Will Particle lower LTE data cost to $0.10/mb to match competitor?

[peekay123]

@Paul_M

• Radically cheaper cellular (big)
• Radically more stable LTE with 2G fallback (huge and massive - literally the most important given the frustrations I’ve had)
• More stable electronics/not as “sensitive” as the Boron (big)
• Can run straight from very high voltages - e.g. 12V SLA - built in regulator (decent)
• LiPo connector with 5V step-up and charging that I assume actually works in the solar use case (decent)
• Built-in humidity/temp/accelerometer (minor)
• Way more RAM and I believe way more non-volatile storage (big)
• A library called “ReplayMessenger” which locally stores/persists my data uploads and reuploads them in case of disconnect/reconnect (decent)
• Built-in WiFi capability (minor)
• A TON of extra UARTs vs. having zero extra UARTs beyond the first on the Boron (huge)

Here is may take (and only MY take) on these points:

1. Perhaps and I know Particle is constantly working to lower their costs though their focus is on Enterprise volumes not one-zies.
2. Particle is working on stability with the impending release of 2.0.0 LTS (long term support). They specifically chose NOT to have 2G fallback as it requires a large amount of current, negating the low power design. Besides, 2G is getting deprecated everywhere as we speak.
3. Not sure what you mean by "sensitive". However, you should cite specific examples in a support ticket to have Particle address them.
4. The Boron CAN be powered with 12v but the documentation is poor in this regard. See here:
   Powering Boron using 12v - #12 by rickkas7
5. There is no 5v step-up since the logic on the Boron is 3.3v. There are LOTS of threads in this forum on how to configure the Boron PMIC for solar charging, especially using the newest API provided in the DeviceOS 2.0.0-rc.x versions.
6. As you said, this is minor
7. I couldn't find the specs but I will assume yes, I agree and this has been a complaint for years. However, don't be fooled as MicroPython uses a lot of memory that requires frequent garbage collection which can introduce substantial delays in your code if not handled properly. Personally, I wish Particle devices has twice the flash and RAM and they would be perfect. But for now,
8. That is available with @rickkas7's PublishQueueAsyncRK superb library which even allows you to store the data in external or internal flash.
9. Yup, minor though it would be nice.
10. Yup, it would be nice to have extra UARTs though these can be power hogs as well. These can be added externally using an I2C-to-UART bridge.

The imp006 is a dev board which wasn't designed to go into a product which the Boron could (though the featherboard footprint is not ideal). This is why they have the M.2 modules as other production choices.

The uFl is a fact of life given the board real-estate used by a SMA connector.

Perhaps you can explain you use case (eg. high or low volume) and why the data cost is so critical. In a low volume application (< 100) I can understand but with larger volumes, rates can be negotiated with Particle.