Raspberry Pi 3G-4G/LTE Base Shield V2

Product Description

This is the newest version of our Raspberry Pi 3G – 4G / LTE Base Shield, the smallest, most easy-to-use, and most versatile Cellular Communication Shield we ever designed.

There is a clip-in Mini PCIe socket for your communication need.
With the 4G/LTE Module(EC25) you can reach 150Mbps downlink and 50Mbps uplink data rates and the 3G Module(Quectel UC20) delivers the maximum data rate of 14.4Mbps downlink and 5.76Mbps uplink, and – The modules have built-in GPS/GLONASS for your location-based applications.(Extra GPS/GNSS antenna is required)
The modules of different regions&frequencies are in stock. You’ll need the get the compatible module with your region or carrier. Let us help you to while choosing the right module if you need: [email protected]
The Micro Sim Card socket can easily reachable on the upside of the shield.
The shield is fully compatible with the single 40-pin expansion header of Raspberry Pi. With the 55 x 65mm dimensions, the shield is a perfect fit for Raspberry Pi.
The shield can be used standalone with your PC/Laptop over Micro USB, without stacking with Raspberry Pi.
You will get the special designed Micro USB cable- as you see on pictures- as a gift.
SMS send/receive
Power and Signal LED
Micro USB Connector
External 5V connection
3 different ways to supply 5V input: R.Pi pins, USB connector and external 5V input. All these inputs are connected parallelly with each other, e.g. when 5V energy is supplied to the Base Shield connected to the Raspberry Pi, then Raspberry Pi also gains the power. So, you can use the different batteries or power sources as you need.
Options for Long header, short header and without header
Optional Send/Receive commands over R.Pi UART port (Attach 0 ohm resistor to the UART Resistors section below the shield or short it using a wire.)
Taking the module to Airplane Mode, resetting module, RI and DTR functions control can be done over R.Pi pins.
Possibilities to connect with Windows or Linux OS computer/laptop via USB like 3G 4G/LTE USB Dongle Modem. Drivers can be downloaded from Quectel official website.
For 4G/LTE: http://www.quectel.com/product/ec25.htm
For 3G: http://www.quectel.com/product/uc20.htm

The Differences Between Old Version:

%25 smaller
No more need to screwing modules to shield. Thanks to the clip-in Mini PCIe socket, it’s more fun to mount the module on the shield.
The Sim Card Socket is a Micro Sim Card Socket now, and it’s on the upside of the shield.
The new power regulation circuit is more efficient and optimized so it’s cooler than old version while working.
No more bulky DC-Barrel Jack! The power input of the shield is 5V and can be obtained via Micro USB or power pins.

What is the header option? It’s so basic:

header_options-2

N.B :
Since 3G and 4G provides high speed internet, the communication is done over USB with Raspberry Pi. It can be connected with the USB cable provided with the Base Shield. UART can be also used for the internet connection but the speed will be very slow.

Functions to be controlled over Raspberry Pi Pins

Pinouts can be seen from the pin layout.

RI: Ring indicator pin. The indication for receiving call or SMS can be calibrated to HIGH or LOW using the AT commands. For details please check Quectel EC25 and UC20 AT Commands Manual.
DTR: When the module is in sleep mode, DTR pin allows to wake the module up by pulling it to LOW.
W_DISABLE: The module is taken to Airplane Mode i.e. the internet is disconnected.
PERST: This is used to the hardware reset.

Significance of LEDs:
PWR LED: Red LED. If the LED is ON, module is powered up.
SGNL LED: Blue LED. It indicates the status of the connection. If there is no connection the led will remain OFF. When the connection is established and data is being transmitted/received the LED will blink with specific intervals.

Which pins used by shield:

base_shiled_v2_pinout

24 reviews for Raspberry Pi 3G-4G/LTE Base Shield V2

5 out of 5

Yadi Rudiyansah – 30 January 2018:

what bands are supported by this stuff ?
- onur – 30 January 2018:
  
  Hello Yadi,
  
  Our Shield support all bands. You just need to select the EC25 module that is appropriate for your location.
4 out of 5

Kim – 14 February 2018:

Hi. What is the power consumption for this shield with a EC25-E and 2 antennes without a PI?
- Mahmut – 16 February 2018:
  
  Hello Kim,
  
  EC25 Power consumption is variable. Many parameters affect this.
  
  You can see what is the current consumption at below link( page-33.)
  
  http://www.elecomes.com/images/upload/File/Quectel_EC25_Mini_PCIe_Hardware_Design_V1_1.pdf
  
  thanks.
5 out of 5

Magnus Eriksson – 16 February 2018:

hi i live in sweden. What kind of EC25 module should I use to make it work in Sweden and Europe
- Metin – 17 February 2018:
  
  Hi, Please choose Ec25-E (Europe).
3 out of 5

Martin G. – 22 February 2018:

Hi, we have this Ec25-E (Europe) card in Germany but it just work with G3. Did you have some hints to fix this bug and get LTE Speed? Our sim Card contract is working with LTE we tested it with a LTE stick.
- Metin – 28 February 2018:
  
  We will ask to Quectel and will turn to you
  - Mahmut – 2 March 2018:
    
    On the EC25 module, 4G is open by default and connection priority is available. However, if there is no 4G signal in the area where it operates, it will try to connect via 3G. We can force the test module to connect to 4G Access technology. Could you try the following command for this and try connecting to the same region? Then AT + COPS? Could you send me the output of the command?
    So, the command is ‘AT+QCFG=”nwscanmode”,3’ to force the module search the network only LTE. Please see the following example.
    AT+COPS?
    +COPS: 0,0,”TR TURKCELL”,6 //Access technology is UTRAN W/HSDPA and HSUPA
    OK
    AT+QCFG=”nwscanmode”
    +QCFG: “nwscanmode”,0
    OK
    AT+QCFG=”nwscanmode”,3 //force the module to connect only LTE network
    OK
    AT+COPS?
5 out of 5

Terry Tse – 1 March 2018:

Dear Sir,
i am living in Hong Kong. What kind of EC25 module should I use to make it work. And if I want to use this product in Canada. Do I need to buy another EC25 module? Please advise. Thank you!
- Mahmut – 2 March 2018:
  
  Hello Terry,
  
  You can use EC25-E in Hong Kong. If you want to use in Canada with EC25-E, it can work with Rogers,Telus, Sask Tel GSM Opetators.
  
  Thanks
5 out of 5

Puru – 26 March 2018:

What module type do I need for use in Australia and India/Nepal?
- Metin – 28 March 2018:
  
  EC25-AU module
5 out of 5

Jafet Morales – 27 March 2018:

Will the EC25-A Mini PCIe work as 4G in the US?
- Metin – 28 March 2018:
  
  Yes, you can use it at US
4 out of 5

eclan – 2 April 2018:

for use of South East asia (indonesia, singapore, malaysia) which EC module should I choose?
- Mahmut – 2 April 2018:
  
  Hi Eclan,
  You can choose EC25-E.
  thanks
5 out of 5

Chris.O – 9 April 2018:

very excited to try this with tmobile. Will this board work with the new raspberry pi 3B+? And if so will it use the built in wifi of the raspberry pi for sharing the connection? I am trying to make a portable hotspot.
- Mahmut – 9 April 2018:
  
  Hi Chris,
  
  Yes, we tested with New Pi 3B+ and it works perfect.
  
  For portable hotspot, this tutorial can help you:
  https://sixfab.com/using-3g-or-4g-raspberry-pi-shield-as-a-wifi-access-point/
  
  thanks.
5 out of 5

Michael (verified owner) – 17 April 2018:

Hi! I’m living in Costa Rica. What kind of EC25 module should I use?
- Metin – 17 April 2018:
  
  Hi, EC25-AU module you can use.
3 out of 5

Nagaraj – 18 April 2018:

Is there a data sheet available with the complete list of LTE Bands that is supported.
- Metin – 19 April 2018:
  
  In this file : https://www.quectel.com/UploadFile/Product/Quectel_EC25_LTE_Specification_V1.5.pdf
3 out of 5

Nagaraj – 18 April 2018:

Do you have any API support for making and dropping calls from the module ?
- Metin – 19 April 2018:
  
  Our new shields (V2) don’t have Audio layer for making calls.
5 out of 5

Alex – 18 April 2018:

I have an EC20, the base shield works with the EC20?
- Metin – 19 April 2018:
  
  Yes, You can use it 😉
4 out of 5

Francesco Vaccari (verified owner) – 23 April 2018:

It’s a very unique product but it’s very fragile, i broke the micro usb port without put pression, i just plug in the cable and the port micro usb fall down.
I love the idea but it could be do better, please for the next protect the port with something
- onur – 26 April 2018:
  
  Thank you for your feedback Francesco. We changed our products, now more strong. Send us the product if you want, we can send smooth one.
5 out of 5

Karol – 25 April 2018:

Is it possible to use this shield without using any RPi GPIO pins, just only over USB (communication and power supply)? I’d like to use this shield and one another which must use GPIO pins.

Greetings
- Metin – 26 April 2018:
  
  Yes you can use, but use have to power shield with external supply to 5V pins on pcb due to much current.
5 out of 5

Pixie – 3 May 2018:

Hi, does this work with Asus Tinker Board runnig Tinker OS? Do I have to modify the kernel or so? I want to buy this with EC25-E, but I don’t want to get into problems since I’m not a pro.
- Metin – 7 May 2018:
  
  You can modify kernel, This link can be help you. https://github.com/Quectel-Community/meta-quectel-community/blob/master/recipes-kernel/linux/linux-yocto/0001-Add-Quectel-EC25-USB-Serial-Driver-Support.patch
4 out of 5

Matt – 4 May 2018:

How to I pipe the gps data from this hat and have it work after power is completely cut out and reapplied? Minicom works but only as long as power stays plugged to pi. If power is pulled and reapplied it has to be reconfigured. I.e. AT+QGPS=1
- Metin – 8 May 2018:
  
  Unfortunately, You have to reconfigure GPS on reboot.
5 out of 5

Nick – 16 May 2018:

Do you have a recommendation for a GPS antenna? Does it need an active or passive antenna?
- Metin – 18 May 2018:
  
  You can use an active or passive antenna.
  
  Antenna Requipments:
5 out of 5

Bastien – 7 June 2018:

Hello,

Does the shield work with all version of the Raspberry Pi ? Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ or Raspberry PI Zero W ?
- Metin – 7 June 2018:
  
  Yes, you can use with all versions.
5 out of 5

Jesse Taylor – 22 June 2018:

Is soldering required to attach this board to the Raspberry Pi?
- onur – 30 June 2018:
  
  Hi Jesse,
  
  You can choose soldered options: short or long header.
5 out of 5

Andrew C – 25 June 2018:

Hello, I use Bell LTE in Canada. I would like to connect to a Pi 3 Model B+. Please let me know what boards I need.

Thanks,

Andrew
- onur – 30 June 2018:
  
  Hello Andrew,
  
  You can use Raspberry Pi 3G-4G/LTE Base Shield V2 with EC25-AU for Bell LTE.
  Thanks.
5 out of 5

Louis (verified owner) – 6 July 2018:

Hello,

is the shield compatible with Quectel EP06 ? EP06 support carrier aggregation (for best bandwidth) and some new lte bands.

https://www.quectel.com/UploadImage/Downlad/Quectel_EC25_Mini_PCIe_Hardware_Design_V1.1.pdf
https://www.quectel.com/UploadImage/Downlad/Quectel_EP06_Hardware_Design_V1.0.pdf

It seems the difference is the following mini PCIE pins. They introduced USB3.0.

23 PERn0 UART_CTS DI UART clear to send Connect to DTE’s RTS -> 23 PERn0 USB3.0_TX- DO USB 3.0 transmit data (-)
25 PERp0 UART_RTS DO UART request to send Connect to DTE’s CTS -> 25 PERp0 USB3.0_TX+ DO USB 3.0 transmit data (+)
31 PETn0 DTR DI Sleep mode control -> 31 PETn0 USB3.0_RX- DI USB 3.0 receive data (-)
33 PETp0 RESERVED Reserved -> 33 PETp0 USB3.0_RX+ DI USB 3.0 receive data (+)
- onur – 18 July 2018:
  
  Hi Louis,
  
  In our shield, RTS and CTS pins are not connected. Reserved pin is in the idled. Only the DTR pin connected to the RPI pin. So EP06 USB3.0 RX pin connected to the RPI pin. So maybe It can work. But you can use USB 2.0 function, not USB 3.0. We didn’t try it before. So we cannot guarantee.
5 out of 5

Şahin – 10 July 2018:

Hello Sixfab team,
Great work, congratz.
I have a specific question. I have a R.Pi 3B+ and an additional CANBUS+MODBUS head and it has no extra head expansion on it. I need to use GPRS+GPS head from you and this head too. Can I do it? How? And since canbus+modbus are both serial ports, can R.Pi handle all these at the same time, is there any conflict of ports/buses ?

Thank you
- Metin – 18 July 2018:
  
  Hi,
  
  You can use our shield via USB. If you connect via USB, you do not need to plug in the pins, only USB. And use /dev/ttyUSB0 for communication. ( Don’t forget to select the switch to USB ).
3 out of 5

anand.s – 16 July 2018:

kindly clarify the module supported in India ,EC25-E or EC25-AU for India? for Raspberry Pi 3G-4G/LTE Base Shield V2
how to provide option of Quectel Module ( EC25-AU) while ordering.

As per the https://www.quectel.com/product/ec25.htm
EC25-E is recommended for india

where as one customer reviews in sixfab says the recommended is EC24-AU?
- onur – 18 July 2018:
  
  Hi,
  We recommend EC25-E for India. But sometimes it depends on which carrier you use. Please e-mail to us for more information: [email protected]