Sim cards and carriers, discussion
#31
I've been round and round and it seems the only way to make the pinephone work on verizon's network is to change the IMEI. For specificity, I use verizon through tracphone, but I assume network access is the same and my experiences would have been similar if I used verizon directly or another reseller.

First off, I bought a sim card pack for tracphone which includes 3 SIM cards. It has an AT&T sim, a Verizon sim, and another which is likely T-mobile.
In UBP the pinephone recognized both the AT&T and T-mobile sims when I boot into the hardware testing default OS. It did not recognize the verizon sim card.
I successfully activated the AT&T SIM card and made a call. Unfortunately only verizon covers all the areas I frequent, so AT&T is out of the question.

Just recently I got a cheap tracphone to use as a daily or backup depending on the state of the pinephone and my needs.
I activated the verizon sim card on that phone (on Mobian 20201113 + 1 apt upgrade), that worked fine, so I switched the sim card over to the pinephone and made a call successfully! That was exciting, and I thought that meant it would continue to work. Wrong. The next time I tried to make a call, all I got was a recording telling me the phone I was using wasn't the same that the SIM was activated on, and to move the SIM back to the original phone. That sucked. I think that's going to happen to anyone that activates a SIM on another phone and doesn't spoof the IMEI. It'll work once and then you'll get booted until the SIM is in the original phone.

So, the only way to get on verizon's network that I can see is to activate the SIM on a whitelisted phone and then spoof the IMEI of that phone on the pinephone. It works fine. Audio's not perfect, but I'm not experiencing any problems related to the SIM or carrier that I know of.

https://wiki.pine64.org/images/2/2e/Quec...l_V1.2.pdf

https://www.gadgetcouncil.com/free-andro...r-changer/
  Reply
#32
Warning :

I personally discovered that T-Mobile is very privacy invasive, !

I bought a sim card cash, and the subscription service card with cash, I activated it anonymously.

Then I started getting political voting ads from the Mainstream medias favorite party, dozens everyday, all using my Full Name.!

I only used that for calling and texting my other phones, so it was not something I signed up for.

Beware of T-Mobile and their resellers.
      LINUX = CHOICES
         **BCnAZ**
               Idea
   Donate to $upport
your favorite OS Team
  Reply
#33
(11-25-2020, 07:37 PM)bcnaz Wrote: Warning :

I personally discovered that T-Mobile is very privacy invasive, !

I bought a sim card cash, and the subscription service card with cash, I activated it anonymously.

Then I started getting political voting ads from the Mainstream medias favorite party, dozens everyday, all using my Full Name.!

I only used that for calling and texting my other phones, so it was not something I signed up for.

Beware of T-Mobile and their resellers.
In order to get any kind of SIM, you'll need to sign up using your full name, address, and even government issued ID card, doesn't matter how you pay or activate for your SIM, they have your details anyway.
And probably you went on WiFi in your house where you're using a PC to talk politics on.
I can recommend videos from this guy about this subject, he probably knows better than I can explain, and he covers such things in great detail.
  Reply
#34
Here in the USA

You can still buy these at the Dollar stores with cash, granted some MVNO's do require you to use a credit or debit card to sign-up.
some require an email verification.

I have purchased several different carriers services to test and compare on my multiple Pine phones.

Selling or giving private information to a political campaign is not a legitimate government operation...
Very Blatant "Bending of the law" to say the least. !
NO other carrier supplied my name to a political campaign. and I have 4 other carriers.

My only internet use has been here, or downloading OS'es, Ebay, and watching NetFlix, or watching Rob Braxman.

While most carriers may request information to 'sign-up for their services', That is not yet a 'legal requirement' HERE.
IF they wanted my information that should be requested not dug up covertly and given to un-elected politicians.

The very fact that they supplied my personal information to one 'political' party.
      LINUX = CHOICES
         **BCnAZ**
               Idea
   Donate to $upport
your favorite OS Team
  Reply
#35
I'll be honest I didn't read through all of this, but as of today this is my experience. US Carriers - T-Mobile not working SIM isn't read at all. Verizon SIM shows up, but after going to Verizon today they couldn't activate me for a prepaid account due to the IMEI not being able to be registered. I could have registered my other phone and tried to switch the SIM and maybe that would have worked, but I didn't attempt it. Prepaid AT&T SIM isn't readable on the pinephone either. I could finds a SimpleMobile SIM kit in stores but might order one. My only concern is I won't be able to register the IMEI, so end the end I might have to register my other phone and hope that switching the SIM the pinephone will work.
  Reply
#36
(11-29-2020, 04:50 PM)NobodyNew1 Wrote: I'll be honest I didn't read through all of this, but as of today this is my experience. US Carriers - T-Mobile not working SIM isn't read at all. Verizon SIM shows up, but after going to Verizon today they couldn't activate me for a prepaid account due to the IMEI not being able to be registered. I could have registered my other phone and tried to switch the SIM and maybe that would have worked, but I didn't attempt it. Prepaid AT&T SIM isn't readable on the pinephone either. I could finds a SimpleMobile SIM kit in stores but might order one. My only concern is I won't be able to register the IMEI, so end the end I might have to register my other phone and hope that switching the SIM the pinephone will work.
AT&T and Verizon are using imei whitelists. If you have trouble registering the device with them, try one of the imei agnostic MVNOs such as Red Pocket, US Mobile, etc. I've registered verizon and AT&T based sims with them with no problems. I did use a dead phone for my imei instead of my pinephone imei just because of all the conments here. But, I still have LTE service with each and I haven't been cut off with any messages saying to put the sim back in your registered phone (which I can't because I canibalized it for parts a long time ago.
  Reply
#37
I was wondering if certain distros work better than others for call quality. I have been able to activate both AT&T and Verizon through MVNO's with great signal and 4G LTE all day. However, I've played around with Manjaro, Sailfish and Ubuntu and on none of these distros could I make a decent call. Echo and person making and receiving could not hear each other clearly or at all. Texting is fine on all three. I know this is an under development project but at it's heart, a phone is for making and receiving calls and the Pinephone cannot yet do this which is a bit frustrating. Maybe another distro works better and I've not yet found it but interested in what others have experienced in this regard. Mine is the Manjaro edition.
  Reply
#38
(11-29-2020, 09:47 PM)W64 Wrote: I was wondering if certain distros work better than others for call quality. I have been able to activate both AT&T and Verizon through MVNO's with great signal and 4G LTE all day. However, I've played around with Manjaro, Sailfish and Ubuntu and on none of these distros could I make a decent call. Echo and person making and receiving could not hear each other clearly or at all. Texting is fine on all three. I know this is an under development project but at it's heart, a phone is for making and receiving calls and the Pinephone cannot yet do this which is a bit frustrating. Maybe another distro works better and I've not yet found it but interested in what others have experienced in this regard. Mine is the Manjaro edition.
I've found Mobian and the latest Manjaro phosh are most functional. I do have clear calls and texts on Verizon MVNOs with those two.
  Reply
#39
Using TracFone  it is easy to activate a AT&T or a T-Mobile sim card in the USA.
Net10 also makes it easy to activate a GSM carrier.

Using AT&T Prepaid,  it is easy to activate, their talk and text works, it does "connect" to the internet, but both times I have activated a direct ATT prepaid sim card,
I get the  'ATT Portal message'  that my account does "Not include data"....  ( Even though I do have paid data )

While using multiple "PureTalk" sim cards, (which is a AT&T "Reseller"  Talk, Text, and Data all work very easily.
You just need to manually enter the correct APN info...

OF Course this is with 'working' versions of the operating systems.

 (1) Mobian and (2)Arch have proven the most dependable for me.
  Post Market and Manjaro can work and some do manage to get UBTouch to work.
(Above listed operating systems in order of performance from my experiences )

*  ( UBPorts was the first O.S. that worked on my Brave Heart phone very early this year, but it has not worked for me for many months )

If you have limited command line abilities as I do,  I suggest staying with Mobian and Arch operating systems,  
   they both do work fine by just filling-in all the correct information on the "Settings" Page.

  I have not used a UBPorts phone,  but I do have one Brave Heart, three Post Market Convergent, and one Manjaro Convergent phone(s).

Contrary to some reports, you do not need the APN information to talk or SMS text with an activated sim card..
  BUT you must have the APN information to connect to cellular Data, (and when MMS texting does finally arrive.)

* >  I am located in southern Arizona, USA,  I was one of the first in line to order my Brave Heart phone. (November 2019)

   While being "Proficient" with Linux can help,  I have had a pretty good experience so far as just a "Linux User"...
    "Details" do matter,  fill-in all of your "Settings"  !

I have spent a lot of hours reading many of the posts here, there is a LOT of useful help on this forum, but one must realize not all of the posts are
  accurate,  and some are very complex to understand.
   Some may be out dated, how to fix an OS problem 6 months ago, may be different today.

(11-29-2020, 04:50 PM)NobodyNew1 Wrote: I'll be honest I didn't read through all of this, but as of today this is my experience. US Carriers - T-Mobile not working SIM isn't read at all. Verizon SIM shows up, but after going to Verizon today they couldn't activate me for a prepaid account due to the IMEI not being able to be registered. I could have registered my other phone and tried to switch the SIM and maybe that would have worked, but I didn't attempt it. Prepaid AT&T SIM isn't readable on the pinephone either. I could finds a SimpleMobile SIM kit in stores but might order one. My only concern is I won't be able to register the IMEI, so end the end I might have to register my other phone and hope that switching the SIM the pinephone will work.

I have not yet been asked for my " IMEI "  while signing up for " PrePaid "  services...
  Across 5 assorted Pine phones, activating with multiple different Prepaid carriers, and resellers, MVNO's....

That is not to say they do not ask,  just the carriers I have encountered so far have not "asked me"...

AND all of those activation's were accomplished 'online'  or  'on-phone'  ...

   ( I DO have a data connection problem with one of my AT&T direct prepaid accounts that may require me to visit an ATT retail store.)
      LINUX = CHOICES
         **BCnAZ**
               Idea
   Donate to $upport
your favorite OS Team
  Reply
#40
(11-30-2020, 04:39 PM)bcnaz Wrote: Using TracFone  it is easy to activate a AT&T or a T-Mobile sim card in the USA.
Net10 also makes it easy to activate a GSM carrier.

Using AT&T Prepaid,  it is easy to activate, their talk and text works, it does "connect" to the internet, but both times I have activated a direct ATT prepaid sim card,
I get the  'ATT Portal message'  that my account does "Not include data"....  ( Even though I do have paid data )

While using multiple "PureTalk" sim cards, (which is a AT&T "Reseller"  Talk, Text, and Data all work very easily.
You just need to manually enter the correct APN info...

OF Course this is with 'working' versions of the operating systems.

 (1) Mobian and (2)Arch have proven the most dependable for me.
  Post Market and Manjaro can work and some do manage to get UBTouch to work.
(Above listed operating systems in order of performance from my experiences )

*  ( UBPorts was the first O.S. that worked on my Brave Heart phone very early this year, but it has not worked for me for many months )

If you have limited command line abilities as I do,  I suggest staying with Mobian and Arch operating systems,  
   they both do work fine by just filling-in all the correct information on the "Settings" Page.

  I have not used a UBPorts phone,  but I do have one Brave Heart, three Post Market Convergent, and one Manjaro Convergent phone(s).

Contrary to some reports, you do not need the APN information to talk or SMS text with an activated sim card..
  BUT you must have the APN information to connect to cellular Data, (and when MMS texting does finally arrive.)

* >  I am located in southern Arizona, USA,  I was one of the first in line to order my Brave Heart phone. (November 2019)

   While being "Proficient" with Linux can help,  I have had a pretty good experience so far as just a "Linux User"...
    "Details" do matter,  fill-in all of your "Settings"  !

I have spent a lot of hours reading many of the posts here, there is a LOT of useful help on this forum, but one must realize not all of the posts are
  accurate,  and some are very complex to understand.
   Some may be out dated, how to fix an OS problem 6 months ago, may be different today.

(11-29-2020, 04:50 PM)NobodyNew1 Wrote: I'll be honest I didn't read through all of this, but as of today this is my experience. US Carriers - T-Mobile not working SIM isn't read at all. Verizon SIM shows up, but after going to Verizon today they couldn't activate me for a prepaid account due to the IMEI not being able to be registered. I could have registered my other phone and tried to switch the SIM and maybe that would have worked, but I didn't attempt it. Prepaid AT&T SIM isn't readable on the pinephone either. I could finds a SimpleMobile SIM kit in stores but might order one. My only concern is I won't be able to register the IMEI, so end the end I might have to register my other phone and hope that switching the SIM the pinephone will work.

I have not yet been asked for my " IMEI "  while signing up for " PrePaid "  services...
  Across 5 assorted Pine phones, activating with multiple different Prepaid carriers, and resellers, MVNO's....

That is not to say they do not ask,  just the carriers I have encountered so far have not "asked me"...

AND all of those activation's were accomplished 'online'  or  'on-phone'  ...

   ( I DO have a data connection problem with one of my AT&T direct prepaid accounts that may require me to visit an ATT retail store.)
Thanks for sharing and writing all of that information. I'll search on my own, but is there a specific write up you suggest for someone who feels comfortable in the command line and doesn't mind taking the time to research and understand the commands before entering them, but is a new linux user ?
I haven't adjusting any setting and thus far have just been buying SIM cards throwing them in and then getting depressed bc none of them work. I've gone through  Simple Talk, Verizon ( which gives cellular signal randomly after multiple boots of the phone ), T-Mobile, and AT&T and none of those work for me except Verizon, randomly. I'd honestly switch carriers, if I could get the pinephone to work on one of them.
I had the PMOS edition, but gave it to my nephew and that phone, that phone simply worked or worked with my carrier T-Mobile, but the Manjaro edition doesn't and that's the edition I'm trying all the SIM cards in.
  Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  MMS-Monitor: Help for carriers with dual APNs? treebeard 2 1,249 02-10-2023, 02:45 PM
Last Post: treebeard
  Phone carriers and the Speakout carrier bedtime 3 1,968 08-16-2022, 11:11 PM
Last Post: Oblivion2528
  compatible carriers the7thpoint 2 1,641 06-17-2022, 08:24 AM
Last Post: mikehenson
  UK Carriers Zweitaktmotor 4 2,888 03-27-2022, 07:05 AM
Last Post: Dog House Dave
  Carriers do not support PinePhone? rey70 22 12,815 02-07-2022, 09:06 PM
Last Post: bcnaz
  pinephone 2 specs discussion - 5G WiFi6 BT5 NFC? - mitcoes 17 16,357 10-08-2021, 07:50 PM
Last Post: zetabeta
Question Mobile Carriers 67comet 29 27,334 07-14-2021, 11:47 PM
Last Post: rocket2nfinity
  Pinephone inexpensive carriers and free carriers linux_n 8 8,746 07-13-2021, 01:09 PM
Last Post: TRS-80
  Cannot boot from SD cards any longer. MadHopsMan 8 7,029 05-11-2021, 05:12 PM
Last Post: Avatars
  Performance improvements, discussion Soong 1 2,204 05-03-2021, 12:27 AM
Last Post: dsimic

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)