Where to buy an NB-IoT SIM card in the UK

[Smythey]

I am trying to buy an NB-IoT SIM card in the UK as the LTE-M SIM included with my Thingy:91 does not work here. I know that Vodafone supposedly run the NB-IoT network here but I am not sure what to buy and where to buy it.I spoke to Vodafone helpdesk today but they didn't know what I was talking about.

Has anybody in the London area of the UK managed to connect a Thingy:91? If so, I'd appreciate the details.

[mikcatta]

Hi

Just wondered if the situation has improved in the UK? Interested in the nrf91, but only if it's usable in the East if England?

Regards

[Paul Donaldson]

Good morning, can you tell me where in the East you will be testing? Arkessa can provide LTEM or NB-IoT trial SIMs in UK  depending on postcode. Both come with access to PSM and eDRX modes for low power. 

Regards Paul. 

[LordLucan]

Hi, I live near Redhill UK, I can get Vodafone NB1 here ok. When I spoke to both Vodafone and O2 about this they are keen to stress that they are rolling out as fast as they can. But maybe their priority is 5G at the moment.

As for getting SIMs I found it quite hard to speak to people in either Vodafone or O2 that know anything about NB1/NB2. O2 were completely useless, despite offering dev sims on their website. No replies, no callbacks, no help when called at all. Be careful as they also try and just give you standard phone data sims.

However, Vodafone were really helpful for commercial users. If you want to PM me I have their UK based contact details to organize trial SIMs.

Beware also that in the UK AFAIK all SIMs are whitelisted. So you have to provide a list of public IP addresses that you want to use. So this may be something to think about.

For non commercial users Pycom are extremely helpful and offer Vodafone SIMs at reasonable prices. Be warned though that these sims are whitelisted to Pycoms own platform. So you'll need to reverse engineer their MQTT protocol to use. But not too difficult as their software is OS.

Regards,

Paul

[mikcatta]

Primarily Colchester, but can look at Ipswich or St Ives, Cambridgeshire.

[Paul Donaldson]

Arkessa trial SIM's are not whitelisted, on the shelf and are low cost to support customers. 

[mikcatta]

Have sent them an email, will see how we get on. Thanks for quick reply