Differences between SL8080, SL8082 & SL8084

Legacy Legacy AirPrime modules
1

We’re a UK based hardware supplier.

We’ve recently upgraded a number of our rugged computers in USA and Australia from Wavecom XTend 2G modems to Maestro M1003Gxx modems - the upgrades were forced upon us because of the 2G switch-off in those countries.

The Maestro modems (Sierra Wireless innards) come with a country specific model number, as below:

M1003G00 - USA (SL808TR internals);
M1003G02 - UK (SL8082T internals);
M1003G04 - Australia (SL8084TR internals);

At the time of purchase, we were advised that the modems were hardware fixed to only operate in the country they were designed for. This meant we had to buy a number of ‘US only’ modems and a number of ‘Australian only’ modems. Because of order MOQs, this has left us with a surplus of both USA & Aussie units.

However, on receiving the units here in the UK, we were able to send the AT!BAND=06 command to re-program a USA modem to work on the UK bands, likewise the Australian units. After re-programming to the UK’s 2100MHz & 900/2100MHz bands, both modems faultlessly sent & received data over O2.

So this has left me confused - what are the differences between the SL8080, SL8082 & SL8084 modules and are there any issues with re-programming say the US modems for longterm deployment here in the UK ?

Cheers for any comments / ideas.

2

Hi,

The reason it works faultlessly is because all of them run quad band 2G and then the 3G is area specific because of hardware differences in the RF front end. You can run an 80,82 or 84 here, from a technical point of view, long term with no issue (regulatory is a different matter) as long as you do not mind slow speeds (except on the SL8082 as that will switch to 3G).

2G is alive and well across Europe and likely to be for 10 years or so, however, for Europe and Oz you have to be running the correct variant as 2G has effectively gone there now.

Regards

Matt

3

Makes sense - many thanks for the clarification, Matt.