question

Simon Coram avatar image
Simon Coram asked

GlobalLink 520 Uk coverage

I’ve just ordered a GlobalLink 520 for remote monitoring of my boat solar but can find a difinitive map coverage for the uk. Mainly Gloucestershire.

Has anyone got one in the uk?

offgridsolargloballink
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6 Answers
Sarah avatar image
Sarah answered ·
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Simon Coram avatar image
Simon Coram answered ·

Thanks I’ve read that and don’t really give great info. It says it’s Telefónica which I believe is O2 their website says it don’t cover my area for LTE-m but another independent site/ checker says different.

The SIM card supplied is a 1nce card who don’t do a detailed area coverage map but says it covers the uk but can’t find who they use.

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Lasse avatar image Lasse ♦♦ commented ·
Officially they only suppory O2 in the UK. Recently we also noticed some units on the Vodafone Network.
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robbief avatar image robbief Lasse ♦♦ commented ·
So if the devices are only officially O2 only, how do they roam to Vodafone LTE-M, or don't they care what LTE-M network they connect to (Unlike Mobile Phones)?
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Lasse avatar image Lasse ♦♦ robbief commented ·
Victron uses 1nce as a service provider they have contracts with many operators. So it can work with both O2 and Vodafone. But it is possible that neither o2 and Vodafone has rolled out LTE-M over their 4G network. It's just a software update that they need to activate on all cell towers. In the UK this has not been done everywhere.
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Simon Coram avatar image
Simon Coram answered ·

Simple answer to iOS that no it don’t work.

I tried at home in a big town and on the boat with an external Ariel still won’t connect.

I May have to go down the cerbo gx route.

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colinbr avatar image
colinbr answered ·

I also have a GlobalLink 520, with no LTE-M coverage in my city.

How can Victron sell a product in the UK that can only cater for 50% of the UK population?

O2 only has 50% UK coverage for LTE-M, some of the larger cities are not even covered at this time even though O2 stated the roll-out will be complete by 2021.

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Lasse avatar image Lasse ♦♦ commented ·

The selected operator in this case is 1nce and they have a contract with O2 in the UK. Unfortunately O2 does not have good LTE-M coverage where it seems to be best in the east of the UK. It does seem to be improving and recently we also saw a couple of GlobalLinks in the UK that have used the Vodafone network.

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Simon Coram avatar image
Simon Coram answered ·

I actually sent mine back saying that it didn’t work and got a cerbo gx and ran a Ethernet lead to the router at the front of the boat works great. I can remotely monitor it all now.

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Lasse avatar image Lasse ♦♦ commented ·
Just a quick follow up question. If the GlobalLink would have had wifi support would that have also solved your problem?
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thshh avatar image thshh Lasse ♦♦ commented ·
Also got poor LTE-M here in southern Germany. If the Globallink also had a WiFi interface to communicate with VRM additional to LTE-M: THATS the solution for areas with no or bad LTE-M-coverage.
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fermont avatar image fermont Lasse ♦♦ commented ·

Is there any change for wifi support for the GlobalLink?

I am still waiting for a stable LTE-m connection.
https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/186149/globallink-520-nl-coverage.html

Currently I have a succesfull connection once every 2-3 days.

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robbief avatar image
robbief answered ·

I had some feedback from a friend in the UK Telecoms industry. His initial feedback to me when I showed him the O2 coverage was that Vodafone and O2 have a sharing agreement for 4G split east west, so he suspected that we were only seeing the O2 coverage and Vodafone have the other half covered. I should be able to get some more concrete information to share soon. It's very relavent, as most people won't bother buying a GlobalLink 520 if they see the map that was shared on the O2 website.....

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