Please reply to this topic to include features you would like to see incorporated in our platform!
I would like several complete and ready-to-run examples that I can download and run, then tinker with:
I want a sketch for an Arduino with a GPRS shield and your SIM that responds to standard “AT” commands:
- Send a short message.
- Send a file, like a few kilobytes of accumulated data or maybe a low-res picture. ( Well, OK, for an Arduino it has to be a pretty short file due to the limited ram)
- Listen for a short message or file. Pass a received message to a routine that prints it, and make the routine easily replaced with a routine that processes it. Store a received file and kick of a user program or routine to process it.
I’d like a similar example for the Raspberry Pi, or similar Linux machine with a USB dongle and your SIM. That example should be compatible with the Arduino example and a Dash example so one could send a message or file from any one to any other.
The api documentation just does not pull the whole process together like a well-commented and complete example that can be used as a starting point for a new project, reverse engineered for greater understanding, or used as a reference implementation when a user has code that doesn’t work and wants to know what they are missing. A running example is much better than just trying stuff from the api docs; for one thing there won’t be a question of what libraries I might need and where to get them; a running example has to be complete.
We totally agree.
We are planning on putting together tutorials on a ton of topics to make everything as easy as possible and walk all of our users through the process of configuring devices and sending data through the Konekt network.
For an example, here’s a quick tutorial that I recently wrote explaining how to get a Raspberry Pi onto our network using all of the pieces in our Raspberry Pi Dev Kit Kickstarter Reward: Connect Your Raspberry Pi To Cellular Via Hologram's Network
Expect to see a lot more like that over the next few months.
I’d like to see a store that sells the components to the kits in your Kickstarter. In particular, I’d like the option to get more E303 USB modems with “HiLink” for Raspberries I already own.
In general, It would be good to note which solutions will continue to work as 2G networks are phased out. I know the E303 uses 3G, but I have some doubts that it may use 2G services to set up the connection (at least when using an AT&T GoPhone sim). You have indicated that the Dash and Dash Pro are 3G. I think the SIM900 on the Arduino kit is a very advanced 2G modem, so an Arduino shield with one of the modems you use on the Dash may be a good addition to your lineup… I suppose with the small amounts of data involved in M2M, there probably isn’t much to say about 4G.
I’ve seen your latest spreadsheet on the plans you offer, and $0.40/month+$0.60/meg is about what you promised in the Kickstarter. It would be nice if you added some discounts for larger data purchases so that 100meg would be more like the $12.50 of the “tariff” plan (what ever that is) rather than $60.00 that 100 * $0.60 would imply. Still need details! If I buy 6 months and 6 meg, do I end up with a sim about like the starter sim you offered on Kickstarter; that is, use the 6 meg any time during the 6 months? Is the data pooled among all the cards on my account, or do I specify the card to credit when I buy the data?
Maybe you could do a blog article some time on how you buy data from your supplier and what limits that places on the plans you can offer. For example, it does seem to be standard practice across the industry to never allow reuse of a sim once it goes off the network, but provisions for test data seem to be all over the place.
Definitely on the same page.
Expect to see E303s with HiLink on our store very soon. (We just have to make sure our current inventory is enough for the Kickstarter backers and any add-ons before we open it up to everyone else.)
Regarding the data pricing, we’re in the process of revamping our billing system and we’re writing up some blog posts and FAQs as part of that that may answer some of your questions.
We’ll try to give you some more specific answers soon.
Huawei Modems are on sale in the store now. They include the HiLink feature.
Reuben, any chance you can put a link in when you suggest we go to another site/page … in this case it would have been good for you by tempting us to buy more product!
Ha, good point. Here’s our store: https://dashboard.konekt.io/frontend/#/app/store
I should point out that we ran into some trouble and so modems that support 3G in the US are currently on order and not yet in stock. See this thread for updates: https://community.konekt.io/t/huawei-e303-cellular-modem-discussion/38
Can you please provide a deep sleep type mode where the device is using the as little battery as possible? It is ok if the device can’t be woken up since the modem is off. If this is in the works, we’d like to know what the current draw is in that mode.
Yes, we will engineer several sleep modes. We’re finalizing development of these and can provide actual current draw (commence a happy dance!) once that’s complete. We’ll have to update once we can take those measurements.
Feature Requests:
- In Terminal window (Termite, Arduino Serial Monitor, etc., etc.,), Debug text of the actual text that was sent to the cloud
- In Terminal window, acknowledgement that the message got to the Dashboard/cloud.
These two would have saved me a good chunk of time yesterday.
BR/Keith