Getting Started

Quick Start

Soracom makes it easy to start building IoT solutions. If this is your first project, simply follow these steps to get up and running!

Quick Start

Before proceeding, you will need to prepare a device, such as a USB 3G/LTE modem or a 3G/LTE development board. If you want to get started using a smartphone or tablet, your device must be carrier-unlocked.

Create a Soracom Account

Soracom SIM devices (and other devices) are managed from the Soracom User Console.

Sign Up

Head over to the User Console page and click the Sign up button to create an account.

https://console.soracom.io

Signup

Select the type of account you would like to create and the country where you are located.

At this time, Soracom accounts are available only for individual and business customers located in the following countries:

Individual accounts:

  • France
  • Germany
  • Japan
  • United Kingdom
  • United States of America

Business accounts:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Hong Kong
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Lithuania
  • Macau
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Taiwan
  • United Kingdom
  • United States of America

If you are located in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you will also be able to choose whether you would like to be billed in USD (US Dollars) or EUR (Euros).

Then follow the instructions to register a new account, confirm your email address, and enter your contact information. Once complete, you will be able to login to the User Console.

Register a Payment Method

Once you have created your Soracom account, you will also need to register a payment method, which will be used for monthly usage fees as well as any items purchased from the User Console.

  1. Login to the User Console.

  2. Click your account menu, then select Payment settings.

    https://console.soracom.io

    Payment method

  3. Follow the instructions on the screen to register your payment method.

When you create your Soracom account, you'll have an opportunity to set up security features to protect your account and create a path for account recovery.

During the initial setup of your account, you will be prompted to set up a recovery email. We recommend this, as it is the only way that our Soracom Technical Support team can assist you to recover your account if your primary email becomes inaccessible.

If you are creating a business account, we also advise that you request that your IT staff create a shared email account for managing your Soracom account login. This will prevent a single point of failure in the event that the person who created the account becomes unavailable or the email becomes inaccessible.

Soracom Technical Support can not reset the password associated with your account, nor can we convert a personal account to a business account, or vice versa.

Register Your SIM

Registering your Soracom Air IoT SIM card to your Soracom account both activates its service and enables you to access Soracom features.

If you purchased your SIM from the User Console: Each SIM will be pre-registered to your account. Once you receive your SIM cards, simply re-open the Orders page and click the Register button next to your order history. All SIMs in your order will automatically be added to your account, with no need to manually register each SIM card.

If you purchased your SIM from Amazon, or received it as part of a promotion: You must individually register each card to your Soracom account by providing its ICCID and PUK, or IMSI and Passcode (depending on SIM type). For more information on how to register a SIM card, please refer to the Registration page.

Insert the SIM

Once you have finished registering your SIM card to your account, insert it into your device. Please refer to your device's manual for instructions on how to remove any existing SIM card and how to insert a new SIM card.

When inserting the Soracom Air IoT SIM card, take care not to use a different SIM form-factor size or insert the card in an incorrect orientation, as incorrect insertion may damage the SIM card and result in connectivity trouble.

Setup the Soracom APN

Power on your device, then follow your device's manual to create and enable a new APN (Access Point Name). When prompted, enter the following information:

4G/LTE and newer devices are often able to automatically retrieve the soracom.io APN setting directly from the network. However, for 2G and 3G connections, the APN must be configured on the device in advance. In general, you should configure the APN setting whenever possible.

When a device uses a Soracom SIM to connect to a cellular network, Soracom will authenticate the device using credentials that are stored inside the SIM. In turn, the Username and Password settings can be treated as optional and omitted. However, these settings are provided in order to support devices that do not allow these settings to be omitted.

Save your APN configuration, then enable it on your device.

For more detailed instructions on connecting with other devices, such as a Raspberry Pi, Arduino, or iOS/Android devices, refer to the Developer Guides section.

Congratulations! Your device is now connected with Soracom, and you can begin using it to develop your IoT solution.

To perform a basic network connectivity test, you can check that your device is able to access the internet, such as pinging a public server, using wget or curl, or just opening a webpage in a browser.

As soon as your SIM card connects to a network for the first time, its SIM status will automatically change to Active, and data usage fees will apply.

Troubleshooting

If your device is unable to connect, double check the following:

If you continue to have trouble connecting your device, please contact our support team by logging into the User Console , then clicking the Support menu and selecting Contact us. You will be taken to our support center, where you can submit a new ticket to request troubleshooting assistance.