cellular connection: status and technical information?

[pphone-newbie]

If you have an SD card you can try any of dozens distributions
And NO mmcli cannot "destroy" anything. I'm using it daily. Still working
You better use scripts to start the modem. And when it is up mmcli works perfect and provides tonns of information about protocol, bearer, tower, etc.
For terminal way I would recommend SXMO.
Good luck

Great! Thanks.
It's good to hear that mmcli can be installed without messing things up. Yes, it's perfect, I know it from Ubuntu desktop.
And you're absolutely right, I should give other distributions a try
Best
Mat