SIM CARD WITH FONA
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Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
- man019
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2022 10:51 am
SIM CARD WITH FONA
We were sent a SIM card with our FONA module and in the item description it says the card would be a Ting 2G card. We received a 5G card and when we went to activate it, Ting says that it is not compatible with our device. Why would Adafruit send us a card that could not be used in their device? Any suggestions for moving forward?
- rpiloverbd
- Posts: 198
- Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:13 am
Re: SIM CARD WITH FONA
Sounds like a mistake. Hope Adafruit will resolve this issue fast.
- rskup
- Posts: 230
- Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 9:04 pm
Re: SIM CARD WITH FONA
Hi, don't know what FONA version you have, but I find with my FONA 3G and a SpeedTalk sim (an MVNO for T-Mobile) I can get a 2G EDGE connection (determined using the "AT*CNTI?" command) and talk/text/ftp/etc... on my FONA 3G.
Also tried a Cricket sim about a week ago (an MVNO for ATT) but then my FONA 3G couldn't make calls (didn't try anything else).
So it seems for me (at least where I live) the only option would be a T-Mobile sim or a sim from an MVNO for T-Mobile.
However, note on T-Mobile's website below they're hinting about ending 2G someday (fourth line after "Key Dates"):
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/covera ... -evolution
If you're in the US you may want to consider a 4G board for longevity. As much as I wish/hope/pray Adafruit would make a FONA 4G board they've posted here a few times that isn't happening (due to design cost considerations). I have both a Waveshare SIM7000 and Waveshare SIM7600 that I like, and both are based on Simcom chips just like the FONA 3G, which is handy if you're already familiar with the AT commands on the FONA 3G.
By the way, tried the same SpeedTalk sim couple months ago in a FONA 808 (no 2G EDGE ability) and couldn't get that to work. To be fair maybe the board stopped working on its own (I only have one GSM/GPRS board like the FONA 808), but I suspect it's because the 808 chip doesn't have 2G EDGE capability.
Update: should have mentioned above when I use the "AT+COPS=?" command only two networks come up, T-Mobile and ATT.
Also tried a Cricket sim about a week ago (an MVNO for ATT) but then my FONA 3G couldn't make calls (didn't try anything else).
So it seems for me (at least where I live) the only option would be a T-Mobile sim or a sim from an MVNO for T-Mobile.
However, note on T-Mobile's website below they're hinting about ending 2G someday (fourth line after "Key Dates"):
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/covera ... -evolution
If you're in the US you may want to consider a 4G board for longevity. As much as I wish/hope/pray Adafruit would make a FONA 4G board they've posted here a few times that isn't happening (due to design cost considerations). I have both a Waveshare SIM7000 and Waveshare SIM7600 that I like, and both are based on Simcom chips just like the FONA 3G, which is handy if you're already familiar with the AT commands on the FONA 3G.
By the way, tried the same SpeedTalk sim couple months ago in a FONA 808 (no 2G EDGE ability) and couldn't get that to work. To be fair maybe the board stopped working on its own (I only have one GSM/GPRS board like the FONA 808), but I suspect it's because the 808 chip doesn't have 2G EDGE capability.
Update: should have mentioned above when I use the "AT+COPS=?" command only two networks come up, T-Mobile and ATT.
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.