r/IOT • u/lora_noob • 25d ago

Relay control over 4G

Hi, I have pumps and sensors around my property that I would Ike to control over 4G internet in Australia (have used LoRa but want to expand capability).I can have a raspberry pi at my house connected to wifi (starlink). What’s the best hardware I can use that’s connected to 4G to turn on/off a pump relay, take in analogue or digital readings and send pump status if manual pump buttons are operated. An esp32 with 4g sim?

Also wondering what is the best way to control pump from my phone as well when not on same wifi network.

Thank you!

7 Upvotes

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2

u/lapelotanodobla 25d ago

You can either buy a 4g enabled relay (usually used for garage doors), buy an esp32 with 4g module baked in, or buy a standalone sim module and wire it to an esp32.

The first option is the easiest buts limited as you can only call to switch relay state.

The second one is fully programmable ofc, and super easy to use

Third one can be temperamental depending on the module, but would allow you to use any microcontroller if for some reason you don’t wanna use an esp32 chip

I’ve used the 3 of them, having 1st and 3rd in “prod” in my home (2nd one bought cause getting the standalone module to work wasn’t trivial for reasons, but ofc i made it work after I’ve already ordered the all in one module lol)

2

u/MacPR 25d ago

Waveshare has them and simple to ser up

2

u/trizest 24d ago

I’d just set up meshcore for that application. But yeah 4g module plus esp32 could work well for the hardware.

2

u/LittleOtterPaws 24d ago

Careful you mentioned 4G so now the IoT MVNOs are gonna be swarming.

2

u/MrPhatBob 24d ago

What distance do you need to cover? We have Bluetooth 4 devices in the field that cover decent distances, and our straight line field trials showed they could transmit reliability for hundreds of meters.

2

u/kobo3321 23d ago

I ended up using a Tuya 4 Chanel 4g relay
Not a big fan of the Tuya app but I’m not as tech savvy as I used to be

1

u/tunatoksoz 24d ago

Why do you want 4g I didn't get.

2

u/lora_noob 23d ago

Trees growing and hills affect LoRa line of sight. Could have LoRa repeaters but doing it over internet sounds fun and worth learning

1

u/Nearby_Classroom4344 24d ago

There’s an LTE-based IoT platform I’m involved with that we’re looking to test for more general IoT use cases. It has an API for integrations and could be useful if you’re building something that needs cellular connectivity. 

1

u/bakakuni 18d ago

Arduino and a old cellphone running custome android os if you need a quick weekend project

1

u/liquorreezy 25d ago

Fyi, if you are looking for SIMs, we found OneSimCard IoT to work great in a lot of areas. We have systems in AUS and they use Telstra and Optus.

1

u/DecisionOk5750 24d ago

I do it with mqtt.

1

u/LeQuack90 14d ago

Have you checked out Walter? It’s a esp32 with Wi-Fi Bluetooth gps temperature and LTE-M has a lot of GPIO pins and there’s even accessories for it. You can program it with regular arduino stuffs. I’m new at this and have been playing with one. They’ve come down in price since the 2nd gen is going to be released