Typical Mayfly Data Usage

This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 2021-03-15 at 9:25 PM by Sam C.

Viewing 3 reply threads

Author

Posts
- 2021-03-01 at 6:19 PM #15182
  Sam C
  Participant
  Hello,
  
  I’ve been diving into the Mayfly world over the past month and am about to make my first purchase to get going. I was wondering what the typical data usage is for a mayfly with a basic EC/Temp/Depth probe set to 15 minute or any other recording interval. I’m trying to figure out if its best to go with the Hologram flexible data plan or a high usage plan.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Sam
- 2021-03-01 at 7:03 PM #15183
  Shannon Hicks
  Moderator
  Data plan prices are kind of a hard thing to put an exact total on, since it varies depending on various factors the station owner can choose, like cell carrier and transmitting interval, but I can give example costs for our typical configurations and deployments. For example, most of our stations transmit around 10 parameters every 5 minutes, using Hologram cards on Digi LTE modules. That results in an approximate usage of 12MB of data per month. We use the Maker Edition Flexible Data plan from Hologram, which is $0.40 per MB, plus $0.60/month base cost, resulting in around $5.40 per month. But that’s only for Hologram cards, using LTE modules. If you use 2G boards, the cost is a few dollars higher per month due to the slightly larger data usage that 2G modules seem to use. (2G will be sunsetted soon in the US, so we’re upgrading all our stations to 4G LTE). So essentially the Maker Flexible, pay-as-you-go plan that Hologram offers will result in around $5-8 per month of data usage. There are other SIM card providers out there that some people are using with Mayfly loggers that I think cost more than that. We haven’t found anything cheaper or easier to use than Hologram, which is why we recommend them.
  - 2021-03-08 at 11:32 AM #15222
    dan@wachusett
    Participant
    My experience with Hologram Pilot Plan on the 2g network was as follows:
    
    3 parameters (Conductivity, Temp, Depth) returned in addition to DateTime @ 15 minute intervals
    
    Average daily use = 715 B per day. As an example we used 1.34 MB in the month of March 2020.
    
    So for 1 station the cost is easily < $20 per year (in the pilot plan). However, like Shannon said 2g will be going away at some point soon, depending where you are, so cost for 4g may be different. I do plan on updating to 4G at some point.
    
    Hope that helps!
- 2021-03-03 at 1:23 PM #15193
  neilh20
  Participant
  Through Digikey RevX there are some new data plans that cover up to 50MB for $6/month
  
  https://dataplans.digikey.com/
  
  Using Digi LTE CAT-M1 modems, with Verizon SIMS from Digikey, transmitting 8 values, taking readings every 15minutes, and attempting reliable transmission every 2hours, in a riparian valley in a remote area of N California, (so retransmission when the wind blowing wrong direction or fog) I’m seeing about 2.5Mbytes a month. Well within the 50MB.
  
  CAT M1 – 50MB STARTING AT $6 PER MONTH (US & NORTH AMERICA)
  ► AT&T CAT-M1 50MB @ $6 ( $0.40/MB OVER ) – US / CA / MX – (no lines present)
  ► VERIZON CAT-M1 50MB @ $6 ( $0.40/MB OVER ) – USA – 1 LINE(s)
  
  https://monitormywatershed.org/sites/TUCA-Na13/
  I guess should check LTE
- 2021-03-15 at 9:25 PM #15262
  Sam C
  Participant
  Thank you all for the responses! This will really help us get our pilot program up and running!
  
  Sam
Author

Posts