Reliability is critical for many M2M applications, especially those involving security and real-time monitoring and alerts. With cellular, users are leveraging a robust wireless network used by nearly 1/3 of the world’s population every day. Cellular network outages are rare and if they do occur they are immediately noticed and acted on. Consider a less reliable alternative — a device is connected to a consumer-grade Wi-Fi access point, maintained by the store clerk in a small gas station. If the wireless connection fails, it could go unnoticed for extended periods of time and require manual intervention to resolve.