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  • Author Author: sudhirkshirsagar
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AVNET Monarch LTE-M Development Kit -- EU - Review

sudhirkshirsagar

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RoadTest: AVNET Monarch LTE-M Development Kit -- EU

Author: sudhirkshirsagar

Creation date:

Evaluation Type: Development Boards & Tools

Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True

What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?: There is no other equivalent dev kit.

What were the biggest problems encountered?: Verizon provisioning, Compiling the firmware, Azure IoT Central customization

Detailed Review:

A lot of thought has gone behind the design of this dev kit. Unfortunately, it takes a good amount of effort to make the whole thing work. I was able to get the whole thing complete and also submitted the completed effort as a part of a hackathon (https://devpost.com/software/smart-first-response). Getting the device provisioned in Verizon Thingspace was a major challenge. I could not add it to my existing developer account (they keep charging for devices and plans even when they are deactivated as mentioned in another roadtest review. So beware). I created another plan that was more expensive than what the support PDF leads you to believe. I ended up using my Microsoft Azure plan instead of a free one to test the device. Some IoT Central functionality is not available in the free plan. I struggled with making the device appear in the Azure maps but finally got it down. I could not compile and load a release version of the firmware but the debug version worked OK. I had reached back to Element14 to see if I could get some help on the issue but didn't get any response. I was planning to find out the current consumption of the device but there wasn't enough information to put the device in sleep mode. Overall, this kit will get you familiar with the integration challenges involved in getting a device connected to Azure via Verizon LTE-M and that is a good start.

Anonymous
  • in reply to sudhirkshirsagar

    Interesting information... good to know.. I'll keep that in mind

    Regards

    Steve K

  • in reply to skruglewicz

    Glad you had posted your Verizon experience. I wasn't the only one. I am not sure how NB-IoT is going to evolve. It is unfortunate that that there is a lot of money that went into the infrastructure but

    not as much money in helping the prototype developers. A plus to Element14 for trying to put some effort into that.

    The other key issue is that the carriers want a certified chipset OS and that is possible only with AT command interface from the MCU.

  • Hello

    Yes, your review pretty much sums up my experience with the kit.

    The NXP board and the Advent Shield are wonderful pieces of Tech!

    I ran into real troubles with the provider in the USA  Verizon ThingSpace also. It was frustrating for me to get it working according to the directions I found. It seems that the EU reviewer had better luck with a Non-Verizion LTE service.

     

    Good work on your  hackathon post. I have it bookmarked

     

    Regards

    Steve K