LTE works, GSM does not

[NaN INF NaN]

I'm enjoying SXMO on my new PinePhone (PPHONE-BE2). For the most part, it is working well. When I have LTE reception, calls and data work without problems. However, LTE coverage is still patchy in Germany, UMTS is disabled and 5G is unsupported on PinePhone. So whenever LTE is unavailable, the phone should use GSM and that is not working at all. I have never seen the phone registering successfully in the GSM network of my carrier. Same with the preinstalled Plasma Mobile (in Manjaro ARM I think).

Here is some data that may help with diagnosis.
* Carrier: Congstar (Germany, a brand of Telekom).
* The SIM is old (from around 2008) but GSM works in another phone.
* I flashed an open source firmware onto the modem but had the same problem before doing so.
* Below is the output of mmcli -m 0 and mmcli -m 0 --3gpp-scan --timeout 300 in a spot where I do not have LTE coverage.
* Note that 3gpp-scan finds the GSM network of O2 but not the one of my carrier.
* It also finds the LTE network of my carrier (26201 - TDG) but I think reception is too bad to connect.

Any thoughts on how to fix this? I consider ordering a new SIM. I may also switch to a different carrier, so recommendations for German carriers that work well with PinePhone would be appreciated.

Code:

  -----------------------------------
  General  |                    path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0
           |               device id: 9717313523c02e0afbec903cac5df14f8bd7e778
  -----------------------------------
  Hardware |            manufacturer: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
           |                   model: QUECTEL Mobile Broadband Module
           |       firmware revision: EG25GGBR07A08M2G
           |          carrier config: Commercial-DT
           | carrier config revision: 05011F1C
           |            h/w revision: 10000
           |               supported: gsm-umts, lte
           |                 current: gsm-umts, lte
           |            equipment id: 860195053807878
  -----------------------------------
  System   |                  device: /sys/devices/platform/soc/1c1b000.usb/usb2/2-1
           |                 drivers: qmi_wwan, option
           |                  plugin: quectel
           |            primary port: cdc-wdm0
           |                   ports: cdc-wdm0 (qmi), ttyUSB0 (qcdm), ttyUSB1 (gps),
           |                          ttyUSB2 (at), wwan0 (net)
  -----------------------------------
  Numbers  |                     own: 49<redacted>
  -----------------------------------
  Status   |                    lock: sim-pin2
           |          unlock retries: sim-pin (3), sim-puk (10), sim-pin2 (3), sim-puk2 (10)
           |                   state: enabled
           |             power state: on
           |          signal quality: 42% (cached)
  -----------------------------------
  Modes    |               supported: allowed: 2g; preferred: none
           |                          allowed: 3g; preferred: none
           |                          allowed: 4g; preferred: none
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: 3g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: 2g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 4g; preferred: 4g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 4g; preferred: 2g
           |                          allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
           |                          allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 3g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 3g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 2g
           |                 current: allowed: 2g, 4g; preferred: 4g
  -----------------------------------
  Bands    |               supported: egsm, dcs, pcs, g850, utran-1, utran-4, utran-6, utran-5,
           |                          utran-8, utran-2, eutran-1, eutran-2, eutran-3, eutran-4, eutran-5,
           |                          eutran-7, eutran-8, eutran-12, eutran-13, eutran-18, eutran-19,
           |                          eutran-20, eutran-25, eutran-26, eutran-28, eutran-38, eutran-39,
           |                          eutran-40, eutran-41, utran-19
           |                 current: egsm, dcs, pcs, g850, utran-1, utran-4, utran-6, utran-5,
           |                          utran-8, utran-2, eutran-1, eutran-2, eutran-3, eutran-4, eutran-5,
           |                          eutran-7, eutran-8, eutran-12, eutran-13, eutran-18, eutran-19,
           |                          eutran-20, eutran-25, eutran-26, eutran-28, eutran-38, eutran-39,
           |                          eutran-40, eutran-41, utran-19
  -----------------------------------
  IP       |               supported: ipv4, ipv6, ipv4v6
  -----------------------------------
  3GPP     |                    imei: 860195053807878
           |           enabled locks: sim, fixed-dialing
           |             operator id: 26203
           |            registration: idle
  -----------------------------------
  3GPP EPS |    ue mode of operation: csps-1
           |  initial bearer ip type: ipv4v6
  -----------------------------------
  SIM      |        primary sim path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/SIM/0
           |          sim slot paths: slot 1: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/SIM/0 (active)
           |                          slot 2: none

Code:

  ---------------------
  3GPP scan | networks: 26203 - o2 - de (gsm, current)
            |           26203 - o2 - de (lte, forbidden)
            |           26202 - Vodafone (lte, forbidden)
            |           26201 - TDG (lte, available)

[NaN INF NaN]

I got an all new SIM card from my carrier now but that did not help. I also updated the firmware to version 0.7.1. And I tried my luck with various configuration changes in mmcli. The problem persists.

Are there any German Pinephone/PostmarketOS users around here, who could let me know what carrier they are using and whether GSM/LTE and SMS/calls/data are working? Any other ideas?

[zetabeta]

I'm enjoying SXMO on my new PinePhone (PPHONE-BE2). For the most part, it is working well. When I have LTE reception, calls and data work without problems. However, LTE coverage is still patchy in Germany, UMTS is disabled and 5G is unsupported on PinePhone. So whenever LTE is unavailable, the phone should use GSM and that is not working at all. I have never seen the phone registering successfully in the GSM network of my carrier. Same with the preinstalled Plasma Mobile (in Manjaro ARM I think).

Here is some data that may help with diagnosis.
* Carrier: Congstar (Germany, a brand of Telekom).
* The SIM is old (from around 2008) but GSM works in another phone.
* I flashed an open source firmware onto the modem but had the same problem before doing so.
* Below is the output of mmcli -m 0 and mmcli -m 0 --3gpp-scan --timeout 300 in a spot where I do not have LTE coverage.
* Note that 3gpp-scan finds the GSM network of O2 but not the one of my carrier.
* It also finds the LTE network of my carrier (26201 - TDG) but I think reception is too bad to connect.

Any thoughts on how to fix this? I consider ordering a new SIM. I may also switch to a different carrier, so recommendations for German carriers that work well with PinePhone would be appreciated.

Code:

  -----------------------------------
  General  |                    path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0
           |               device id: 9717313523c02e0afbec903cac5df14f8bd7e778
  -----------------------------------
  Hardware |            manufacturer: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
           |                   model: QUECTEL Mobile Broadband Module
           |       firmware revision: EG25GGBR07A08M2G
           |          carrier config: Commercial-DT
           | carrier config revision: 05011F1C
           |            h/w revision: 10000
           |               supported: gsm-umts, lte
           |                 current: gsm-umts, lte
           |            equipment id: 860195053807878
  -----------------------------------
  System   |                  device: /sys/devices/platform/soc/1c1b000.usb/usb2/2-1
           |                 drivers: qmi_wwan, option
           |                  plugin: quectel
           |            primary port: cdc-wdm0
           |                   ports: cdc-wdm0 (qmi), ttyUSB0 (qcdm), ttyUSB1 (gps),
           |                          ttyUSB2 (at), wwan0 (net)
  -----------------------------------
  Numbers  |                     own: 49<redacted>
  -----------------------------------
  Status   |                    lock: sim-pin2
           |          unlock retries: sim-pin (3), sim-puk (10), sim-pin2 (3), sim-puk2 (10)
           |                   state: enabled
           |             power state: on
           |          signal quality: 42% (cached)
  -----------------------------------
  Modes    |               supported: allowed: 2g; preferred: none
           |                          allowed: 3g; preferred: none
           |                          allowed: 4g; preferred: none
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: 3g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: 2g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 4g; preferred: 4g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 4g; preferred: 2g
           |                          allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
           |                          allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 3g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 3g
           |                          allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 2g
           |                 current: allowed: 2g, 4g; preferred: 4g
  -----------------------------------
  Bands    |               supported: egsm, dcs, pcs, g850, utran-1, utran-4, utran-6, utran-5,
           |                          utran-8, utran-2, eutran-1, eutran-2, eutran-3, eutran-4, eutran-5,
           |                          eutran-7, eutran-8, eutran-12, eutran-13, eutran-18, eutran-19,
           |                          eutran-20, eutran-25, eutran-26, eutran-28, eutran-38, eutran-39,
           |                          eutran-40, eutran-41, utran-19
           |                 current: egsm, dcs, pcs, g850, utran-1, utran-4, utran-6, utran-5,
           |                          utran-8, utran-2, eutran-1, eutran-2, eutran-3, eutran-4, eutran-5,
           |                          eutran-7, eutran-8, eutran-12, eutran-13, eutran-18, eutran-19,
           |                          eutran-20, eutran-25, eutran-26, eutran-28, eutran-38, eutran-39,
           |                          eutran-40, eutran-41, utran-19
  -----------------------------------
  IP       |               supported: ipv4, ipv6, ipv4v6
  -----------------------------------
  3GPP     |                    imei: 860195053807878
           |           enabled locks: sim, fixed-dialing
           |             operator id: 26203
           |            registration: idle
  -----------------------------------
  3GPP EPS |    ue mode of operation: csps-1
           |  initial bearer ip type: ipv4v6
  -----------------------------------
  SIM      |        primary sim path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/SIM/0
           |          sim slot paths: slot 1: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/SIM/0 (active)
           |                          slot 2: none

Code:

  ---------------------
  3GPP scan | networks: 26203 - o2 - de (gsm, current)
            |           26203 - o2 - de (lte, forbidden)
            |           26202 - Vodafone (lte, forbidden)
            |           26201 - TDG (lte, available)

you could try to force "gsm only" network:

Code:

AT+QCFG="nwscanmode",1,1

going back to "auto mode", if needed:

Code:

AT+QCFG="nwscanmode",0,1

some instructions to send commands:

Code:

# sending some commands, distributions vary
echo 'AT+QCFG="nwscanmode"' | atinout - /dev/ttyUSB2 -
mmcli -m any --command='AT+QCFG="nwscanmode"'

if volte works, you might be better off with poor lte connection than gsm. volte needs only little bandwidth and gsm audio quality with half-rate is bad ... very bad. still, gsm connection should work though.

https://www.quectel.com/wp-content/uploa...l_V1.0.pdf

[NaN INF NaN]

Thanks for the reply. I gave nwscanmode a try but it did not help. I set it to 1 and then omitted the optional parameters to check that the setting arrived at the modem. Indeed, the response is:

Code:

+QCFG: "nwscanmode",1

But then for some reason, 3gpp-scan still gives the same result with a few LTE networks and a GSM network of another carrier (same after a reboot):

Code:

$ mmcli -m 0 --3gpp-scan --timeout 300
  ---------------------
  3GPP scan | networks: 26203 - o2 - de (gsm, forbidden)
            |          26202 - Vodafone (lte, forbidden)
            |          26203 - o2 - de (lte, forbidden)
            |          26201 - TDG (lte, available)

I had already tried something similar using --set-allowed-modes in mmcli but that just removed all the LTE networks, reducing results to o2 GSM.

The problem with the LTE network that I receive at home, is that I cannot register in it at all. I get a network timeout:

Code:

$ mmcli -m 0 --3gpp-register-home --timeout 300
error: couldn't register the modem: 'GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.ModemManager1.Error.MobileEquipment.NetworkTimeout: Network timeout'

Thus, voLTE is not an option either.

On a few seldom occasions, it managed to register and connect to LTE at home. I even managed to load a webpage once but the bandwidth was absolutely abysmal and unstable. Not a single picture loaded. It disconnected shortly after and then upon trying to reconnect gave me:

Code:

$ mmcli -m 0 --3gpp-register-home --timeout 300
error: couldn't register the modem: 'GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.ModemManager1.Error.MobileEquipment.NetworkNotAllowed: Network not allowed - emergency calls only'

In other news: I've also tried all the different ADSP firmware versions now. 30.004 was preinstalled, the seldom 4G connects happened with 30.006 or 01.002.

[NaN INF NaN]

I have resolved this problem by switching to another carrier: ALDI Talk, which uses the Telefonica network, not the Telekom network.

Now everything appears to be working: I get 4G reception at home and voice, data and sms are working. If I use the mmcli -m 0 --set-allowed-modes=2g to enforce 2G, it does indeed use 2G and voice, data and sms are still working. I found working APN settings here:
https://www.apnsettings.org/germany/aldi-talk-de/

I still do not know why it did not work with Telekom but I have a workable solution now, so I am marking this as solved.