What Is Your Interest in Roadtesting Cellular IoT Dev Boards?

The biggest drawback for cellular (for me anyways), is the cost.

I have a few cellular modules, but still have not tried them out yet as I just don't have the time to dedicate to it, and I fear I'll end up paying for a cell connection that won't get any use. The least expensive option I've found still costs $100 per year here.

My main project goals include very-remote notifications for sensors - specifically, working with trap-neuter-release homeless-kitty groups to send text messages when a trap catches an animal. Being in a trap is very stressful for the cat, so reducing that time is critical.

Cheers,

-Nico

I have seen plans that are data based. That means you pay for 100MB of data and as long as you have data in the bank you can keep sending data. Once you run out that's it. This is very popular with companies trying to promote their products. I have this with MangOH from Sierra Wireless. Its interesting that the ones I have are carrier agnostic and seem to be able to work anywhere around the world or at least most places. If anyone wants more information I can look up who the company is and get back to you.

Kas

Hi Kas,

>If anyone wants more information I can look up who the company is and get back to you.

That would be great, yes.

All I see out there are monthly plans, and the best I've seen is the $100/year pay-as-you-go from Bell or Virgin, and there are definite expiry dates for all of them, although the pay-as-you-go will carry-forward any unused balance.

ps, I'm in Canada, not sure if you're looking at US-only options? You seem to get much better deals there.

-Nico

Hey ntewinkel,

I'm also in Canada (Ontario) so I hear you on the cost of cellular plans. That being said the best I was able to do for now was to get the name and it seems to be supplied by Sierra Wireless. They have a service called Smart SIM,you can look into that and see if that might work better for you. I'm not sure if they have competition from other providers that may be cheaper but that is what I have used when working with my MangOH boards.

Kas

ntewinkel,

I had a call with Sierra Wireless today and they were pretty helpful. What was interesting is if you plan on using them they can provide upto 5 SIM cards for free that have I think 100MB of data on them for you to do system testing with. This would allow testing for 90 days at which point they would talk about more commercial style contracts. I should mention that on a regular contract (such as the 100 MB that comes with the MangOH Red) the data does not expire but is more like a pay as you go with no expiration.

I was looking for only a few SIM cards so they said they would try put me in touch with a reseller as they deal with more volume style contracts (more than just 5 SIM cards).

With regards to the endless comments here about difficulty getting cell modems working and dealing with AT commands, I have not had this issue with the MangOH boards. They run a Linux framework called Legato that is open source and has a decent community. They are more expensive than the chinese brands but maybe they will be easier to use. I can't say as I've only used the MangOH boards and also I'm newish to using linux in this way. If you want more info on these boards I have posted a few blogs here about them while I have been slowly working on a side project to use one in a weather balloon application.

Kas

Thanks Kas kas.lewis !

That's very useful to know. I also just now (finally!) had a closer look at Sierra Wireless - sounds like an interesting company to keep an eye on. I've never tried MangOH yet, I'll have to add that to my list. Plus they're headquartered somewhat close to here - I think Sierra Systems (related, I think?) was one of the companies in the early 90s that was hiring us co-op students from UVic

The no-end-date part of the data plan is especially nice for those little side projects. The 90 day trial is also very nice - it allows a no-cost way to check off plenty of the unknowns before diving in deep.

Cheers,

-Nico

Thanks Kas kas.lewis !

That's very useful to know. I also just now (finally!) had a closer look at Sierra Wireless - sounds like an interesting company to keep an eye on. I've never tried MangOH yet, I'll have to add that to my list. Plus they're headquartered somewhat close to here - I think Sierra Systems (related, I think?) was one of the companies in the early 90s that was hiring us co-op students from UVic

The no-end-date part of the data plan is especially nice for those little side projects. The 90 day trial is also very nice - it allows a no-cost way to check off plenty of the unknowns before diving in deep.

Cheers,

-Nico

Hello ntewinkel,

They are headquartered out of British Columbia and they do have pretty helpful staff (if you can get the phone). If you get a MangOH Red ($99) it comes with 100 MB of data with no expiration.

I was hoping you might be more in the middle of this huge country, but it sounds like you are more on the west coast. If you would like to collaborate (help with a nubee) I would be more than happy to work on a project with either a MangOH Green or Red anlong with you.

Kas

Hi Kas,

Right, they appear to be near Vancouver. I'm slightly more West than the West Coast: I'm in Comox on Vancouver Island, but in a pinch an airplane or floatplane gets me to Vancouver in just over half an hour.

Thanks for the offer to collaborate! At this point I'm still working full time and I haven't had time to work on my own projects for a while, so I think I'll just keep whittling away for now whenever I have a spec of time. I'm focused mainly on some ESP8266 related projects for the foreseeable future. And I have this CNC machine I really want to put to use soon

Thanks,

-Nico