FAQ for the Arduino MKR NB 1500

Hi David, We're building an MVP agricultural focused product around the MKR NB 1500 and need to upgrade the board's UBLOX SARA-R410M-02B firmware for some additional power saving functionality. However we cannot find any documentation on how the access teh UBLOX SARA-R410M-02B in order to perform and upgrade. We see some solder pads on the board which might be a spot for a connector but need clarrification. We are also a little confused as to whether the current Ublox firmware that ships with the board actually supports Cat-NB1, from what we can see it only supports Cat-M1 at present; is this correct? More information from Ublox here: https://www.u-blox.com/sites/default/files/SARA-R410M-02B-01_PCN_%28UBX-19024506%29.pdf Regards Mark    

Hi mark_5, sorry for the delay on this one.

Can you please provide us an update on where you got to? Hope your IoT agri-prototype was a success and we’d love to hear about it!

I have confirmed that the device with original firmware will work with a NB-IoT enabled SIM, however the SIM included in our Arduino kit is Cat-M1 only. To access the NB-IoT network on this device, please reach out to the team at telstradev@team.telstra.com

 

As for upgrading the firmware, this is a bit more complicated. Check out this link  which contains documentation about the SARA-R4 series. Just to add, this file could also provide more information regarding the firmware upgrade. On the said doc, in section 1.6, there appear 2 options for updating the firmware.

For the firmware update procedure, I ask you contact u-blox support directly. We actually reached out to u-blox support to check on your enquiry, and they informed us that firmware is considered confidential and required NDA for delivery. You can create a support ticket with ublox on this page, but before you can raise a ticket registration is required. Please use this link to register.

I see you've also reached out in the arduino forums, If you found your answer there please share with us here for next time!

Hope these items help. If you have any questions, please let me know! 

Cheers,
Michelle

HeyMARK MORRIS, how did you go with the firmware upgrade?

We've had some other IoT kit customers ask for access to the Nb-IoT network. The SIMs that came with the Arduino offer (due to expire at the end of 2021 as per our latest blog announcement) are actually LTE-M (Cat-M1) only, and so even with a compatible device they will not be able to access the Nb-IoT network. 

 

Telstra has not certified the UBLOX module for Cat-M1 with the May 2019 firmware version , and so upgrading to this firmware will lock you out of the Nb-IoT network, even if you have a Telstra IOT plan with Nb-IoT. more details in this thread: https://dev.telstra.com/content/can-i-use-nb-iot-sims-my-arduino-mkr-nb-1500