Easy LTE-CAT1 IoT Development Board

The development of 4G-LTE-CAT1 has been a boon to IoT projects of all shapes and sizes. Carriers offer extremely inexpensive plans with data and protocols aimed at sending data on an asynchronous basis. This fits well with data collection via MQTT, for example. This 4G-LTE-CAT1 A7670 Development Board is a small, easy-to-use CAT1 cellular modem. The aforementioned A7670 is more or less a drop-in replacement for the older SIM8xx/SIM9xx series modules which are limited to 2G — which is being discontinued in many areas.

Accepting input voltages from 9V-42V on the DC jack gives a lot of flexibility in choosing your power source. A pre-mounted U.FL antenna connector is available, with pads for mounting an SMA connector if you prefer. The breakout connectors on either side of the board have connections to the UART & SPI pins on the module, as well as connections to the microphone and speaker ports. Though CAT1 is aimed at data, it is possible to also make audio calls which opens the door to interesting ideas like a handheld fax machine or DIY phone.

There are links to the SDK and other documentation for communicating with the module. It can be controlled entirely over UART with an AT command set, and the documentation provided by SimCom seems high-quality and easy to follow. Make sure you order the correct module type — the different letter suffixes denote different frequency bands for different parts of the world! For a quick look at the board, check out the video below and be sure to check out the product page.

[embedded content]