Issues with connecting nRF9160-DK to the cellular network using NB-IOT

[ujur007]

I have problems with connecting nRF9160-DK to the cellular network. I have Airtel SIM which I normally use for mobile. My question is that do I need a special SIM for NB-IoT connection?

I tried to flash the AT-Commands rebuilt binary downloaded from the Nordic website.

After that I opened a LTE Link monitor app to observe the connection status and found that the modem tries to search for the network but can not find the network...

Also, can I use GPS without having the cellular connection?

[ujur007]

I forgot to tell, I am located in India and here there is no coverage for LTE-M and NB-IoT with provided SIM card by nordic..(Soracom and iBasis.)

[Didrik Rokhaug]

Hi,

Also, can I use GPS without having the cellular connection?

Yes, GPS is not related to LTE at all, unless you are using A-GPS or P-GPS to download some of the data from the internet instead of directly from the satellites.

My question is that do I need a special SIM for NB-IoT connection?

Your subscription need to support or include NB-IoT. This is typically not the case for "normal" SIM cards and subscriptions, so you will typically need a different SIM card for your IoT device than what you have in your cell phone.

ujur007 said:

I forgot to tell, I am located in India and here there is no coverage for LTE-M and NB-IoT with provided SIM card by nordic..(Soracom and iBasis.)

Then you will need to get a local SIM card with NB-IoT support.

Best regards,

Didrik

[ujur007]

Thank you for your reply.

I inquired about the SIM card with a couple of network operators here and realized that there are two things to consider.

First one must be an employee of a company or own a business and second that there are minimum quantities(10 SIMs) one must buy. It's not like I can go to a shop and tell them to give me a SIM with nb-iot connection.

So I decided, for now, to use the onboard BLE connection of the DK and connect to the cloud. I can purchase the connection letter.