Mobile Carriers in the United States

[klick]

Hello All,
I just recently received my Ubuntu CE and hoped to use it on T-Mobile. Currently updated to OS Build Number 2020-07-27/2, version 116. I used my T-Mobile SIM from my iPhone and the PinePhone indicates that it is connected to the T-Mobile network but incoming and outgoing calls do not work. I was able to successfully send texts with the PinePhone to another iPhone but the replies were not routed to the PinePhone. The routing issue was probably due to still being linked to my iPhone and Apple's iMessage servers and I was not expecting for text to work properly without completing disconnecting my number from Apple's servers.

When making outgoing calls after rebooting, the dial pad has audible beeps and the PinePhone attempts to make the call. Shortly thereafter, the phone states that the call "Failed". After that first call attempt, the dial pad no longer has the audible beeps when being pressed. When an incoming call to the PinePhone was tried, the PinePhone did not ring but the call was instead routed back through Apple's servers (I assume, as I was able to answer the call on my Apple watch).

I have in the past been able to use the same SIM and switch back and forth between an iPhone and Android phone and still be able to make and receive calls without issue but something is not working or set properly on the PinePhone. The PinePhone appears to automatically detect the T-Mobile APN settings but call routing is not working for me.

I have read that others have been able to use T-Mobile but I am not sure what is different about my situation.

Have you already verified the APN info in UBports is correct for T-Mobile?

I used the settings that T-Mobile listed on their site for BYOD. The PinePhone automatically set the APN as Fast.t-mobile.com but it did not pick up the MMSC.  I tried to manually enter the MMSC but the phone would not save it. I set the phone to 2G/3G/4G and tried selecting the "Internet and MMS" option (phone would not save the Internet and MMS option) and nothing changed.

The texting partially worked so I assume I was connected to T-Mobile in some capacity. As I mentioned, I was not expecting full texting parity since the SIM is tied to Apple iMessages. The phone settings function lock up on occasion so I have to close the settings and reopen. Is there a swipe or option to go back to the previous screen? In the settings, there does not appear to be a save function or a previous screen option after making changes. I have tried pressing the "v" in the upper right corner and does not save the changes.

The first time I placed the SIM in the PinePhone I had received a phone call that went to voicemail and I received a notification on the PinePhone. I was able to listen to the voicemail, but the sound was so low that I could barely hear it, even though the phone volume was turned to max.

[tophneal]

I used the settings that T-Mobile listed on their site for BYOD. The PinePhone automatically set the APN as Fast.t-mobile.com but it did not pick up the MMSC.  I tried to manually enter the MMSC but the phone would not save it. I set the phone to 2G/3G/4G and tried selecting the "Internet and MMS" option (phone would not save the Internet and MMS option) and nothing changed.

The texting partially worked so I assume I was connected to T-Mobile in some capacity. As I mentioned, I was not expecting full texting parity since the SIM is tied to Apple iMessages. The phone settings function lock up on occasion so I have to close the settings and reopen. Is there a swipe or option to go back to the previous screen? In the settings, there does not appear to be a save function or a previous screen option after making changes. I have tried pressing the "v" in the upper right corner and does not save the changes.

The first time I placed the SIM in the PinePhone I had received a phone call that went to voicemail and I received a notification on the PinePhone. I was able to listen to the voicemail, but the sound was so low that I could barely hear it, even though the phone volume was turned to max.

I'm still waiting on my device, so my ability to help is quite limited (i just noticed in your initial post that APN settings weren't mentioned in your description.)

Judging from some of these questions, I'd suggest you try posting in the UBports subforum. You might get more eyes on it and support there, vs buried in this long thread.

[klick]

For some reason your reply appears as empty. Hopefully, it's just on my end.

Sorry about that, not sure what happened with the reply.

I used the APN settings on the T-Mobile BYOD page. The PinePhone automatically set the APN as fast.tmobile.com and defaulted to the 2G/3G option. I tried adding the MMSC http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc but I could not get the PinePhone to save it. I changed from the 2G/3G option to the 2G/3G/4G option but it did not appear to make a difference.

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/not-sold-by-t-mobile/byod-t-mobile-data-and-apn-settings

The first time I placed the SIM in the phone, I received a voicemail from a missed call. I was able to check the voicemail but I could barely hear it even though I had the phone volume on max. The cellular connection icon on the home screen indicates that it is connected and it has a "L" beside it but I do not know that means, maybe "LTE"?

Since I was able to send texts, I assume it was getting some kind of connection through T-Mobile's network but I was not expecting messaging to work properly unless I completely removed my number from Apple's iMessage servers. Is there some kind of option to go back the previous screen or save function that is hidden? Some the pages in the settings have a back button where others open a page and I cannot go back or get changes to be saved. The settings page will lock up occasionally and I have to close the app then reopen it.

[klick]

I used the settings that T-Mobile listed on their site for BYOD. The PinePhone automatically set the APN as Fast.t-mobile.com but it did not pick up the MMSC.  I tried to manually enter the MMSC but the phone would not save it. I set the phone to 2G/3G/4G and tried selecting the "Internet and MMS" option (phone would not save the Internet and MMS option) and nothing changed.

The texting partially worked so I assume I was connected to T-Mobile in some capacity. As I mentioned, I was not expecting full texting parity since the SIM is tied to Apple iMessages. The phone settings function lock up on occasion so I have to close the settings and reopen. Is there a swipe or option to go back to the previous screen? In the settings, there does not appear to be a save function or a previous screen option after making changes. I have tried pressing the "v" in the upper right corner and does not save the changes.

The first time I placed the SIM in the PinePhone I had received a phone call that went to voicemail and I received a notification on the PinePhone. I was able to listen to the voicemail, but the sound was so low that I could barely hear it, even though the phone volume was turned to max.

I'm still waiting on my device, so my ability to help is quite limited (i just noticed in your initial post that APN settings weren't mentioned in your description.)

Judging from some of these questions, I'd suggest you try posting in the UBports subforum. You might get more eyes on it and support there, vs buried in this long thread.

Thank you for you recommendation! I will follow this up on the UBports section.

[Lt. Dillinger]

I also shared this in another area, but just incase some users aren't using the UBPorts edition Phone, I wanted to maybe help someone out here, so her's a copy-paste.

** An update to help others out: On 8/1/2020 my wife and I had to go to a bigger city in Tennessee (I live in the boonies of NW Tennessee) so I decided to take the Pine 64 with me to see if just maybe it would connect to the Mint (T-Mobile) cell towers and within 15 seconds it was connect with a full 4 bars. So much for the Mint website telling me I had good coverage in my area. So, I tried to call my iPhone X and nothing. I tried having my iPhone call the P64 and it rang through, but very low volume and very scratchy sounding too. What was interesting was I sent my wife a test text and it went through, be she couldn't respond back. So, I'm making progress and I called Mint Mobile who will refund my money as I had a 7 days test run after paying for 3 months. Apparently I need to find a Verizon type plan like Mint as I have very good coverage in my area from my Straight Talk plan, but I don't want to pay that much. Too bad because I was very hopeful with the Mint plan working.

[bcnaz]

I also shared this in another area, but just incase some users aren't using the UBPorts edition Phone, I wanted to maybe help someone out here, so her's a copy-paste.

** An update to help others out:  On 8/1/2020 my wife and I had to go to a bigger city in Tennessee (I live in the boonies of NW Tennessee) so I decided to take the Pine 64 with me to see if just maybe it would connect to the Mint (T-Mobile) cell towers and within 15 seconds it was connect with a full 4 bars.  So much for the Mint website telling me I had good coverage in my area.  So, I tried to call my iPhone X and nothing.  I tried having my iPhone call the P64 and it rang through, but very low volume and very scratchy sounding too.  What was interesting was I sent my wife a test text and it went through, be she couldn't respond back. So, I'm making progress and I called Mint Mobile who will refund my money as I had a 7 days test run after paying for 3 months.  Apparently I need to find a Verizon type plan like Mint as I have very good coverage in my area from my Straight Talk plan, but I don't want to pay that much.  Too bad because I was very hopeful with the Mint plan working.

Have you tried using Mobian from a SD card ?   The APN is not automated, but clicking save works on the first or second try there.
    ( Many carriers APN's are in the wiki )

A few posts in other threads have had decent luck using Mobian with Mint as their carrier.

Good Luck

[Lt. Dillinger]

I also shared this in another area, but just incase some users aren't using the UBPorts edition Phone, I wanted to maybe help someone out here, so her's a copy-paste.

** An update to help others out:  On 8/1/2020 my wife and I had to go to a bigger city in Tennessee (I live in the boonies of NW Tennessee) so I decided to take the Pine 64 with me to see if just maybe it would connect to the Mint (T-Mobile) cell towers and within 15 seconds it was connect with a full 4 bars.  So much for the Mint website telling me I had good coverage in my area.  So, I tried to call my iPhone X and nothing.  I tried having my iPhone call the P64 and it rang through, but very low volume and very scratchy sounding too.  What was interesting was I sent my wife a test text and it went through, be she couldn't respond back. So, I'm making progress and I called Mint Mobile who will refund my money as I had a 7 days test run after paying for 3 months.  Apparently I need to find a Verizon type plan like Mint as I have very good coverage in my area from my Straight Talk plan, but I don't want to pay that much.  Too bad because I was very hopeful with the Mint plan working.

Have you tried using Mobian from a SD card ?   The APN is not automated, but clicking save works on the first or second try there.
    ( Many carriers APN's are in the wiki )

A few posts in other threads have had decent luck using Mobian with Mint as their carrier.

Good Luck

Initially I though the issue was the UB Touch OS, but it's Mint has horrible coverage where I live.  I'd prefer staying with Touch OS as I'm running the latest version of Ubuntu on my ThinkPad and I'm very pleased with it.

[bcnaz]

Hey,  Linux is about getting to make your own choice,     myself I prefer Debian,    but I have used Ubuntu a lot in the past...

Early this year I was running my Brave Heart on UT,   but it 'quit working for me'    and I started trying other Distro's.

[klick]

I also shared this in another area, but just incase some users aren't using the UBPorts edition Phone, I wanted to maybe help someone out here, so her's a copy-paste.

** An update to help others out:  On 8/1/2020 my wife and I had to go to a bigger city in Tennessee (I live in the boonies of NW Tennessee) so I decided to take the Pine 64 with me to see if just maybe it would connect to the Mint (T-Mobile) cell towers and within 15 seconds it was connect with a full 4 bars.  So much for the Mint website telling me I had good coverage in my area.  So, I tried to call my iPhone X and nothing.  I tried having my iPhone call the P64 and it rang through, but very low volume and very scratchy sounding too.  What was interesting was I sent my wife a test text and it went through, be she couldn't respond back. So, I'm making progress and I called Mint Mobile who will refund my money as I had a 7 days test run after paying for 3 months.  Apparently I need to find a Verizon type plan like Mint as I have very good coverage in my area from my Straight Talk plan, but I don't want to pay that much.  Too bad because I was very hopeful with the Mint plan working.

Have you tried using Mobian from a SD card ?   The APN is not automated, but clicking save works on the first or second try there.
    ( Many carriers APN's are in the wiki )

A few posts in other threads have had decent luck using Mobian with Mint as their carrier.

Good Luck

Initially I though the issue was the UB Touch OS, but it's Mint has horrible coverage where I live.  I'd prefer staying with Touch OS as I'm running the latest version of Ubuntu on my ThinkPad and I'm very pleased with it.

I was hoping to use the UBports option myself as I like the layout and functionality but I could not get it to work properly with T-Mobile (no calls in or out and texting out only). I am waiting on a Mint SIM to see if that will work. I am now running Mobian on an SD card and can make and receive phone calls through my T-Mobile SIM but texting is not working (which may or may not be because my number is tied to Apple iMessages).

The call volume is very low and hollow sounding on my side and has static on the receiver's side. The camera works but is extremely laggy, so not ready for regular usage. The camera did not work at all the UBports OS. I have not been able to update the Mobian OS through the GUI so some things might have been resolved. I still prefer the UBports OS as it seems more polished but I will probably use whichever OS offers the greatest functionality at this stage. But at least the PinePhone seems to make switching OS versions rather easy, so people can try whatever they want.

[rocket2nfinity]

I also shared this in another area, but just incase some users aren't using the UBPorts edition Phone, I wanted to maybe help someone out here, so her's a copy-paste.

** An update to help others out:  On 8/1/2020 my wife and I had to go to a bigger city in Tennessee (I live in the boonies of NW Tennessee) so I decided to take the Pine 64 with me to see if just maybe it would connect to the Mint (T-Mobile) cell towers and within 15 seconds it was connect with a full 4 bars.  So much for the Mint website telling me I had good coverage in my area.  So, I tried to call my iPhone X and nothing.  I tried having my iPhone call the P64 and it rang through, but very low volume and very scratchy sounding too.  What was interesting was I sent my wife a test text and it went through, be she couldn't respond back. So, I'm making progress and I called Mint Mobile who will refund my money as I had a 7 days test run after paying for 3 months.  Apparently I need to find a Verizon type plan like Mint as I have very good coverage in my area from my Straight Talk plan, but I don't want to pay that much.  Too bad because I was very hopeful with the Mint plan working.

Have you tried using Mobian from a SD card ?   The APN is not automated, but clicking save works on the first or second try there.
    ( Many carriers APN's are in the wiki )

A few posts in other threads have had decent luck using Mobian with Mint as their carrier.

Good Luck

Initially I though the issue was the UB Touch OS, but it's Mint has horrible coverage where I live.  I'd prefer staying with Touch OS as I'm running the latest version of Ubuntu on my ThinkPad and I'm very pleased with it.

I was hoping to use the UBports option myself as I like the layout and functionality but I could not get it to work properly with T-Mobile (no calls in or out and texting out only). I am waiting on a Mint SIM to see if that will work. I am now running Mobian on an SD card and can make and receive phone calls through my T-Mobile SIM but texting is not working (which may or may not be because my number is tied to Apple iMessages).

The call volume is very low and hollow sounding on my side and has static on the receiver's side. The camera works but is extremely laggy, so not ready for regular usage. The camera did not work at all the UBports OS. I have not been able to update the Mobian OS through the GUI so some things might have been resolved. I still prefer the UBports OS as it seems more polished but I will probably use whichever OS offers the greatest functionality at this stage. But at least the PinePhone seems to make switching OS versions rather easy, so people can try whatever they want.

I had to use sudo apt update && apt dist-upgrade to re-sync software app on Mobian. There's a change in dependencies that broke it. Switch to development channel for the latest fixes on ubports