death of 3g - part II

Adafruit cellular platform - SMS and IoT over celluar

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jimk123
 
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death of 3g - part II

Post by jimk123 »

I saw this previous post: viewtopic.php?p=925881#p925881

but it was locked but I have the same question, after many years of buying adafruit FONA boards with Ting cards, and the excellent support they offer, networks are being shut down in the USA. I am desperately seeking a replacement 4G LTE board I can use with the arduino IDE. In the previous post, adafruit said they had no plans to make newer boards, too costly and some folks offered suggestions like :

SIM7600G-H
SIM7000G
SIM7600E-H Europe ?

This is where I get confused with all the different regions each SIM7600xx is supported. Has anyone found a board that works with Arduino in the USA and if so can you provide a link to where you bought it and what sim card/network you are using (Ting, ATT, Verizon) and any sample code you found that works ? A lot of the stuff I see has it is not clear what part of the world it will work in and has no links to Arduino code. I am only looking to send and receive txt messages.

Thanks ! any help would be greatly appreciated !

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Tkall
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by Tkall »

I just ordered this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H3XKNLH?re ... tails&th=1
Several of the comments are helpful such as the one that says if you are in the USA order the A suffix. I also ordered a couple of particle B2 development kits.
I really don't need the headache of this but what are you going to do? If you want to work together at all, let me know.
Tom
edit: I am just looking to send SMS also. It is surprising how tricky this is getting. I have a Digi Xbee LTE and when you say SMS they just look at you funny

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jimk123
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by jimk123 »

Hi Tom
Thanks for the quick reply, i saw there were two models as you mentioned, A and G, i was surprised the comments said the “A” board only worked in the USA. Would be happy to work together but should let you know i have no technical background which is why i like adafruit so much, they post great examples and offer great support.

Curious, are you using an arduino board ? I have been using the fona 3g of my boat for years , rock solid, never hangs or locks up ! I used it with the mega board and the ting card.

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Tkall
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by Tkall »

As far as using Adafruit...My stepfather always told me my problem was I was always looking for the easy way out...I guess he was right.
I have used Uno's, Mega's and the mini Mega. I get text messages from 2000 miles away with no intervention for years. I started making my own PCB's to simplify the construction.
Does this forum have PM?

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jimk123
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by jimk123 »

Hi Tom
I started to search on sim7000a and found this board also with some documentation (wiki) code examples

https://www.dfrobot.com/product-2170.html

It also had some info on the chip models
SIM7000E is commonly used with frequency bands in Europe
SIM7000A is commonly used with frequency bands in America
SIM7000C is commonly used with frequency bands in China

You seem to be highly experienced designing your own pcb boards.

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Tkall
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by Tkall »

What i lack in intelligence, I make up for in persistence.

You could post your email and delete it fast. I'll watch for it and write it down. Or, is there a pm option here?

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jimk123
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by jimk123 »

Trying to figure that out, may have to contact customer service.

Btw i liked that dfrobot board since it had the same footprint as the fona shield i used on the mega board.

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Tkall
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by Tkall »

Did you get it?
Did you see my email address?

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jimk123
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by jimk123 »

Sorry, checked my email, nothing

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Tkall
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by Tkall »

No. I posted mine then deleted it. Do you want to try that?

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Tkall
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by Tkall »

Jim,
Do you want to pick this up?
Tom

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jimk123
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by jimk123 »

Hi Tom
I contacted customer service and they said there is not a way to contact another user privately. I did order the dfrobot model ‘a’ and hopefully it will arrive in a few days and it sounds like your board will be here shortly. If it’s ok lets wait until the boards arrive and see how it goes ? If we post our findings here every one can benefit and perhaps help, if it becomes a lot of work we can exchange contact info and take it offline, ok ?

Sounds like we currently use the 3g boards for the same thing, on a marine vessel to send and receive commands. Looking forward to getting the new boards !
Jim

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Tkall
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by Tkall »

Yeah ok. Good luck.
Tom

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jimk123
 
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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by jimk123 »

Let me know when you get your board and i will do the same, thanks

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Re: death of 3g - part II

Post by jimk123 »

Hi Tom
the botletics/SIM7000A board arrived today. I did a quick test of attaching the board to the USB on the win10 machine, opened putty and was able to connect. I had a Ting SIM card, they said it is a 5G card and should be compatible with 4G ? not sure. Next test will be to try some AT cmds to send a txt msg. I have to leave for the weekend and will not be back until late Sunday.

was wondering how you made out with your board ?
thanks

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