This is a NB-IoT scanner tool made for finding problems and evaluating network coverage in smart meter rollouts.
Built by Palmlund Wahlgren Innovative Technology AB in Sweden. We offer it as a part of our free tooling for customers of our AMR solution, Utilitarian. https://www.utilitarian.io
But it can of course be used by anyone wanting to analyse coverage and finding problems in IoT solutions based on NB-IoT.
You will need a Ublox SARA N211 NB-IoT module connected via a serial interface, like USB.
Use the nbiot stats command to get a table of the current network statistics.
Run a couple of commands after the initial connect. The device can start en ECL 2 and
move up after a while.
It is usually only necessary to look at the ECL (Extended Coverage Level) metric. ECL 0 is good, ECL 1 is worse and ECL 2 the worst. In the higher ECL the repetitions of the messages (radio level) are increased and it will take longer to send data and it will use more battery.
It is also easy to see if there is a problem with your device or with the network by using this tool to try and connect to the network in close proximity to the malfunctioning device. We try to and use a similar antenna type as the device we are investigating so that we get reasonable result. Checking for connection problems on a device with a built in PCB antenna using a large external antenna is not comparable.
But it can be good to check both because if you can get a connection using a larger antenna your MNO might be able to do some optimizations.
It is useful to use the nbiot ping command to make sure your devices and SIM are set
up correctly at the MNO with for example a VPN to your datacenter.
We are currently working on making the UDP send functionality available over the CLI. This can be used on conjunction with our simple UDP logger protolog to set up a listening server on the receiving end and make sure all firewall rules are applied correctly.
Requires python>=3.6
pip install nbiotUse the --help to get the CLI documentation
>> nbiot --help
Usage: nbiot [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...
This is a NB-IoT Scanner software built by Palmlund Wahlgren Innovative
Technology AB in Sweden for use in finding problems and evaluating network
coverage in smart meter rollouts.
You will need a Ublox NB-IoT module (SARA N211 for example) connected via
a serial interface, like USB.
Options:
-p, --port TEXT Register the serial port to use
--roaming / --home-network Indicate if the MNO is using home network or
roaming status
--mno TEXT ID of MNO (Mobile Network Operator) ex.
Telia Sweden = 24001
-l, --loglevel [DEBUG|INFO|WARNING]
Choose loglevel
--psm If Power Save Mode should be used.
--apn TEXT choose apn
--help Show this message and exit.
Commands:
connect Connect to the network and get general info on module and network
ping Ping an IP address
reboot Reboot the module
stats Print statistics from the module.
Using the --help on a command gives more information about a command. Ex:
>> nbiot ping --help
Usage: nbiot ping [OPTIONS] IP
Ping an IP address
Options:
-r, --runs INTEGER How many times should we ping
--help Show this message and exit.You will need a Ublox SARA N211 NB-IoT module connected via a serial interface, like USB. Either you make your own board or you buy a development board for quick setup. We use this one with a passthrough program loaded on the Arduino: https://shop.sodaq.com/sodaq-sara-aff-n211.html
We have chosen to only support the SARA N211 because it gives the most statistics about the network of the Ublox modules we have tried out.
Your SIM might be for home network or roaming. Make sure you know which you need to use. If it doesn't work and you can't connect try switching. Default is roaming.