How to deploy private 5G in industrial sites?
Table of contents
Updated September 2025
Rolling out private 5G on factory floors, in plants and warehouses demands more than radios and SIMs. This guide answers the exact question: How to deploy private 5G in industrial sites? You’ll get a crisp, step-by-step approach—covering spectrum, RF planning, safety/EMI, phased rollout, and long-term reliability—so you can move from pilot to production with confidence.
Follow-Up Questions
Why private 5G instead of Wi-Fi?
- For deterministic latency, strong uplink, mobility with seamless handovers, and sliceable QoS—vital for AGVs/AMRs, machine vision, time-sensitive control and dense IoT.
What spectrum should we use?
- Pick licensed or shared local spectrum where available (enterprise/local licences or shared bands). Avoid pure unlicensed for mission-critical paths.
SA or NSA? On-prem core or cloud?
- Standalone (SA) with an on-prem 5G core gives the most control and lowest latency. NSA is fine for speed-to-pilot but is less future-proof.
How do we plan RF in metal-heavy sites?
- Do a site survey + ray tracing, validate with walk tests, design overlap for handovers, and use sectorisation to tame reflections and shadow zones.
How do we avoid EMI with OT/SCADA?
- Apply filtering, grounding, cable segregation, define no-RF zones, and commission with EMC testing alongside controls engineers.
How do we roll out without stopping production?
- Pilot → expand in phases, use off-shift windows, keep fallback to existing networks, and instrument everything with KPIs and alarms.
Architecture at a Glance
| Layer | Key Choices | Notes |
| Spectrum | Local licensed / shared | Prioritise protected spectrum for critical traffic |
| RAN | Small cells (indoor/outdoor), sector antennas | Design for overlap & aisle coverage; cap TX power wisely |
| Core | Standalone 5GC on-prem (CUPS) | Low latency, full control, clean OT/IT segmentation |
| Edge | MEC nodes for video/AI/control | Keep workloads close to the line for sub-10 ms loops |
| Slices/QoS | Control, video, telemetry | Separate classes; reserve uplink where needed |
| Backhaul | Redundant fibre/rings | No single point of failure; UPS/generator backed |
Step-by-Step Deployment Plan
- Define use cases → Rank by business impact (AGVs, machine vision, AR maintenance, telemetry).
- Secure spectrum → Local licence/shared band; document power/EMC limits.
- Choose architecture → SA 5GC on-prem, small-cell layout, MEC footprint, IP addressing & security zones.
- Survey & model → Material library, ray tracing, baseline noise, walk tests; mark shadow/reflection hotspots.
- RF design → Cell grid, antenna heights/tilts, sectorisation, overlap for handovers, indoor/outdoor borders.
- EMI & safety → Grounding, shielding, cable segregation, guard bands, no-RF/ATEX zones if relevant.
- Pilot → One line or hall; measure KPIs (RSRP/SINR, UL/DL throughput, latency/jitter, drops, HO success).
- Harden equipment → IP-rated radios, industrial enclosures, vibration-safe mounts, strain-relieved cabling.
- Phased expansion → Add halls/cells; keep Wi-Fi/wired fallback; validate each phase against KPIs.
- Commission → Acceptance tests, docs (floorplans, power budgets, configs), stakeholder sign-off.
- Operate & optimise → 24/7 monitoring, alarms, firmware lifecycle, periodic re-walk after layout changes.
Use-Case Scenarios (by priority)
| Priority | What to deploy | Why it works |
| Mission-critical control | SA 5G + on-prem core + dedicated slice | Deterministic latency, strong uplink, isolation |
| Mobile robotics (AGV/AMR) | Dense small-cells, high-overlap, mobility tuning | Seamless HOs across aisles/doors |
| Machine vision / video | MEC node + high-throughput slice | Local inference, low jitter |
| Massive telemetry/IoT | Narrowband slice + efficient scheduling | Battery-friendly, scalable device count |
| AR maintenance | Mid-band cells + QoS slice | Consistent bitrate and latency |
RF & EMI Essentials (industrial-grade)
- Design for metal: expect reflections; prefer shorter cells, controlled power, and directional sectors.
- Cable discipline: keep RF away from power/controls; bond/ground properly; avoid long parallel runs with PLC cabling.
- Test for coexistence: EMC tests under live load; agree change control with OT; document no-RF and reduced-power areas.
Why Uctel stands out
- Industrial fluency: RF engineering married to OT/SCADA safety practices.
- Zero-disruption rollout: Phased works, off-shift windows, rollback plans.
- Carrier-grade design: SA cores, slicing, MEC, and multi-operator experience.
- Operate what we build: Monitoring, SLOs, firmware lifecycle, and periodic RF re-baselining.
Conclusion & TL;DR
- The approach: use-case-driven design → secure spectrum → SA 5GC on-prem → meticulous RF/EMI engineering → pilot → phased scale-up → monitor & tune.
- The payoff: reliable mobility, deterministic latency and a future-ready platform for robotics, vision and dense IoT—without disrupting production.
Talk with Uctel to design, pilot and scale a private 5G that your OT and IT teams will both sign off.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we really need Standalone (SA) for industry?
- For mission-critical workloads and slicing, yes. NSA is fine for quick pilots but limits long-term capability.
What latency is realistic on private 5G?
- Sub-10 ms user-plane on-site is common with MEC and tuned RAN; tighter loops need careful design.
How many small cells do we need?
- Size by link budget + overlap: metal density and aisle geometry drive count more than floor area alone.
How does this coexist with Wi-Fi?
- Use Wi-Fi for best-effort/office; private 5G for mobility/critical. Integrate via policy and clear VLAN/segmentation.
What’s the fastest path to value?
- Pick one high-impact pilot (e.g., AGVs on a single line), instrument it well, prove ROI, then expand.
