MC7455 vs EM7455

IoT Modules MC/EM Series
1

Hi,

I’m looking into setting up a small WWAN router using the MC7455 / EM7455, possibly on a Raspberry Pi2 or Pi3 running ArchLinux for ARM, and eventually might switch to the UDOO X86 sometime in the new year.

Some questions if you don’t mind:

  1. Apart from different form factors and interfaces, is there any advantage of going with an MC7455 vs an unbranded EM7455? They are both the same price on techship.com.

  2. I’ve seen some USB2.0 adapter boards (with a SIM card slot) that will fit the MC7455. Any recommendations on one of these products?

  3. Are there similar adapter boards that would fit the EM7455? I haven’t had any luck finding such a product online, so maybe the MC7455 is the best option.

  4. Are there any potential issues using USB2.0 with either device? The adapter boards I’ve seen that would fit the MC7455 are only USB2.0. The Raspberry Pi devices are only USB2.0, but the UDOO X86 is only USB3.0 but backwards compatible.

  5. Any gotchas or concerns, especially with the intended use of ArchLinux or Raspberry?

Finally, if it matters, I’m in a remote mountainous area, and Verizon is the main LTE provider, and my only source for internet since satellite is pretty awful. I’m only able to access one tower, and Band 13 tends to be in busy hour most of the time, so Verizon recently opened up Band 4 on that tower which is what I’ve started to use with directional yagi antennas. My highest LTE speeds are ~15Mbps down / ~4Mbps up on the very best of days, but am hoping things will improve when they deploy LTE-A in my area.

Appreciate any advice!

2
  1. Use a M2 to mPCIe Adapter. Then the normal mPCIe to USB.
3

I’m using one of these for testing M2 modules: hwtools.net/Adapter/USBM2%20Series.html

There are lots of other similar adapters. No need to go via mPCIe.

But I would worry more about the antenna connectors than the m.2 or mPCIe slot. The m.2 modules use really tiny MHF4 connectors. You can get pigtails for them now, but there’s still a lot more available for the U.FL connectors used on mPCIe modules. They are also a bit easier to handle if you’re making your own antenna cables, due to the slightly larger size.

4

This seems to be very expensive (162 USD?) compared to the like 10€ stuff from ebay.

5

Thanks for the heads up about the antenna connector differences; I haven’t looked at that in detail yet but will take a closer look.

That’s a very nice enclosure but I’ll have to look for something more affordable. :slight_smile: It is interesting that the various adapters on that website, and elsewhere, all seem to all be USB2.0. In my case with low speeds, I guess 3.0 really isn’t needed.

6

Would be nice. I haven’t found a USB 3.0 as of yet.