Published on October 5th, 2022

When you think about cellular companies discontinuing 3G cellular coverage in favor of the much faster and more complex 5G, your first thought probably isn’t “How is this shutdown going to affect farmers’ work?” That question is much more important than you might think; a large portion of farm equipment uses 3G to operate a large series of sensors that aid daily operations. These sensors monitor everything from the temperature and air quality in a barn to keep livestock healthy to remotely controlling the amount of irrigation a field receives. As such, it’s important to know how farms utilize this technology as well as what the transition to 5G could mean for them.

3G, 4G, 5G:

Upgrading your 3G equipment to 4G or 5G is inevitable at this point, and while that may seem like a tough cost to take on,  it’s useful to know the benefits as well as your options regarding these upgrades. For starters, 5G is significantly faster than 3G— at its peak approximately 10,000 times faster— which means you can get updates about the condition of your farm as fast as possible, as well as being able to implement changes almost instantaneously. Even then, 4G LTE, which will be the service that is the most widely available to farmers for the near future, is still, at its best 500 times faster than 3G, which is a significant improvement and part of the reason 3G is getting phased out. So while it may be inconvenient to have to switch, the benefits should be well worth the costs. Because 5G lines still aren’t widely available and likely won’t reach rural areas for a long time, upgrading to 4G will be the best option.

Coverage:

The first thing to consider is to figure out which wireless plan would be best for you. Rural areas tend to get less coverage than urban areas, which means connections can get very spotty, which will be especially true as carriers start setting up more and more 5G connections. While choosing the plan that gives you the most coverage may sound like the best idea, there might actually be a better option. Some companies such as LinkWorxUS offer a dual-sim plan, which means you would get network coverage through two different carriers—you could get a connection through both T-Mobile and AT&T, for example— that way when one connection is bad you will have a second connection to rely on.

Data:

Some also offer products that are geared specifically toward farmers. Since farm operations tend to grow during planting and harvesting seasons and die down after that, having a cellular plan where your data usage is budgeted monthly isn’t ideal. During peak farming seasons a farmer may need considerably more data than their plans allow for while during their off-season they might use next to no data, but still have to pay for data that they aren’t using. As such, some companies offer yearly plans, in which data usage is budgeted over a full year instead of each month. As a result, farmers will have more flexibility to use their data when they need it without exceeding the limits of their plan, while also not paying extra monthly for data that they aren’t using during their off-season.

Upgrade:

Finally, after you’ve chosen your plan you need to upgrade your equipment so that it can actually make use of your new plan. This might sound like a pain, especially if you don’t know much about how to install new technology into your equipment. Luckily, when you work with a company to choose a coverage plan, they will likely have professionals that can help you get set up as well. If you want to do it yourself, simply check to make sure the products you’re purchasing are either compatible with your old equipment and enable them to use 4G cellular, or if you’re replacing your old equipment make sure it’s 4G enabled.

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