Ting Card is Invalid Now

Adafruit cellular platform - SMS and IoT over celluar

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miax
 
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Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2011 11:41 am

Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by miax »

Adafruit,

I just purchased Two of the 3G Cellular break-outs with the free Ting SIM card for $80 a piece.

When I try to plug the Ting I M E I numbers into the ting.com/go website, I get this:
4-23-2021 12-39-35 AM.png
4-23-2021 12-39-35 AM.png (63.36 KiB) Viewed 1280 times

You can't charge me or others $9 for a SIM card that then is called invalid - It must be taken off the site.

I love Adafruit, and I won't ask for a refund of the $18 loss - but as a 10+ year Adafruit devotee, I refuse to allow this kind of thing to happen at Adafruit! I love the store, and everything sold must be above board and right. For my $18 loss, I want the free-ting card removed.

My order numbers are: 2542517-7364168122, 2543070-9391739027. (and lately I've been putting in almost $1,000 a month in orders). Do us all a solid Lady Ada. :)

Thanks,

Kristopher

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cry4brk
 
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 3:14 pm

Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by cry4brk »

You should put the sim card in a mobile phone and use that I_M.E_I number instead. At least that's what other user have done.

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robert90
 
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Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by robert90 »

I'm having the same issue with Ting saying they "no longer work with AdaFruit". Can you elaborate on "put the sim card in a mobile phone"? Any phone? Will it mess up my phone if I give them tie I.M.E.I number? I would love to get this to work but it sounds like even the 3G support is going away. If I can't get it to work, I guess I'll have to return the modules. :(

Thanks!

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windowman
 
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Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by windowman »

I got an Adafruit FONA 808 - Mini Cellular GSM + GPS Breakout[ID:2542] and ordered a 5G x3 SIM from Ting (With Sprint service). Then I called Ting to have them activated. Ting said they are not compatible. Does this mean the FONA 808 board is inoperable and worthless? Or is there something I am missing. Ting also said that hey will not be supporting anything past the 5G x3 SIM. Any ideas?

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rskup
 
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Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by rskup »

Hi windowman,

If it helps any I have a FONA 3G that uses a SpeedTalk sim I got from Amazon last year...and if you dig into the sim details on its Amazon page it does mention it's GSM compatible (click on pic #5):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N9XPPGZ

Only costs a couple bucks to try it...of course no guarantees how long it might work since it does seem 2G and 3G is slowly going away.

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windowman
 
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Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by windowman »

I will try it. I ordered the SIM.

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adafruit2
 
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Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:36 pm

Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by adafruit2 »

ahh it used to work, ok we'll remove the sim card - great while it lasted! some folks did have success calling on the phone by the way

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mrbandit_stg
 
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Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2021 5:03 pm

Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by mrbandit_stg »

I just tried and got the same "we don't like you anymore" message.
I had ordered two TING cards - I guess I need to eat the $10 for the one I was using, and return the other one.
Sigh.

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josephgalimidi
 
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Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:42 pm

Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by josephgalimidi »

Hello, I'm very new to the FONA type cell modules and I was wondering if I'm understanding everything correctly. It sounds like the card that is currently linked as a "purchase with" product on the FONA module breakouts doesn't actually work anymore? Will the FONA still work with other providers' 2G micro SIM cards? -Asking because I was really hoping to use the FONA module for a university project and was deterred by the disclaimers in the SIM card page saying that 2G is no longer recommended for the US.

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jperch
 
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Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by jperch »

So, I have a project I built several years ago using the Adafruit Feather FONA. I just tried to resurrect that project and things aren't working. THe example code keeps trying to contact the module with no response. At first, I thought this was due to the fact that the TING sim card is no longer compatible with the FONA hardware. But I have checked my Ting account and it has been receiving my test text messages.

So, is it the fact that T-Mobile has shut down their 2G network so the module cannot connect to the network or does it sound like the module itself has died? If you think the module has died, is there a recommended alternative to replace it? Note that this project just receives text messages. Basically, it is a "Stranger Things" board that will blink out whatever text you send it via text. We usually bring it out on Halloween and use it as a decoration/novelty. My wife likes to take it to her classroon and freak out her students (she doesn't tell them how it works).

Thanks for any advice,
Joe

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adafruit2
 
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Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by adafruit2 »

The 2G network was supposed to be shut down before 2020, they kept it up for another year but yeah 2G support in the USA is over. long live 2G - folks will need to upgrade to a board with 3G or LTE

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jperch
 
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Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by jperch »

- folks will need to upgrade to a board with 3G or LTE
Do you have any Adafruit products you could recommend? Basically, I would like to replicate the functionality of the Feather Fona: i.e. just receiving text messages.

Thanks,
Joe

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josephgalimidi
 
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Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by josephgalimidi »

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that I technically found a 2G card supplier going by the name of Hologram. I got their developer card which technically has free data (although outgoing texts cost $0.19). I hooked it up with a SIM800L 2G cellular module however I never actually got it to work. It looked like it was registering the APN correctly and it was searching for networks properly (managed to detect a tmobile operator), however it never actually managed to report any sort of signal quality or successfully connect to an operator. After talking with their support it sounds like it's likely that there just isn't 2G in my area in significant strength for my dinky module to pick up or operate on. I'm going to be trying out a 3G based approach on some of their recommended hardware and I can post back on here if it works out.-- It's very possible I am just using the SIM800L wrong (documentation isn't the best) but I am under the present impression that 2G may not be a good option unless you know that there are supported 2G networks in your area. Hope someone finds this helpful!

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rskup
 
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Re: Ting Card is Invalid Now

Post by rskup »

Just a thought, don't know if you're using the Adafruit #1991 3db antenna, but maybe one with a higher gain might help? Like these (says "in stock soon"):

https://www.amazon.com/DollaTek-5pcs-12 ... B081JNMB5J

I bought a similar 8db gain antenna for my FONA3G as with the #1991 3db antenna I occasionally had trouble connecting (I'm in a somewhat rural location), though these below are no longer available:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZCYZ1Q1

edit:

just spotted another 8db antenna:

https://www.amazon.com/outstanding-700- ... B08M384BN6

Looks like this and the DollaTek above have the right connectors

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