Availability of Connectivity for Global Range
Written by Joel Paulsen
Updated at September 26th, 2023
The Global series of devices removes connectivity limitations by using the 4G Cat 1bis and 2G connectivities, which are available in almost every country.
When to use Global devices
Our general recommendation is that these devices should be used if your country does not have NB-IoT/LTE-M (Cat M1) available, or alternatively if you have a device that will be going across border to a country without NB-IoT/LTE-M coverage. NB-IoT and LTE-M are better suited for our devices, as they have a lower power consumption than Cat 1bis and 2G which ultimately means the use of these connectivities will lead to the longer battery life for our devices. Please see Connectivity - LTE-M vs NB-IoT, Coverage, Providers and Roaming for more information.
We can map the countries that have the connectivity available for these devices, implying that the devices would likely be able to connect in these countries. Additionally, we can also map which countries we have had Global devices successfully register in thus far.
Last updated: 26/09/2023
We can base this available connectivity of off which specific 4G Cat 1 bands are available within a country with certain network providers. The bands supported by the uBlox LENA-R8 module are as follows:
| Cat 1 Bands | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66 |
(From uBlox website)
Note: The only difference between Cat 1 and Cat 1bis is the fact that Cat 1bis has only a single receiver. Thus, the Cat 1bis modem we use will work with all aforementioned Cat 1 bands. Please see LTE Cat 1bis in IoT Asset Tracking for more information.
Please ensure that the network provider you intend to use for Cat 1bis supports these bands.
The availability of these in conjunction with the presence of 2G coverage within a country are used to determine whether a device would theoretically be able to connect there.
Additionally, note this map does not indicate the available coverage in the shown countries, but rather simply the availability of the necessary Cat 1bis bands and 2G networks internationally.