Back to Monogoto website

Arduino Portenta H7

The Portenta H7, paired with the Portenta Cat. M1/NB IoT GNSS Shield is a high-performance Arduino development platform designed for advanced IoT and embedded applications requiring low-power, wide-area cellular connectivity. Supporting LTE Cat-M1 and NB-IoT, it ensures reliable long-range communications while maintaining energy efficiency, making it ideal for battery-powered or remote deployments. The integrated GNSS functionality provides precise location tracking, while seamless compatibility with the Arduino ecosystem enables rapid prototyping and secure cloud integration. This kit is well-suited for smart city infrastructure, asset tracking, environmental monitoring, and other mission-critical use cases that demand robust performance, versatility, and global connectivity.

Prerequisites

Hardware Connection Instructions

  • Connect the Portenta Cat. M1/NB IoT GNSS Shield to the Portenta H7.

  • Connect the LTE (RF OUT) antenna and the GPS antenna to the Portenta Cat. M1/NB IoT GNSS Shield

  • Power the board via USB-C.

Connect your PC to the Portenta H7

Use the USB-C to USB cable to connect your computer to the Portenta H7 port.

Bring Your Projects to Life with Arduino IDE 2.3.6 Software

Run the Arduino IDE 2.3.6 to open the Serial Monitor.

Install the Cellular library toolkit with Sketch ModemTerminal files

Connect the Telit Cinterion TX62-W to Monogoto

Request the product type, hardware and firmware version:

ATI

Request the IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity):

AT+CIMI

Request the ICCID (Integrated Circuit Card ID), which is the identification number of the SIM card

AT^SCID

Network Configuration

It is possible to let the modem select the network automatically, or to manually define a network to connect with.

Option 1: Automatic Network Selection

To set the modem to automatic network selection enter the command:

AT+COPS=0

Check the network and cellular technology the modem is currently using:

AT+COPS?

Expected response: +COPS: 0,0,"<name of operator>",X. The last digit indicates the cellular technology: 7 indicates Cat.M1 9 indicates Cat.NB1

Option 2: Manual Network Selection

Start with searching for available networks:

AT+COPS=?

It may take several minutes before the modem responds.

The modem responds with the names and the MCCMNC codes of the available networks. It also shows the cellular technologies the networks support: 

+COPS: (1,"vodafone NL","voda NL","20404",8),(1,"NL KPN","NL KPN","20408",0),(1,"vodafone NL","voda NL","20404",9),(1,"T-Mobile NL","TMO NL","20416",0),(1,"NL KPN","NL KPN","20408",8),(1,"vodafone NL","voda NL","20404",0),(1,"T-Mobile NL","TMO NL","20416",8),(1,"T-Mobile NL","TMO NL","20416",9),,(0,1,2,3,4),(0,1,2)

OK

To find which of the networks Monogoto has roaming agreements with, review the Coverage lists.

To find the profile of your SIM, visit the Monogoto Console, open the page Things and select a specific Thing. Scroll down to Mobile Identities to find your profile in the column Network Provider Name.

Check the network and cellular technology the modem is currently using:

AT+COPS?

Expected response: +COPS: 0,0,"<name of operator>",X. The last digit indicates the cellular technology.

Manually set the network and the cellular technology:

AT+COPS=1,2,"XXXXX",7

Replace XXXXX with the MCCMNC code of your operator, for example"20404" for Vodafone NL. Use 7 for Cat.M1.

Check the radio signal strength and signal quality:

AT+CSQ

+CSQ returns 2 values separated by a comma. The first value represents the signal strength and provides a value between 0 and 31; higher numbers indicate better signal strength. The second value represents the signal quality indicated by a value between 0 and 7. If AT+CSQ returns 99,99, the signal is undetectable or unknown.

Query Network information

This command returns the Radio Access Technology (RAT), MCCMNC operator code, and LTE band currently in use.

AT^SMONI

Example response: ^SMONI: Cat.M1,9260,28,-,FDD,204,04,18BB,010A20C,330,42,-82,-13,NOCONN,3

Network Activation

Set the APN to data.mono:

AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","data.mono"

Validate if the APN is set correctly:

AT+CGDCONT?

Expected response: +CGDCONT: 1,"IP","data.mono","0.0.0.0",0,0,0,0,0,0

Activate the PDP (packet data protocol) context:

AT^SICA=1,1

Test if the PDP context is activated:

AT^SICA?

Expected response: ^SICA: 1,1

Validate if your device received an IP address:

AT+CGPADDR

Expected response: +CGPADDR: 1,XX.XXX.XX.XXX

Do you see an IP address? Congratulations! You’ve successfully connected the Telit modem to Monogoto 🎉

Test the connection by sending a PING

A PING test can be performed to test if the modem has an active data connection with a mobile network.

When cellular modems are idle for a long period of time, cell towers might drop the data connection to save resources. Sending regular PINGs is a good method for testing the data connection, as well as for keeping the connection alive because the operator registers your device as being actively used.

Send 2 PINGs to IP address 8.8.8.8:

AT^SISX="Ping",1,"8.8.8.8",2

Example response:

^SISX: "Ping",1,1,"8.8.8.8",186
^SISX: "Ping",1,1,"8.8.8.8",151
^SISX: "Ping",2,1,2,2,0,0
^SISX: "Ping",3,1,151,186,168

Useful Links

PreviousArduino Portenta C33NextMonogoto SIM

Last updated

Was this helpful?