.
Updated about 4 hours ago