Is it possible to test coverage for the electron without billing?

Getting Started
1

Hi,

I am starting a new project involving the Electron I received from the Kickstarter campaign. I have some electronics (sensors, power etc) to do before I can program the Electron, and regarding my electronic skills this will take some months :sweat_smile: So I won’t need to start billing my SIM card before months.

But before I start this project, I would like to verify that the Electron is able to connect to the cloud from its location. Is it possible to do this without billing 1 entire month?

Thanks :wink:

2

You can try with different SIM card, but it might connect to different cell tower (different operator). If you find out which cellphone operator is partner for Particle in your area, you can borrow a SIM card (or luckily have one) and stick it into the Electron for testing. See this for how to set up the different SIM card in Electron - read it carefully, API is not 100% finished, but there is example how to achieve it anyway.

https://docs.particle.io/reference/firmware/electron/#setcredentials-

3

Thanks for your answer, I didn’t know that’s even possible.

The carrier in my country is BouyguesTelecom, I have one BT sim card with unlimited sms (no 3G). So I suppose it will work with my Electron 2G.

By doing this, can I send data to Particle cloud, or it is just for testing connectivity? Also is there any risk that my carrier charge me some extra?