TRB140/RMS - Data Usage Notification

[david_vcat]

TL;DR: How to setup an RMS data usage notification when the SIM card, with pre-loaded data, is regularly swapped out?

We are a UK-based charity and have been gifted unlimited data SIM cards. SIM cards are from O2, Vodafone and Three. Each SIM card has between 24GB and 40GB pre-loaded. We purchased the TRB140 to act as our Internet gateway. Everything is functionally working. We also have access to RMS, though I believe this is on a one month free trial.

The challenge we are facing is that when the 24GB - 40GB is exhausted, all Internet access ceases and, as data usage varies day-to-day, this often comes as a surprise and usually when people are in teams/zoom meetings!!

So I need a solution that notifies me before the data is exhausted.

OPTION 1: Use in-built TRB140 features

The TRB140 has a ‘data limits’ feature, which appears to measure traffic on the WAN interface (mob1s1a1), and does appear to have the ability to send an SMS based on a data usage threshold. I’m thinking that I could:

• Insert the new SIM
• Change the Data Limit to whatever the SIM has pre-loaded
• Set the threshold to say 80%
• Then, click the Clear Collected Data button.

OPTION 2: Use RMS?

But I am thinking that we also have access to the Teltonika RMS, with powerful monitoring and alerting features, surely this would be a better option?

Here is where we’re struggling.

I can see all the ‘Dynamic monitoring’ measurements, but they all seem to be cumulative and I don’t see any way to reset data usage e.g. on new SIM card. I thought I might see ‘data by SIM’ but this doesn’t appear to be an option. I see measurements for ‘sent’ & ‘received’, but also ‘tx’ & ‘rx’ - not sure what the difference is.

In this use case i.e. where the SIM is regularly swapped out, each with different pre-loaded data limits, is there an RMS-based notification solution here?

Any advice and guidance would be warmly appreciated. Thank you!

David.

[Zilvinas]

Hello David,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

For this particular case, the most practical and straightforward option is to use the device WEBUI. The same can also be achieved through RMS, but RMS Alerts and Automations are generally more suited for more advanced or broader monitoring scenarios, so the setup there would be more involved, including configuring Automations & Alerts with TX/RX limits.

Regarding question (tx/rx) TX stands for Transmit (sending data) and RX stands for Receive (receiving data).

I will add our Teltonika-Networks wiki page link with relevant information.

RMS Alerts & Automations - Teltonika Networks Wiki

Using the WEBUI in this situation would be the faster and simpler approach.
To enable the data limits feature via device WEBUI, please follow these steps:

1. Go to Network > Mobile > Limits.
   

   

2. Click the Edit button.

3. Enable Data Connection Limit and SMS Warning.
   

   

4. Set your Warning Threshold. In your case, 80% of 24 GB equals 19.2 GB. (Please note: the threshold is entered in MB, not GB.)

5. Enter your phone number in the field provided below the threshold.

Once these settings are configured, you will receive alerts when your data usage reaches the specified limit.
Also adding our Teltonika wiki page info, so it will help you with this particular case - TRB140 Mobile - Teltonika Networks Wiki

I will also include step-by-step instructions for “RMS”, so you can choose the method that works best for you.
If you would like to receive notifications about your data usage, you can set this up in RMS by going to >Management > Alerts & Automations.With RMS, notifications will be sent to you via email instead of SMS.

Please note that this is just an example, so you may need to adjust the values based on your specific needs.[image]

[david_vcat]

Thank you, I have setup the TRB140 WebUI Limit, but it was how this might be achieved within RMS that was the thrust of my point.

If I am reading your response correctly, it looks like you are setting up two alerts, one triggering when RX is greater than an arbitrary value, and a similar one for TX. Queries:

• The SIM card data allocation make no distinction between TX & RX, only total data. Does RMS have such a ‘total data’ measurement, or does it have the ability to sum RX & TX?
• You seem to be using the Dynamic Monitoring > Modem > Month measure but:
  • The pre-loaded data lives forever.
  • This limit is reset on SIM card swap out.
  • …so, is there a ‘total data’ measure and can this be reset on demand via the RMS?

If the RMS cannot currently do this, and I’m no expert, but I’m thinking it cannot be that difficult to have SIM-specific data measurements, I mean each SIM is unique, right?

As a workaround, I’ll use the TRB140 WebUI Limit, but I would like to further discover whether RMS can provide a solution.

[Zilvinas]

Hello,

When it comes to RMS alerts, at the moment, it is possible to set alerts for sent and received values separately. However, when it comes to the sum of these values, currently, RMS monitoring templates cannot do math. While the send and receive parameters can be symmetrical, sometimes you may receive 10GB and send only 5GB (or have another type of combination), resulting in a false-positive alert.

As a workaround, we would suggest using the data limit feature on the device itself and setting an incredibly big data limit (an artificial data limit). Then you would be able to monitor the data limit service using custom RMS monitoring templates. Meanwhile, the data limit service can combine sent and received values. The data limit service can also automatically reset the data usage monthly.
Side note: Do not forget to set the correct values in the alert.

To learn more about custom monitoring templates, you can view this wiki page:

RMS Monitoring templates - Teltonika Networks Wiki

To learn more about the mobile data usage limit feature, you can view this wiki page:

Limits - RUTX50 Mobile - Teltonika Networks Wiki

Kind regards,
Žilvinas.