Clipper LTE 4G Breakout (SP/CE) – Starter Kit

by Pimoroni

Clipper lets you receive and transmit data over 4G LTE cellular networks - perfect for remote or mobile projects.

WiFi is great, but sometimes you want your connected project to Just Work, wherever in the world it is. Perhaps you're going to a festival and don't know if there will be wireless connectivity to control your weird LED art installation. Maybe you're trying to get the tech in your shed to talk to your home automation software, but the range of your wireless router won't quite reach. Possibly you're attaching sensors to a distant beehive, canal boat, bicycle or other object with a remote or transient location?

Hooking your microcontroller up to cellular / mobile data could be your solution! Typically, transmitting sensor readings from or commands to microcontrollers doesn't consume much data compared to the needs of modern smartphones, so a small amount of pay-as-you-go data used like this goes a long way.

Clipper has a SP/CE connector on board - this means you can connect it easily to any SP/CE compatible microcontroller or add-on using a handy cable (of course, there's also pads if you'd prefer to solder wires to it). Click here to view all things SP/CE!

It also has an SMA connector for attaching an antenna. Cables and antennae are sold separately, or you can pick up a kit which includes them - just add a microcontroller!

Introductory offer!

For a limited time, we're including a free SIM card with a 100MB data allowance with every Clipper breakout so you can get start experimenting with mobile data right away.

Our SIM cards are supplied by 1NCE, and will work in over 150 countries around the globe - check the coverage map to see if 4G is supported in your region. The data will be valid for at least six months from when you receive it.

You'll soon be able to add more data to your SIM card through our site - more details coming soon!

Starter kit contains

  • Clipper 4G LTE Breakout
  • SP/CE cable
  • Antenna

Features

  • SIMCom A7683E 4G LTE module
    • Frequency Bands: LTE-FDD B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B20/B28
    • Control Via AT Commands
    • Data transfer: LTE Cat 1 - Uplink up to 5Mbps, Downlink up to 10Mbps
  • SP/CE connector (8 pin JST-SH)
  • SIM card slot
  • SMA connector for attaching an antenna
  • No soldering required (if you connect using SP/CE).
  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi Pico / RP2040 / RP2350
  • Compatible with Raspberry Pi computers
  • Dimensions: 35x29x5mm (Antenna connector is 11mm tall)

Getting started

You can use Clipper with Raspberry Pi Pico (or other RP2040 or RP2350 based microcontrollers) using our custom MicroPython build, which has PPP support built in:

You can also use it with a Raspberry Pi computer (if you wire it up to the correct pins) using Pi OS's built in `ppp` library - we found the article below helpful when setting it up: