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About

nickappleby.co.uk / About
Nick Appleby

25 years building, selling, and advising in UK cellular IoT and M2M. This site is a reference and thought leadership resource – not a sales channel. For product and service enquiries, Millbeck Communications is the right starting point.

Currently at
Millbeck Communications
IoT & Cellular Specialist
Teltonika Diamond Partner
25+
Years in telecoms
3
Companies founded
0
Tolerance for nonsense
Background
Who Is Nick Appleby?

I’ve been working in UK telecoms and cellular since 1998 – long before anyone called it IoT. I started at BT, went out on my own in 2001, and have been building businesses in the space ever since. The technology has changed beyond recognition. The fundamentals haven’t: people need reliable, cost-effective connectivity for devices in the real world, often in places you’d rather not visit to fix them.

I’ve been a founder, a distributor, a technical advisor, and a writer. I’ve sold direct to blue-chip enterprise and built relationships with network operators across the UK. I’ve also learned what doesn’t work – often the hard way.

Currently I work at Millbeck Communications, one of the UK’s established cellular IoT specialists and a Teltonika Diamond Partner. If you need hardware, connectivity, or practical deployment advice, that’s where to start.

Career
How I Got Here
1998-2001
BT Started in telecoms at BT. The foundation of everything that followed – networks, systems, how large-scale infrastructure actually operates.
Aug 2001
Founded Westlake Left BT and set up Westlake selling telecoms, phone systems, ADSL, broadband, and leased lines (discountphonesystems.co.uk / westlakecom.com). Transitioned progressively into cellular and M2M through the 2000s and 2010s.
2013
Founded ProRoute + Fullband Launched ProRoute as a dedicated cellular router business. Created the Fullband antenna and RF accessories brand alongside it.
2020
Millbeck Communications Joined Millbeck at the start of Covid. Helping provide customers with IoT connectivity solutions.
Writing
What I Write About

Technical reference resources built for engineers, procurement teams, and anyone who needs straight answers rather than vendor marketing copy.

Cellular routers
IoT SIMs & eUICC
5G & 5G RedCap
Antenna selection
NB-IoT / LTE-M
Remote access / VPN
Network resilience
Deployment engineering
Enquiries
A Note on Contact

This site doesn’t sell anything. It exists to document what I know, point people in useful directions, and establish an honest record of 25 years in an industry that often suffers from too much marketing and not enough engineering.

If you need cellular hardware, IoT SIMs, antennas, or deployment advice – contact Millbeck Communications at millbeck.co.uk. They have the stock, the commercial relationships, and the support structure to actually help you.
Product & Service Enquiries
Talk to Millbeck
Cellular routers, IoT SIMs, antennas, and deployment advice. Teltonika Diamond Partner. UK-based support.
Visit Millbeck.co.uk →
Reference
IoT Glossary
What the industry calls things. What they actually mean. 30+ terms – no marketing language.
Read the Glossary →