Unable to activate iBASIS SIM (I Think)

[patmolloy13]

I just received the Thingy 91 this morning. I've inserted the SIM have verified it on the nRF Connect for Cloud.

I cannot proceed to the next step, as the led continues to pulse blue - so I assume not connected to the network.

I am in the UK, South West London (SW15 6BF).

I assume there is no coverage here??

What are my options? If I need a different SIM, what am I looking for?

Thanks

[patmolloy13]

The thing I am still not clear on .. I installed this mfw_nrf9160_update_from_1.0.0_to_1.0.1.bin

and then installed thingy91_nbiot_v0.2.2.bin

which of these is the one that tells the modem to talk NB-IoT rather than LTE-m? Or is it both?

If the SIM was working, should this make the device burst into life?

Installing thingy91_at_client_v0.2.3.bin (which I have installed now) effectively overwrites  thingy91_nbiot_v0.2.2.bin - is that right?

Sorry again!

Pat

[Øyvind]

patmolloy13 said:

which of these is the one that tells the modem to talk NB-IoT rather than LTE-m? Or is it both?

 Yes, both is correct. The modem itself does the communication to the network, but the application tells the modem which network it should use with CONFIG_LTE_NETWORK_MODE_NBIOT=y. 

 

patmolloy13 said:

If the SIM was working, should this make the device burst into life?

 Yes, if the SIM was working, you should see green on everything in the LTE Link Monitor. Have you got a new SIM?

 

patmolloy13 said:

Installing thingy91_at_client_v0.2.3.bin (which I have installed now) effectively overwrites  thingy91_nbiot_v0.2.2.bin - is that right?

 Yes, that is correct. And I hope that the modem settings are saved so that it works as intended to give more debug information to us.

From the log you pasted in last comment, I see that the modem FW is correct at least. However, I can't see anything about NB-IoT, which can mean that your SIM does not work. LTE Link Monitor does not list a network either, another signal that NB-IoT is not working. 

[patmolloy13]

Ok, a little more to report. We have a testbed NBIoT setup here at DC. The team tell me that we need to alter PLMN via the AT+COPS command, and also change the APN via the AT+CGDCONT command.

I am issuing ..

AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet"

Where "internet" is the APN name. This command works, and I get OK back. AT+CGDCONT? confirms set.

AT+CGDCONT?
+CGDCONT: 1,"IP","internet","",0,0
OK

Then I issue

AT+COPS=1,2,"23592"

but I get 

Error: 'AT+COPS=1,2,"23592" ' timed out

and after this, all further commands time out .. I am pretty sure the command is correct, so am I missing something further?

[Smythey]

Hi Pat

I am also in London and looking for a suitable NB-IoT SIM. Did you buy one? If so, please can you tell me where you got it? I am finding it hard to locate one that I can buy!

Thanks

Steve

[patmolloy13]

Hi Steve,

No, I did not buy one. It seems impossible to at present! We have an experimental NB-IoT base station at work with a test sim. Which I cannot make work. And I also have a SIM from a Pycom NB-IoT workshop earlier in the year. Which I also cannot get to work :-O