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SIM Providers: LTE-M/Nb-IoT + Roaming, and Setup

Written by Matthew Clark-Massera

Updated at April 28th, 2025

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  • Home
  • Connectivity
  • Networks and SIM Card Options

Table of Contents

Tracking Specific SIMs Test! Pricing - you get what you pay for Commercial Deployments So what SIMs should I get? What providers are there? Key Points Operating Networks Vodafone SIM users Roaming SIM Cards Roaming SIM Note Our Results/Findings How do I configure any network settings if required?

To get online with our 4G LTE-M/NB-IoT devices, you will require a SIM card that operates on these networks. Often multiple terms are used for the same network - e.g. Cat-M1 and LTE-M are used interchangeably.

Ensure you read Connectivity - LTE-M vs NB-IoT, Coverage, Providers and Roaming as an overview of all the key concepts of LTE-M/NB-IoT.
 

Tracking Specific SIMs

Our LTE-M/NB-IoT devices will need special SIMs for these networks - i.e. often a standard '4G Prepaid SIM' like you would buy for your mobile phone will not get you online. 

Test!

LTE-M and NB-IoT networks are relatively new and are still being rolled out in some places. Teething problems may occur. 

They are usually quickly resolved and once a network has been up and running for a while you can expect trouble-free operation. However test new SIMs, networks, and technologies thoroughly before deploying in volume. 

 

Pricing - you get what you pay for

When deploying many devices, even small differences in data costs can quickly rack up. 

Often the expensive SIM cards are more reliable and provide better connectivity. Not all SIM cards work the same - some can even reduce device battery life.

Commercial Deployments

Low-cost, relatively unknown roaming SIM cards can be tempting. However certain networks may have agreements with the providers that if a roaming SIM stays attached to their network for too long (e.g.> 6 months continuously) - it can be kicked off. 

Any savings on SIM data will quickly evaporate if units need to be recovered and SIMs swapped. This is not to discourage cost-saving measures, lower-priced tracking is great for everyone! However, the risks and benefits should be considered when choosing untested SIMs and networks. Test thoroughly before rolling out large-scale deployments.

So what SIMs should I get? What providers are there?

Key Points

  • The following list of SIMs and networks is not exhaustive. Plenty of others exist and may well work. 

  • This is not a list of 'approved providers', you're free to use any SIM you choose!

  • This list relies purely on the feedback from our partners. We have better data in the countries where we are more active/have more devices. 

  • Many of the roaming SIMs will list on their website that they roam to many more countries than are indicated below. We add an entry when we have confirmed the SIM will work in that country. 

  • Things can change quickly. We've had providers who didn't work in the past begin to work after updates from various third parties (networks, SIM providers, component providers).

  • We recommend you always do your own testing and confirm functionality for your use case. 

LTE-M/NB-IoT Networks are still relatively new, but in many countries, coverage is very widespread. Roaming is also relatively new but we have seen many new providers come to market with good results.

See GSM Arena - Mobile IoT Commercial Launches for an up-to-date list of current and announced LTE-M/Nb-IoT networks globally.

When selecting a SIM card check the GSM Arena list, to find what networks operate LTE-M or NB-IoT networks in your country/countries of interest.

The information below can guide you in making your choice.

Operating Networks

Country 

Technology

SIM Provider

Results

Network

Australia

LTE-M

M2M One

Excellent - Connects Automatically

Recommended

Suggested Setup:
APN = telstra.m2m
4G Network = Australia: Telstra CAT-M1

Suggested 4G settings

Telstra LTE-M
Coverage is widespread. 
Coverage Map

Australia

LTE-M

Telstra

Excellent - Connects Automatically

Suggested Setup:
APN = telstra.m2m
4G Network = Australia: Telstra CAT-M1

Suggested 4G settings

Telstra LTE-M
Coverage Map

Australia

LTE-M

Emnify Roaming SIM

Can potentially lead to excessive battery drain.
See Roaming SIM Cards - Battery Life Impact.
And
4G Battery Powered Device Behaviour Effects

Suggested Setup:
APN = em
4G Network → Custom - m3+7+28

Suggested 4G settings

Telstra LTE-M (roams on network)

Australia

LTE-M

Soracom Roaming SIM

Working well. Connects automatically.

Suggested Setup:
APN = soracom.io
4G Network → Custom - m3+7+28

Suggested 4G settings

Can be purchased via Thinxtra (Soracom's ANZ Distributor)

Telstra LTE-M (roams on network)

Australia

LTE-M

Spark NZ Roaming SIM

Working well - testing is not widespread. 

An option if devices will travel between AU and NZ. 

Telstra LTE-M
(roams on network in AUS and to Spark's network in NZ)

Australia

LTE-M

1NCE Roaming SIM

Using this SIM in AU seems to cause issues with the uBlox SARA R410M - avoid for these devices. 

Working well - No such issues on newer range of devices with Nordic modem - Connects automatically.

Suggested Setup:
APN = iot.1nce.net
4G Network → Custom - m3+7+28

Suggested 4G settings

Telstra LTE-M (roams on network) 

Australia

LTE-M

Twilio Super Roaming SIM 

Limited Testing, shown to be working.

Feb 23 - Devices initially connected however facing registration issues, recently. Some partners have reported this to Twilio - caution advised.

Suggested Setup:
APN = super
4G Network → Custom - m3+7+28

Suggested 4G settings

Telstra LTE-M (roams on network) 

Australia

LTE-M

Simbase Roaming SIM

Limited Testing - Connects Automatically.
Setting APN is Recommended

Suggested Setup:
APN = simbase
4G Network → Custom - m3+7+28

Caution Advised – Initial testing shows repeated Registration and Upload errors. And IMSI swapping.
Which can lead to excessive battery drain. 
Roaming SIM Cards - Battery Life Impact - Digital Matter
 

Telstra LTE-M (roams on network) 

Australia

NB-IoT

M2MOne

Excellent - Connects Automatically - using these Telstra local SIMs “NB-IoT Type 1”

Suggested 4G settings

Telstra NB-IoT 

Coverage Map

Australia

NB-IoT

M2MOne

Limited testing of eDCP NB-IoT SIMs (this is Telstra's roaming NB-IoT SIM). Got online automatically. 
Suggested 4G settings

Telstra NB-IoT

Australia

NB-IoT

Optus

Tested by DM in DM Perth office - working well. Standard IoT SIMs Connect automatically with no input.

The extent of coverage is not well known. Works great in Urban areas.

Suggested 4G settings

APN for Standard IoT SIMs: optusiot
APN for SIMs with iotflex enabled: iotflex

Optus NB-IoT

Australia

NB-IoT

Vodafone

Initially Vodafone NB-IoT Would not work due to DNS issues as ePCO was not enabled.

This is now reportedly enabled - but DNS still does not work.

As of 2020, we can work around this using our Provisioning Tool. But aiding data downloads fail - so fixes take longer, reducing battery life on battery-powered devices.

DNS Troubleshooting on 4G

Vodafone NB-IoT

Austria

NB-IoT

A1

Proven to work well with our devices in Austria using A1 SIMs

A1

Belgium

NB-IoT

Orange

Coverage is good, DM devices have had a lot of success using Orange NB-IoT SIMs

Orange (roams on network)

Belgium

LTE-M

1NCE Roaming SIM

Coverage is good, DM devices have had success using 1NCE SIMs

1NCE (roams on network)

Belgium

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

Proximus (Belgacom) And Orange 

Belgium

NB-IoT

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Data Sync issues - caution advised.

Gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

Orange And BASE (KPN) 

Canada

LTE-M

Rogers

Must configure APN to get online. Received from the carrier.

Rogers

Canada

LTE-M

Bell

Must configure APN to get online. Received from the carrier.

Bell

Canada

LTE-M

Telus

Must configure APN to get online. Received from the carrier.

Telus

Canada

LTE-M

Aeris

Good results, recommended roaming SIM.

AT&T

Canada

LTE-M

EMnify Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically but be sure to apply the right configuration once online

Telus (roams on the network)

Canada

LTE-M

1NCE Roaming SIM

APN must be set to "iot.1nce.net"

1NCE (roams on network)

France

LTE-M

1NCE Roaming SIM

Coverage is good, DM devices have had success using 1NCE SIMs 

1NCE (roams on network)

France

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

Orange (roams on network)

Germany

NB-IoT

1NCE Roaming SIM

Coverage is good, DM devices have had success using 1NCE SIMs 

1NCE (roams on network)

Germany

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

E-Plus (roams on network)

Hong Kong NB-IoT HK Telecom

Issues with DNS but can be worked around using a Wired Provisioning Tool.
See DNS Troubleshooting on 4G

 

Suggested Setup:
APN - NBIOTDIRECT

Custom network string - n8,x
HKT
Hong Kong NB-IoT Soracom

Working well.
 

Suggested Setup:
APN = soracom.io

 
Hong Kong

NB-IoT

Orange/Three
Three Mobile

Issues with DNS but can be worked around using a Wired Provisioning Tool.
See DNS Troubleshooting on 4G

 

Three

Hong Kong

NB-IoT

China Mobile

Issues with DNS but can be worked around using a Wired Provisioning Tool
See DNS Troubleshooting on 4G

 

Suggested Setup:
APN - nbiot

Custom network string - n3+8,x

China Mobile

Hungary

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

Vodafone

Hungary

NB-IoT

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Intermittent Connection issues - caution advised.

Gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

Telenor (roams on network)

Italy

NB-IoT

1NCE Roaming SIM

Coverage is good, DM devices have had success using 1NCE SIMs

Vodafone

Italy

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

Vodafone (roams on network)

Luxembourg

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Data Sync issues - caution advised.

Gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

Post (roams on network)

Netherlands

LTE-M

1NCE Roaming SIM

Coverage is good, DM devices have had success using 1NCE SIMs 

1NCE

Netherlands

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

KPN and T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom) 

(Roams on networks)

New Zealand

LTE-M

One NZ (Vodafone)

Excellent - Connects Automatically
Suggested 4G Settings

One NZ

Coverage Map

New Zealand

LTE-M

Spark NZ

Excellent - Connects Automatically

Suggested 4G Settings

Spark 

Coverage Map

New Zealand  NB-IoT  Spark NZ

 Excellent - Connects Automatically

Suggested 4G Settings

 Spark 

 Coverage Map

New Zealand

NB-IoT

One NZ (Vodafone) 

Reportedly performing well - but DM have not yet seen significant evidence to support this

Suggested 4G Settings

One NZ 

Coverage Map

New Zealand  LTE-M Soracom Roaming SIM

Working well. Connects automatically.

Suggested Setup:
APN = soracom.io
4G Network → Custom - m3+28

Suggested 4G settings

Can be purchased via Thinxtra (Soracom's ANZ Distributor)

Spark/One (Roams on both networks)
New Zealand

LTE-M

Hologram Roaming SIM

Set APN to hologram

Set bandmasks to m1+3+28

Limited testing, have seen SIMs online with the above settings.

Suggested 4G Settings

Spark/One (Roams on both networks)

New Zealand

LTE-M

M2M One (Aus) Roaming SIM

Reportedly working well on the Spark network

May 23 - A few partners have reported that these SIMs do not connect - caution advised

Spark

Norway

NB-IoT

Telenor

Proven to work well with our devices in Norway using Telenet SIMs

Telenet

Norway

NB-IoT

COM4

Proven to work well with our devices in Norway using COM4 SIMs

COM4

Norway

LTE-M

1NCE Roaming SIM

Coverage is good, DM devices have had success using 1NCE SIMs 
APN must be set to "iot.1nce.net"

1NCE (roams on network)

Norway

LTE-M

Emnify Roaming SIM

Proven to work well with our devices in Norway using Emnify SIMs. No APN configuration is needed.

Emnify (roams on network)

Papua New Guinea

LTE-M

Vodafone

Limited tested - have seen a device manage to get online. Further testing required

Vodafone

Papua New Guinea

LTE-M

Digicel

Limited tested - have seen a device manage to get online. Further testing required

Digicel

Portugal

LTE-M

Vodafone

Vodafone global roaming SIM able to connect on LTE-M in Portugal

Vodafone

Portugal

NB-IoT

Vodafone

ePCO does not appear to be enabled on Vodafone Portugal's NB-IoT network, causing DNS issues.
This may be able to be worked around by setting the OEM Server IP in parameters ahead of time
Further testing is required.


 

DNS Troubleshooting on 4G

Vodafone

Singapore

LTE-M

Singtel

Good results, gets online automatically.

Singtel

Singapore

LTE-M

Soracom Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically.

Singtel
(roams on network)

Singapore

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Limited tested - have seen a device manage to get online. Further testing required

APN must be set to "onomondo"

Singtel 
(roams on network)

South Africa

NB-IoT

Vodacom

Must configure APN to get online. APN must be set to "lte.vodacom.za". In some instances, “nbiot.vodacom.za” may work.

Vodacom

Spain

LTE-M

Emnify Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically but be sure to apply the right configuration once online

Orange (roams on network)

Spain

NB-IoT

Vodafone

Global Roaming SIM connects in Spain. Limited Testing

Vodafone

Spain

LTE-M

Vodafone

Untested

Vodafone

Switzerland

NB-IoT

Migros

NB-IoT devices reportedly connecting.

 
Switzerland

NB-IoT

Hologram Roaming SIM

NB-IoT not yet supported on Hologram. Awaiting further tests. 

 
Switzerland

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

Swisscom and Sunrise 

Thailand

LTE-M

AIS

Very limited testing has proven successful. Partners should test further before deploying in volume.  
APN: internet

AIS

Thailand

NB-IoT

AIS

Very limited testing has proven successful, partners should test further before deploying in volume.
APN: devkit.nb
4G Network - Global: NB-IoT Only
Custom Network Or Bandmasks - n8+28

AIS

United Kingdom

LTE-M

1NCE Roaming SIM

DM devices have had success using 1NCE SIMs
APN must be set to "iot.1nce.net"

1NCE (roams on network)

United Kingdom

LTE-M

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

O2 (Telefónica) 

United States of America

LTE-M

Aeris

Good results, across a large number of devices (recommended roaming card for the US)

AT&T (roams on network)

United States of America

LTE-M

Pod

Good results, Pod supply 'native' AT&T SIMs
Must set APN "data641003"

AT&T

United States of America

LTE-M

Emnify Roaming SIM

Gets online automatically but be sure to apply the right configuration once online.
Some Emnify SIMs have been seen to swap IMSIs regularly, causing excessive battery drain
Roaming SIM Cards - Battery Life Impact

Sprint and AT&T

(roams on networks)

United States of America

LTE-M

AT&T

Only certified devices may be used on these networks (Oyster2 and Dart2 currently)

AT&T

United States of America

LTE-M

Verizon

Device IMEI must be added to Verizon database by Digital Matter. Only certified devices may be used on Verizon (Remora2, Oyster2, G62 and Yabby GPS currently). Limitations on how often the device may upload - this is handled by Applying the correct settings for Verizon

Verizon

United States of America

LTE-M

Hologram Roaming SIM

Must configure APN: "hologram" to get online

AT&T (roams on network)

United States of America

LTE-M

Twilio Super Roaming SIM 

Setup:
APN = super
4G Network - Global: Cat-M1 Only

AT&T (roams on network)

United States of America

LTE-M & NB-IoT

1NCE Roaming SIM

Older generation devices using uBlox modems must have the APN set to "iot.1nce.net" before they can connect.

Newer generation devices using Nordic modems (Bolt2, Dart3, G70, Hawk, Oyster3, Oyster Edge, Remora3, Yabby3, Yabby Edge) connects automatically. Best to configure the APN as provided by 1NCE

1NCE (roams on network)

United States of America

LTE-M & NB-IoT

Onomondo Roaming SIM

Good results, gets online automatically - setting the ‘onomondo’ APN is highly recommended.

AT&T (roams on network)

United States of America LTE-M Monogoto Connects automatically. Recommended to configure APN as provided by Monogoto  

 

Vodafone SIM users

For Vodafone SIM customers, in some regions, devices are experiencing connectivity issues. When we View Device Logs Numerous instances of "aborting oneshot data" messages are observed. 

Aborting oneshot data means the connection was aborted mid data transfer (i.e. we could get on the network, and connect, but it failed after that). 

This is generally due to Firewalls on Vodafone's network. 

The user should request to Vodafone:

“Please update the APN access list for the SIM cards with all IP addresses and FQDNs from this article. Please include the US and EU instances to ensure cross-over access at a later stage.”

 

 

Roaming SIM Cards

Modem and network updates have led to their performance improving dramatically. Consult the provider's network and country list for full details - but always test!

 

Roaming SIM Note

Some networks have in their agreements with roaming SIM providers that their roaming SIMs cannot roam for too long on the home network continuously - or they may be switched off. Check with your providers before deploying large device volumes!

Some may significantly reduce device battery life - Roaming SIM Cards - Battery Life Impact

 

 

These SIMs are mentioned in the tables per country. However, they are listed here for convenience. Check the provider's website for a list of countries and networks the SIMs roam on:

  • Emnify
  • Soracom
  • Hologram
  • Twilio
  • 1NCE
  • Onomondo
  • M2M One
  • Vodafone Global Roaming

 

Our Results/Findings

See our other article discussing Connectivity - LTE-M vs NB-IoT, Coverage, Providers and Roaming summarising our current confidence level in the various technologies and SIMs. 

 

How do I configure any network settings if required?

Our devices use clever firmware features to automatically detect which type of SIM card is installed in a unit on startup, and automatically apply the right settings to get online. We call this Autonet.

In the majority of cases, devices will get online automatically with no special setup. However, this is not a guarantee.

Once online, it is recommended that you specifically configure your settings - but this is easy to do Over-The-Air.

If you are unsure whether your device will get online automatically, it is best that you order a DMLink Cable with your devices. Configuration instructions are detailed here:

  • Setting the Network Profile - LTE-M/NB-IoT devices
  • 4G Network Settings

In many cases, we've heard from our partners that our latest generation devices automatically connect; without the manual configuration settings done on our previous generations.

nb-iot lte-m sim roaming setup

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  • Roaming SIM Cards - Battery Life Impact
  • How do I know if my devices are 2G, 3G or 4G?

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