SIM Card Subscription Pricing For Data Limits

Connectivity WiFi
1

Hello,

Is there a price breakdown of the SIM Card subscription. If I go to the Particle Console, I do see an opportunity to increase the Data Limit, but what are the pricing for each Data Limits?

I currently have 5MB data limit per month set (this was an out-of-box setting), if I remember correctly.

Thanks.

2

For the $2.99 a month (first 3 free) you pay for a cellular device you get 3MB/month. The limit you can set is at which point you want the device to automatically be cut-off at and no longer be allowed to send/receive data.
Data past that 3MB will cost you $0.40/MB, more info here.

3

Is there a tool to determine how much data is being transferred from my device for every transaction?

4

What I’ve done is copy the RAW output from an event in the console, put in into a byte-counter such as this, and mathed out the frequency, thus total usage, from there.
I’ve only briefly tinkered with cellular (really getting into it starting this week) so I can’t attest to how accurate this method is.

5

I copied the RAW output from the event console (webpage https://console.particle.io/) and below is the message I get. It is 122 bytes in total.

{“lt”: “32.03312543”, “ln”: “-83.212571564”, “ts”: “2020-02-10T14:43:01Z”, “bg”: “117.22000”, “mh”: “15.8”, “kh”: “25.4” }

Using my Particle mobile app, if I look into the EVENTS, my packet looks like what is shown below. It is 264 bytes. More than double what is shown in the RAW output from the event console (webpage https://console.particle.io/).

{“Event”:“AAAAAAAAAAAAA”,“DeviceID”:“XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX”,“Data”:"{ “lt”: “32.03312543”, “ln”: “-83.212571564”, “ts”: “2020-02-10T14:43:01Z”, “bg”: “117.22000”, “mh”: “15.8”, “kh”: “25.4” }",“Time”:“2020-02-10 07:43::04-0700”,“TTL”:60}

Do I get billed for the 122 bytes or 264 bytes data usage?

6

You can easily track DAILY cellular data in a Browser with:
https://api.particle.io/v1/sims/XXXX/data_usage?access_token=YYYY
Where:
XXXX= Electron’s ICCID (go to Console.particle.io , View Device)
YYYY = Personal Access Token (go to Build.particle.io, Settings)

7

That’s a cool URL link. Love it!

But to provide some what accurate client budgeting and estimating I still need to know which data usage do I get charged for; the 122 bytes or 264 bytes data usage.

Thanks.

8

I'm sure you'll get a more detailed official answer, but I would assume More than the 264 bytes.

There is some overhead in establishing the Cellular Connection, and with each Publish.
Some things you cant calculate, such as a location with poor cellular signal strength that would require frequent re-connects, etc.

I use a Particle Variable for my Publish Frequency/interval during testing.
That way you can quickly change the Publish Schedule without OTA flashing, and compare the next days Cellular Data verses the previous in the API link.

9

A bit lost in this paragraph. What type of Particle Variables are you referencing to?

10

Sorry, I said that incorrectly.
You can use a Particle.function to change your publish interval from the console.
Something like this might get you started:

SYSTEM_THREAD(ENABLED)

int publish_delay =   1 * 60000  ;       //  Multiply # of Minutes * 60,000. This is how often updates are published.
unsigned int lastPublish = 0;

void setup() {
  // Register Particle Function to allow user to remotely Change the Publish Delay from the Particle Console.
  Particle.function("setDelay", setPublishDelay);
}  // End Setup()


void loop() {
  if ((millis() - lastPublish) > publish_delay)  {  // It's Time to Publish
  
    // perform your publish here
    lastPublish = millis();
  }
  
}  // End LOOP()


// Change the Publish Delay from the Particle Console with this Function.   Value sent from Console must be an Integer....1,2,3, etc in Minutes.
int setPublishDelay(String command) {
  publish_delay = ( command.toInt() * 60000 );
  Particle.publish("Publish Delay set to ", String(publish_delay), PRIVATE);
}
11

Awesome suggestions.