sim card can't be activated

RE: sim card can't be activated

Sean_Wang — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 08:32:52 GMT

Hi Charlie,

This is Sean, and I asked William to post my question here.

Now the question has been resolved.

The reason is due to the mfw version is too low.

The problem version is mfw_nrf9160_1.3.1, and after I update to nrf9160_1.3.2, it works fine with the SIM card.

I also tried with other newer versions, such as 1.3.3, 1.3.5, and both work fine.

Anyway, thanks for your kindly help.

RE: sim card can't be activated

helimoner — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 07:02:43 GMT

The delay in connecting to the network could be related to various factors, including SIM card configuration and network search strategies. The AT commands you've provided are relevant for configuring the modem to lock onto a specific network and band. subway surfers

RE: sim card can't be activated

Charlie — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 08:12:04 GMT

Hi William,

Me neither, so we need to understand why this happens. Here I list some information that may help to understand the cause.

1) Is it possible to use nRF9160DK to test and collect modem traces by the end customer?

2）If only some SIM cards have an issue, I suspect the issue is SIM card configuration-related. Soracom shows their SIM cards support multiple networks, it may take time for nRF9160 to find the proper network, while mobile phones may have different strategies to search the proper network so it is faster. The following commands can speed up the search process, and this will help to verify if searching the network causes the long time wait. Just set the target network and band we have known to see if this will help the device connect to the network quickly.

AT+COPS=1,2,"310260"
AT%XBANDLOCK=2,"100000000000"

Best regards,

Charlie

RE: sim card can't be activated

William.wei — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 02:34:52 GMT

Hi Charlie，

customer is in the USA Washington.

[quote userid="93921" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/105026/sim-card-can-t-be-activated/452467"]"AT+COPS" and "AT%XBANDLOC"[/quote]

No, this product is not able to select which kind of sim card customer will use.

the question is, if this kind of problem is common, and if 9160 can solve this problem?

i never heard of this problem before.

Regards,

William.

RE: sim card can't be activated

Charlie — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 09:00:16 GMT

Hi William,

1) Do you know which city this customer doing the test in and do they use SIM cards from T-Mobile directly? I want to check if other customers reported a similar issue before.

2) Did they try to use "AT+COPS" and "AT%XBANDLOC" to speed up the network searching process?

Best regards,

Charlie

RE: sim card can't be activated

William.wei — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 08:19:32 GMT

Hi Charlie,

the end customer is in the USA.

they are using cat-m network, not nb:

[2023-10-23_06:21:12:922]AT%XSYSTEMMODE?
[2023-10-23_06:21:13:132]<
[2023-10-23_06:21:13:132]%XSYSTEMMODE: 1,0,0,0

[2023-10-23_06:21:13:132]OK

the problem focus on: device can't attach the network, but after insert to mobile phone（for about 10-20 minutes), those sim cards are ok, and can work on 9160.

for me, i have not seen this problem before.

Regards,

William.

RE: sim card can't be activated

Charlie — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 09:06:11 GMT

Hi William,

"%XSYSTEMMODE: 1,0,0,0" shows the device is set to only connect with the LTE-M network, are you sure the local network operator used by the end customer has LTE-M coverage?

I am not sure if the end customer is located in China, GSMA | Mobile IoT Deployment Map | Internet of Things shows only NB-IoT network is available in China mainland area.

The mobile phone test with SIM card does not give more useful information, since one SIM card can have several profiles that may support 4G, 5G, LTE-M, NB-IoT networks and so on. Mobile phones normally do not support LTE-M networks.

Best regards,

Charlie