Advantages of Multi-Carrier SIMs for Cellular IoT

EDG’s cellular-based environmental monitoring units (EMUs) offer connectivity using an onboard SIM which supports multiple Tier 1 network carriers around the globe. This means your EMU will arrive ready to operate using leading cellular networks regardless of the installation site. To begin transmitting sensor data to the EDG Client Portal, simply connect an antenna, apply power, and the EMU will establish a network connection using the strongest network carrier at the device’s location.

The SIMs used on EDG’s cellular EMUs bring numerous benefits to IoT applications over traditional carrier-specific SIM cards:

EMU006

EDG’s EMU006 uses a global SIM which supports multiple network-carriers to transmit temperature, humidity, and CO2 data to the EDG Client Portal.

Scalability

• Historically, a SIM must be purchased from a network carrier with known coverage at the installation location. This means researching the location, running signal strength tests, and determining which SIM provides the best coverage at the site. For sites with known coverage, the SIMs on EDG’s cellular EMUs eliminate this step, as they will detect which network carriers are available at the installation site, and will select and connect to the strongest network automatically. This is especially useful for scalable systems with hundreds or thousands of devices, where it might not be feasible to compare the performance of multiple networks prior to SIM selection.

Inventory

• With traditional SIMs, keeping an inventory of systems on-hand gets complicated as devices must be pre-determined for a location by that location’s network-carrier. Since the SIMs on EDG’s cellular EMUs detect the network carrier after installation, you only need to stock one product SKU.

Fleet Management and Border Crossings

• Is your EMU crossing into a region with limited coverage by a single network carrier? SIMs which support multiple network-carriers are ideal for fleet management applications. (Did we mention our cellular EMUs support GNSS?)

Robustness

• In locations where the SIM can select from multiple network carriers, a fallback communication path is available to the EMU during an outage. The result is less application down-time compared to traditional carrier-specific SIMs.

• Network-carriers are improving their coverage all the time by installing new cellular towers. With a traditional SIM, a new tower may mean you want to change your SIM to support a network with a stronger signal. With the SIM on EDG’s cellular EMUs, your device will always communicate using the strongest network connection available.

Convenience

• Instead of paying multiple service fees for each of your network providers, data fees are handled entirely through EDG. This simplifies your payment process, eliminating the need to work with multiple third party carriers for your distributed network of devices.

• Moving a device from one location to another? The global SIM has you covered. EDG’s devices send data to the best available network at the device’s location.

It’s compelling. So try a cellular EMU for your application today. Our cellular appliances support 11 network carriers in North America and many more world-wide.

Find out more in our recent case study, or contact us to schedule a meeting. We’re here to help.