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[–] 13 points 9 hours ago (6 children)

I built what is basically a smart plug, but it uses 4G connectivity instead of my standard WiFi. The idea is that if my home network screws up and I need to reboot my router and modem, I can still do that remotely. There have been 2 times in my life that I really wished I had this set up because my Plex server was down while I was traveling. The ideal scenario is that I never have to use the thing, but whenever I see this flashlight post, it reminds me that I kinda do want to need it just once.

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  • [–] 4 points 8 hours ago (5 children)

    I've always wanted a backup network connection, no matter how slow. But i cant find anything cheap enough to be worth it. What service do you use?

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  • [–] 7 points 7 hours ago (4 children)

    It's not a fully redundant backup network. It's a microcontroller called a particle boron that has a 4G antenna. I bought it because there's no monthly connectivity charge within a certain usage limit, and I'll never go anywhere near that limit with this use case.

    I learned about it from this cool YouTube video where a dude uses one to build a pizza compass.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 hours ago (1 child)

    Really intrigued about the particle boron with no monthly fee.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 hours ago

    I bought mine years ago for around $40. I think they still sell it but it costs a bit more now. They have cheaper boards, but I don't know if those have the no monthly fee thing. It's a very cool little dev board, but be warned! Unless they changed it, there's no reverse polarity protection on the battery connector! It uses a regular jst battery connector which can physically only plug in one way. I foolishly assumed this meant that it couldn't be plugged in with reverse polarity, but it turns out there's no established "correct" polarity for that connector and the battery I had fried the first board I bought. If you buy one, make sure you double check the battery polarity!

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