US Mobile, via T-Mobile, won't support Pinephone Pro - SOLVED, SIMPLY
#9
(07-02-2023, 09:38 PM)jovval Wrote:
(06-30-2023, 02:03 PM)jovval Wrote: After confirming that US Mobile (USM) supported the PinePhone (PP) via T-Mobile (and, naturally, not via Verizon), I purchased a PP Pro (PPP).

With the IMEI, I confirmed (and have confirmed three more times) with the representative that the phone is compatible.

Using the USM's web interface, I entered my information, including the IMEI, and USM transferred my # by the start of the next day.

I could neither make nor receive calls.

On the third call, the representative told me that my phone and IMEI were "partially compatible", meaning that some areas of T-Mobile's network did not have frequencies matching the PP and would have no service. (With Tello, a provider I subsequently called, the rep. told me the PP was "fully compatible" with T-Mobile's network.) But. The rep. proceed to say that

          because US Mobile requires a "phone modem" and the PPP has a "stand-alone modem", the PPP can not work with USM.

The last rep. suggested I try to "patch" the modem's software.

I would like to have USM functional on my phone as, out of nine (9) Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) it offers the best, sufficient service (500min, 500 texts, 500MB) comcomitant with the lowest cost ($5/mo -- yielding $8.57/mo including fees and taxes, per the representatives with whom I spoke).

All MVNOs trounce T-Mobile on price: $65/mo. So, I have high motivation to work with an MVNO, especially USM,

Could someone suggest a work-around, perhaps one that would allow me to have the PPP's modem masquerade as a phone modem?

I have resolved the problem.
The following is from a supervisor's email to me.

The APN needed to be in caps:
APN :- PWG  (PWG MUST BE CAPITAL)
MMSC :- http://pwg.mmsmvno.com/mms/wapenc
APN Protocol: IPv4/IPv6
APN Roaming Protocol: IPv4/IPv6
Leave all unmentioned fields blank or at default, save and select the APN and restart the phone.

Thank you!

    Daud Navin
    Associate Technical Support Manager
For some reason, I had lower case instead of upper case.
Stranger still, four consecutive representatives wrongly described the phone as not support as a "network module", "standby-modem", or "data device".
I only entered
US Mobile
PWG
under Settings --> Cellular Network --> SIMs --> Modify APNs --> Add APN
The supervisor deserves commendation for his composure, quick and simple thinking, and setting me at ease.

NOTE: I have tested
(1) the phone for both incoming and outgoing calls and
(2) via terminal, as root, the command
ip addr
which gave an external ip address (with a /29 route for those who understand routing).
(3) the command
lynx http://checkip.dyndns.org
gave an IP which did not match the IP from my prior command.
The command
whois <IP address>
for both the IP addresses above showed that both had T-Mobile as their owner.
I could ping neither address.
(4) The command
iptables -S
showed only
-P INPUT ACCEPT
-P OUTPUT ACCEPT
-P FORWARD ACCEPT
indicating that the PP is not blocking any traffic.
(5) From my workstation, I could ping neither address.

I have not tested text (while Daud Navin did send me a text on two phones, and I received it on the non-PP one, I did not find an app on my PP to check for received texts).
That depends on your distro. For gnome based distros, it will be Chatty. For Plasma Mobile (KDE) based distros it will be SpaceBar. I have no idea what it would be for Sxmo
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Messages In This Thread
RE: US Mobile, via T-Mobile, won't support Pinephone Pro b/c of its "stand-alone" modem - by rocket2nfinity - 07-03-2023, 02:32 AM

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