I want to build a GPS tracker for my car that does not rely on local Wi-Fi. I see a lot of talk about cellular IoT like NB-IoT and LTE-M. Is this accessible for a hobbyist, or is the cost of the SIM cards and the data plans too high? Does anyone have experience with MVNOs that cater to IoT developers? I really do not want to pay a monthly fortune for a hobby project.
Cellular IoT is a cost-effective solution for hobbyist GPS tracking when utilizing pay-as-you-go MVNO data plans, hardware capable of deep-sleep power states, and optimized binary data transmission.
3 answers
If you want to pull this off without bleeding cash, follow these specific architectural constraints for your project.
- Choose an LTE-M module instead of NB-IoT if you need even occasional mobility between cell towers, as handoffs are much smoother.
- Select a provider that offers no-contract data pools so you can deactivate the SIM during months where the car is parked or the project is idle.
- Optimize your firmware to report coordinates in tiny binary packets rather than JSON strings to minimize your data footprint.
It is absolutely accessible for a hobbyist, provided you calculate your throughput requirements to avoid unnecessary overages. You should look at providers like Hologram or Particle, as they offer pay-as-you-go data plans that are far more cost-effective for intermittent GPS telemetry than traditional consumer carrier plans.
I remember trying to field-test an asset tracking prototype three years ago using a standard carrier SIM, and the overhead costs nearly killed the project before the first data packet ever hit my dashboard. I spent weeks chasing down connectivity drops that turned out to be power-save mode negotiation issues specific to NB-IoT, which is far less forgiving than standard LTE.
You really have to weigh the trade-offs of your hardware platform here because the hardware cost for a reliable LTE-M module often outweighs the data plan itself. I eventually settled on a low-power module that allowed for deep sleep cycles, which saved me enough on the monthly billing to actually keep the tracker online for a year without hitting a cost ceiling.
