Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

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hevnsnt
 
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Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:44 pm

Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by hevnsnt »

hello all,

I am having an odd experience with my fona, and was wondering if anyone could lend some assistance. When my fona arrived (yesterday) I immediately went down to the local T-Mobile store and got a pre-paid SIM. When I plugged it in, I had the following results:

Code: Select all

FONA> 
FONA> i
15,0
RSSI = 15: -84 dBm
FONA> n
0,2
2
Network status 2: Not registered (searching)
FONA> n
0,0
0
Network status 0: Not registered
hmm.. it can see the network, but 'Not registered' makes me think something was up with my SIM. So back to T-Mobile I went. They gave me another SIM, and when I got home and tested it, I had the same results. So, back to T-Mobile I went (this time with my computer/arduino/fona with me) and asked them to plug the SIM into a phone to see if it would work there. Hmm, sure enough, the phone got on the network no problem. So I put the SIM back into my fona, and sure enough, it is now registered.

Code: Select all

FONA> n 
Network status 1: Registered (home)
Nice! So I sent a few SMS, plugged in a headset and made a few phone calls. Perfect.
---------------

Anyway, fast forward to this afternoon. Finally get to back to play with my project. I powered everything up, and checked and found that it appears that my SIM has "fallen" off the T-Mobile network again!!! What is going on here?

Code: Select all

ONA> i
15,0
RSSI = 15: -84 dBm
FONA> n
0,2
2
Network status 2: Not registered (searching)
FONA> n
0,0
0
Network status 0: Not registered
FONA> 

Does the phone do something to "Authorize" or "Initialize" the card allowing it on the network that the fona doesnt? Can anyone assist?

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:42 am

Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

I think that's telling you that it is searching for service, not that T-Mobile has forgotten about it. You seem to be in a T-Mobile dead spot.

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tinkeringtech
 
Posts: 98
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:08 pm

Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by tinkeringtech »

hevnsnt,
-84dBM seems like a decent enough signal strength.
What kind of an antenna are you using?
When you put the SIM on a regular phone, how many bars are you getting for the signal?

Just FYI, I have t-mobile signal issues at home. I called them up and they shipped me a signal booster kit for free. Works much better now.
http://support.t-mobile.com/community/c ... al-booster

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adafruit2
 
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Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by adafruit2 »

Thanks for the suggested, added here!
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-fon ... odule/faqs

hevnsnt
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:44 pm

Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by hevnsnt »

adafruit_support_rick wrote:I think that's telling you that it is searching for service, not that T-Mobile has forgotten about it. You seem to be in a T-Mobile dead spot.

I am definitely not in a tmobile dead spot, it seems like t-mobile doesn't like the fona. Short recap:

1) Plug SIM into fona, Doesn't register.
2) Plug SIM into phone, registered just fine
3) Plug SIM into fona, registered just fine
4) Wait 24hrs, Doesn't register

I just don't know enough about the GSM process. Does the network send any challenge/response to init the card? Is that what the phone did and 'auth'ed' it for 24hrs?

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adafruit2
 
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Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by adafruit2 »

"registered" means it was able to talk to T-mobile base-station (cell tower) - the only thing we know of is it could be you have bad service in your area. It could be the SIM card...but if you have another SIM it might be worth trying?

You can email support@adafruit to get a full refund as we don't have any FONA's in stock right now. When they come into stock you can try again, we do test each one by sending and receivng an SMS so the radio section works here in NYC.

hevnsnt
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 9:44 pm

Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by hevnsnt »

appreciate the offer, but there is no way I am giving up my fona. :)

Nice try!

ISalhi
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2014 11:32 pm

Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by ISalhi »

i have the exact same problem except i have not had it say Registered! yet just Network status 0: Not registered

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Please post clear, detailed pictures of both sides of the FONA, showing your soldering and wiring

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1rapphhael
 
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Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by 1rapphhael »

on a global view of how gsm network provider work, the sim card contain-only the subscriber informations such your adress, your postal code, your name and the other data you give when you subscribe for some service and some number like serial, ...
So, the sim card is only to prove that you pay and after the operator give you the service, this is only an interface information manager to protect piracy and investment. So, all the technical problem you find with signal strength or register/disconnection/connection is due only to the technical such antenna, hardware or to a bad place you place your equipment or simply because you choose an operator that does not support GSM (2G)(AT&T,T-Mobile) and support other technology like CDMA-2000 (1X-EVDO)(Verizon Wireless, Sprint, etc..) it is to be aware of that because some operator sell their CDMA network with the false name of 2G-3G but it is not the real standard of GSM (2G). the mini-gsm fona work with GSM only.
The SIM exist only to be sure for company that we have paid their service.

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MCoffey
 
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Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by MCoffey »

Has anyone found a solution to this problem yet? I'm getting the same "network status 0: not connected" message. I'm in the UK an all of the cellular networks here support 2G/GSM
so I don't think it has anything to do with that.

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

What kind of Fona? what are you using for an antenna? Can you post some pictures of the Fona?

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MCoffey
 
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Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by MCoffey »

Hey, thanks for the reply. I have the fona 808 with the mini right angle antenna which is also sold by adafruit. In fact all of the accessories I'm using are those linked to on the fona product page. The antenna is product number 1858, the battery is the 500mAh Li-poly (product number 1578) and the GPS antenna is the 9mm x 9mm passive ant (i.d 2460).
The gps is working great and it responds to all of the AT code sent to it from the arduino fona test sketch and as you'll see in the serial output (picture attached) it's recognising the sim cards and has a good enough signal. For some reason it just won't register with the network. Also, I live in the UK and there is still a nation wide GSM network available through
all of the major carriers (I'm using Three, by the way) so I don't believe it's that either. Basically I'm stumped, any help or advice you can offer will be hugely appreciated.
Regards, Marcus.
Attachments
This is the serial output
This is the serial output
Serial_out.png (13.04 KiB) Viewed 1476 times
Here is my fona module setup.
Here is my fona module setup.
Fona-808.jpg (249.6 KiB) Viewed 1476 times

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:42 am

Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Well, you've got a good signal, and everything else appears to be working. Have you contacted 3 about this? They may be able to do some diagnostics. Can you try the SIM in a different phone and see if it works?

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MCoffey
 
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Re: Fona: Falls 'off' Tmobile

Post by MCoffey »

I've already verified that the sim will work in my phone, it will make and receive calls/ SMS and access internet. I haven't spoken to Three yet but i will do tomorrow. I've been searching for info on anyone else using the 808 module in the UK but as yet I haven't found anything. From my searches it's quite clear that it won't work in certain places like Japan; the reviews for this specific module on the primoroni.co.uk website are good so I'm assuming that wouldn't be the case if no one could get it to work. I don't suppose you've got any information on it's UK combatability? I'll contact Three tomorrow and if they can't help I'll try a per-paid Vodafone sim as I've seen a youtube video of someone in New Zealand using their fona 800 on that network.
Regards, Marcus!

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