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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : 3G switch off in UK
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PhilP Newbie  Joined: 25/01/2017 Location: United KingdomPosts: 36 |
Perhaps everyone knows but I was shocked today to hear that Vodafone will turn off its 3G network by the end of the year in favour of 4G and 5G. Other operators will follow next year. I am using SIM800l modules in several Micromite systems via AT commands. I assume that they will become obsolete as they are 3G only. Does anyone know of 4G modules that can be a replacement? I am no expert on using 4G but I get the feeling that it is more complicated and AT commands are too simple. |
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LucV Regular Member  Joined: 19/02/2023 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 62 |
Philip, I do not know what range of communication you need. But maybe Lora is an option ??? These are radio modules (like bluetooth and wifi modules) but have a verly long range, like 5 to 10 km. If you need communication between modules direct that should be possible. There is also something called The Thingsnetwork. People have accesspoints over the whole country. You send the data out, an accesspoint picks it up and sends it to a central server where you can get the data. The Thingsnetwork is free to use and has nationwide coverage here in the Netherlands. This however might pose a problem because they have a dedicated communication protocol. Lora modules are cheap and no subscription is required it is totally free, Luc Edited 2023-03-01 07:04 by LucV Luc's tech Blog |
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| Volhout Guru  Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 5091 |
Look at sim900 modules. I recalcitrant these wherry 4g PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7938 |
LoRa in the UK is on 868MHz. That pretty much means line of sight. I don't think it's a substitute for 3G unless you can run LoRaWAN on top of it and make it a wide area network. That means communicating via a LoRaWAN server somewhere - which may not be completely free. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
Although I have not looked, I expect SimCom will have 4G and perhaps even 5G capable modules by now. I also would expect that the AT commands will remain, as they are the main way that people talk to those modules. As far as texting is concerned, all modules are pretty much the same - from 2G to 5G. What I mean by that is that basic text messaging(SMS) has not ever really changed from the early days apart from allowing smilies and photos now etc, but you don't have to use those features, and any module on a network that is alive, should be able to send and receive standard text-only messages using simple commands. If I get time, I will have a look at the SimCom website and see what they are doing these days, but as mentioned above, I expect that they will already have 4G modules available, and 5G won't be far away. The cost is the only downfall. 3G-based modules or modems are expensive enough, so 4G and 5G are probably even more heckspensive.(deliberate mistake) The beauty of the SimCom modules though, is that they will handle all the complicated 4G network stuff for you. Sending and receiving text messages should remain as simple as it is now via AT commands. That would be my expectation, anyway, as the primary use of modules like this, is to be able to send and receive text messages. I doubt SimCom would shoot themselves in the foot by removing the AT commands, unless there really was no other way under 4G. I could be totally wrong, though!  I'll have a look later. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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lew247 Guru Joined: 23/12/2015 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1702 |
For what it's worth 5 Year Sim Data Only £12.99 You can choose the network Ideal for remote weather stations or whatever that only send small data bursts And for those abroad you can have a "Global Sim" for only £10 extra the only catch is it has to be activated in the UK first then it will work globally |
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Nimue Guru Joined: 06/08/2020 Location: United KingdomPosts: 420 |
Small world - I live just up the road from them. N Entropy is not what it used to be |
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| PhilP Newbie Joined: 25/01/2017 Location: United KingdomPosts: 36 |
Thanks for the ideas. Basically I use SMS to monitor and control various systems e.g. monitoring temperatures, etc. when travelling mainly around the UK. I suppose I could convert to internet control but at the time SMS was easiest and gave more reliable coverage. With 4G/5G, if I wish to stick with SMS in will need to do it via LTE I believe. In researching more, one can buy a SIMCOM SIM7600A 4g module LTE Communication Module but they seem expensive - around £80 compared to the current SIM800 at £12. I have seen several Raspberry pi hats but they say for North America use e.g. Waveshare. I haven't found a specific one for the UK yet but I will continue my search and increase my knowledge. There is a SIM7600A basic block on Aliexpress at around £9 but it is not clear what you get for this. It may be that I give up and use a Pico W in the future  |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4044 |
What is wrong with the SIM900 suggested by Volhout? Looks to do 4G John |
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CaptainBoing Guru Joined: 07/09/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2170 |
when monitoring systems, I think it is important to remember the cellular network is generally separate from internet based systems - it will work when internet connections are down. This is probably not so important these days as ISPs seem a *LOT* better than even five years ago, but it depends what you are monitoring. I had a router which was occasionally flaky - which means I had no internet connection to come in from to do anything about it. I built a box that would ping the ingress router immediately in my ISP's PoP and if it stopped responding (i.e. MY router had locked up) it would send me a text message and by return I could send a message commanding the box to tweak a relay through which the router got mains power - i.e. I could bounce the router from anywhere in the world without reliance on the internet. Did it from a beach once. Since changing router, the problem has gone away and said box is now in the "junk" bin, still operable but out of use. |
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