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SIM

To get your modem going with a new SIM card and make things as easy as possible, follow these steps:

1. Activate the SIM Card

This might not be necessary in your country, but at least in the EU you will have to activate your SIM card with your provider. You can usually do this on the website of your chosen provider or in person when you buy the SIM card. You will need some kind of ID.

2. Test in Phone & disable PIN

Insert your SIM card in a phone, make sure it registers with the network and that you can connect to the internet. Preferably - if your phone allows it - lock it to 4G/LTE.

In the security settings, disable the PIN. Reboot your phone, make sure it does not ask for the PIN anymore and that you still register with the network and connect to the internet.

See also: Troubleshooting - Modem for further SIM debugging tips.

3. Test in Modem

Insert your SIM card in the modem and start the streamer.

Warning

You will need to start the streamer with the SIM card inserted or you will have to manually reboot the modem after inserting the SIM card: AT+CFUN=1,1

Web Interface

You can check the SIM and modem status from the streamer's web interface under the "Modem" tab. Make sure the control service is stopped before checking. See Quickstart - Modem Setup for details.

CLI

For CLI-based debugging with AT commands (checking modem availability, SIM status, carrier registration, and IP context), see the Modem debugging guide.

Setting APN

We want to prefer IPv4 and in cases where no APN is assigned, we can do so ourselves. A valid APN might not be necessary and the provider might ignore it, but it is a good idea to use the official one.

Automatically This will set context 1 to an IPv4 context without an APN assigned, it should then be automatically assigned by the carrier after modem reboots:

AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP",""
AT+CFUN=1,1

Check:

AT+CGDCONT?

# SUCCESS
+CGDCONT: 1,"IP","webapn.at","10.73.79.219",0,0

Manually Explicitly set the APN of your carrier:

AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","webapn.at"
AT+CFUN=1,1

Check:

AT+CGDCONT?

# SUCCESS
+CGDCONT: 1,"IP","webapn.at","10.73.79.219",0,0

Switching SIMs

Switching between SIM cards is easily possible if you ran through the setup steps above. Just insert the new SIM card and power-cycle the streamer (or reset the modem via AT commands).

AT+CFUN=1,1

Quirks

We have found that some SIM cards will not automatically register when roaming is enabled. This means that you should always disable roaming when setting or locking bands:

AT*BAND=5,0,0,482,149,1,1,0

Roaming is the third to last parameter, you can verify it in the following way:

AT*BAND=5,0,0,482,149
AT+CFUN=1,1

If your SIM no longer automatically connects, pass the parameter to disable roaming and see the SIM automagically register:

AT*BAND=5,0,0,482,149,1
AT+CFUN=1,1

Alternatively you can try forcing registration with a certain carrier:

#AT+COPS=1,2,"<MNC+MCC>"
AT+COPS=1,2,"23201"

Miscellaneous and maybe helpful

Full reset and auto connect setup 

AT+CFUN=0
AT+COPS=0
AT*BAND=5,0,0,482,149,1
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP",""
AT+CFUN=1,1

Checking things: 

AT+CPIN?
AT+CGATT?
AT+COPS?
AT+CGDCONT?
AT+CGPADDR
AT*BANDIND?

# Scan
AT+COPS=?

AT*BAND command explained

AT*BAND=<mode>,<GSMband>,<UMTSband>,<LTEbandH>,<LTEbandL>,<roamingConfig>,<srvDom>,<bandPriorityFlag>
  • mode 5 only - LTE network
  • GSMband 0 only - not relevant
  • UMTSband 0 only - not relevant
  • LTEbandH depends on region
  • LTEbandL depends on region
  • roamingConfig 0,1,2 (yes, no, no-change)
  • srvDom can only be 1
  • bandPriorityFlag 0,1,2 (default, TDD, FDD)