I wanted to know if I could use the Boron to build a sort of "mobile hotspot" for my PC. Where I currently live, the internet will sometimes go down due to excessive winds. With me working remote, that isn't ideal. I wanted to see if it would be viable to use the Boron for this project, and I wanted to see if anyone also did something similar.
It's unfortunately not really a viable option. The data rate for Cat M1 is pretty low, and the cost per MB is high.
The B504 does however offer Cat 1 connectivity (the same that phones use) and has an interface to be used by Linux as a data modem - but cost is still a factor. I
The Tachyon is a much better option, but is currently still in the Kickstarter phase. (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/particle-iot/tachyon-powerful-5g-single-board-computer-w-ai-accelerator) With an eSIM it should be a viable option - though a mobile hotspot/tethering to your phone would work out cheaper.
I did purchase a Tachyon, but it isn't estimated to arrive until the middle of the year. What would be the use case for something like the Boron?
The Boron is a cellular microcontroller - allowing you to connect physical things to the cloud.
Think of a remote borehole pump that both monitors water levels and reports metrics. Connectivity takes it from a dumb pump controller to a device that can detect pump failure and alert the operator etc. You need the interfacing electronics of course.
5 exciting new projects to try with the Photon 2 – Particle Blog has a couple examples. The difference being that the Photon is WiFi vs. Cellular on the Boron that allows you to deploy devices remotely.
Lots of use cases are centered around environmental monitoring (compliance) and industrial control, but the use cases are endless. The Particle snowflake was a whimsical Christmas project for example.
I appreciate it, thank you!
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Hey, in the near future, would we be able to use one of these on top of a rasp pi to create a mobile hotspot?
The M-HAT with the B504e is faster and has a higher data plan limit, but it's still low compared to a hardware mobile hotspot plan, or a phone hotspot plan. Also you'd need to use the Pi as the Wi-Fi AP and implement that in software on the Pi using the B504e as the cellular connection. It's theoretically possible, but it's not really designed to be a general purpose hotspot.
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