nRF9160 DK Connecting problems with nRF Cloud

[Bergmann]

Hello, I tried to set up my nRF9160 with this tutorial and there is a problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZQcmU3KIMY&t=216s

According to the tutorial, LED 3 and the LED 4 should be blinking after 3 minutes, what means that the board is connected to the nRF Cloud.
However on my nRF9160, the LED 4  never starts blinking, even if I wait 10 minutes longer than required.
I tried to push the reset button a few times, I turned the nRF9160 on and off a few times and I also started the "Add LTE Device" on nRF Cloud a few times.

But LED 4 still remains dark.

There were 2 things different compared to the tutorial video:

1) The Sim Card Registration worked fine, but when I came to the window in the picture below, I had an IMEI, but I found no PIN. So, I tried the option without a pin (Red mark in the picture).

Maybe I need a PIN, but where do I get it? I tried to insert every possible number I found on my nRF9160, but none of them worked. 

I have already installed the latest firmware update for the nRF9160 successfully. So what did I do wrong? Or how can I finally connect the nRF9160 to the nRF Cloud?

- Thanks for your answers

- Bergmann

[bjorn-spockeli]

Hi Bergmann, 

Bergmann said:

I have already installed the latest firmware update for the nRF9160 successfully

You have updated the modem firmware to the latest version that is found here?

I assume that you are using a iBasis SIM, since you activated it through the nRF Cloud site. Where are you based? Have you verified that you have LTE-M coverage in your area(see this page)?

Best regards

Bjørn

[Bergmann]

Ok, the country where I am based isn't in that list.
So I might need a Sim Card of local provider. :)

Thanks for your answer!

[Bergmann]

Hello I couldn't set up the connection yet (so that LED 4 blinks), but I noticed something:

In the meantime I got access to a Nordic Thingy91 and I inserted the Sim Card there and the Thingy91 couldn't connect either. So probably the problem has to do with the Sim Card itself. There is another local provider for NB-IoT or LTE-M and I might try it with a SIM Card from them.

One question more:

I opened the Thingy91 in the LTE Monitor and I saw that the LTE Panel in the top right was blinking yellow:

That means, that the Thingy91 is searching an LTE Tower.

However when I open the nRF9160 in the LTE Monitor, the Searching LTE Panel remains grey, what means that the device is closed:

Should that be grey or does this mean, that the nRF9160 isn't even trying to search a LTE Tower?

Thanks for your answers.

[Heidi-Irene Harvey Sollie]

Hi! 

The grey means the nRF9160 can't find a signal. You can also see this from the response to +CEREG and +CESQ. 

+CEREG: 2,4, "FFFE", "FFFFFFFF", 7

The status value 4 means "Unknown", most likely because the device is out of a coverage area (e.g can't find a signal). 

+CESQ: 99,99,255,255,255,255

The rsrp value 255 (the last number) indicates the RSRP is either not known or not detectable.

Try letting it run for up to an hour (sometimes it takes that long) and see if it finds a signal. You can also turn on a periodic signal quality request in LTE Link Monitor to follow the progress, see image below. If the last value changes from 255, you know it has found a signal. 

Let me know if this works!

Best regards,

Heidi

[Bergmann]

I let the periodic signal run for 2 hours on the nRF9160 and then on the Thingy91 twice, but the CESQ stayed at 

+CESQ: 99,99,255,255,255,255

So it has to be the Sim Card that is not working or that is the cause of the problem.

I have the SIM Card form T-Mobile Austria (Deutsche Telekom) . Maybe I should contact them again about the problem or I should try it with a SIM Card from A1. What do you think? According to the 

https://www.gsma.com/iot/deployment-map/#AT 

map, it would be the second local provider for NB-IoT SIM Cards.

Thanks for your answers.

[Heidi-Irene Harvey Sollie]

Hi again. Does the SIM card support NB-IoT or LTE-M. Both the Thingy and the DK can only connect to LTE-M out-of-box. For NB-IoT you need to flash a different example.

Could you try flashing this example, and running

AT+CFUN=4

AT%XSYSTEMMODE=0,1,0,0

AT+CFUN=1

to enable NB-IoT and see if it finds a signal now?

 nrf91dk_at_client.hex

Best regards,

Heidi

[Bergmann]

I flashed the nRF9160 with the at_client application with the Segger Embedded Studio Software and then I entered the 3 Command-Lines in the LTE Monitor and after a short amount of time it seems like there is finally a signal (At least there are 2 columns in the signal strength): 

However, it says that on the beginning of the blue text:

nrf_cloud_connect failed: 22

Does this mean, that it found an NB-Iot Tower? 
Or does this mean something else?

Thanks for your answers.

[Heidi-Irene Harvey Sollie]

Error 22 means invalid argument but I'm not sure why you're getting it. Could you try running

AT%XEPCO=0

Thanks!

[Bergmann]

No, that didn't work. Do you have any other ideas?

Maybe should I update the firmware, like it is suggested in this article:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/47665/nrf_cloud_connect-failed-22

I also tried to run 

AT%XEPCO=0,

AT%XBANDLOCK=1, "10010101"

But that didn't work either.

Thanks for your answers.

[Heidi-Irene Harvey Sollie]

Yes, you should absolutely update the firmware to see if that is the issue.

[Bergmann]

I also tried to run the commands on the Thingy91. The Thingy91 also has the error with the cloud_connect failed: 22.

It said:

The Thingy91 tries to connect to the cloud. At the end it says it "Connecting to LTE Network. This might take several minutes". But it doesn't connect, it stayed in this state when i let it run for more than an hour.

Do you have any ideas what could cause this problem? 

Thanks for your answers!

[Heidi-Irene Harvey Sollie]

It looks like neither of your devices are actually getting a signal. The yellow LTE bar in your first picture carries less weight than the +CESQ response one can see at the top, where the RSRP value is 255. So I don't think the Thingy:91 is getting a signal either.

I suggest contacting your telecom provider and making sure your SIM card supports the protocol you are using and that there is service at your location. 

You could also try flashing the attached .hex file to your Thingy:91 and checking the response to AT+CESQ = 1 in LTE Link Monitor to see if it finds a signal now.

thingy91_nbiot_legacy_pco_v0.2.2.hex