Quectel modem for Telecom operator outside of US - APN selection

tahawaru · 8 May 2024, 11:06

Re: Quectel 5G modem update/firmware for RB5 platform

Hello,

I'm in Germany working with the RB5. We have 7 of them in the lab.
Following the instructions for connecting the drone via modem (https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-modem/),

how to select the APN if none of the option is working
how to connect the drone via modem to a 5G router that has a SIM card?

----------------------------https://docs.modalai.com/voxl-modem/---------------
Which APN is correct for your SIM card?

AT&T - IoT device - APN: m2m.com.attz
AT&T - Laptop or Tablet - APN: broadband
AT&T - Smartphone - APN: phone
T-Mobile - APN: fast.t-mobile.com
Verizon - APN: vzwinternet
Google Fi - APN: h2g2

m2m.com.attz 4) fast.t-mobile.com 7) Custom
broadband 5) vzwinternet
phone 6) googlefi
#?

Best wishes,

Eric Katzfey · 8 May 2024, 14:38

@tahawaru Probably would want to choose custom then. What operator are you using? What APN do they specify?

tahawaru · 10 May 2024, 13:48

@Eric-Katzfey

I have a SIM card from Deutsche Telekom(https://www.telekom.de/hilfe/mobilfunk/mobiles-internet/mobilfunkstandards/apn-ratgeber?samChecked=true). From the above link and on my phone,one can read:
APN: internet.v6.telekom

I don't know if I will need a username and password after entering these data.
Probably, I should ask them as well.

Best wishes,

tahawaru · 3 Jun 2024, 09:16

@Eric-Katzfey

I have tried with a telekom SIM card (APN: internet.v6.telekom). I have the following output:

rb5:~$ quectel-CM -s internet.v6.telekom

[05-24_15:32:08:012] Quectel_QConnectManager_Linux_V1.6.0.24

[05-24_15:32:08:018] Find /sys/bus/usb/devices/2-1.1 idVendor=0x2c7c idProduct=0x800, bus=0x002, dev=0x004

[05-24_15:32:08:020] Auto find qmichannel = /dev/cdc-wdm0

[05-24_15:32:08:020] Auto find usbnet_adapter = wwan0

[05-24_15:32:08:020] netcard driver = qmi_wwan, driver version = 22-Aug-2005

[05-24_15:32:08:021] Modem works in QMI mode

[05-24_15:32:08:046] /proc/5344/fd/7 -> /dev/cdc-wdm0

[05-24_15:32:08:046] /proc/5344/exe -> /usr/bin/quectel-CM

[05-24_15:32:10:047] cdc_wdm_fd = 7

[05-24_15:32:10:133] Get clientWDS = 1

[05-24_15:32:10:165] Get clientDMS = 1

[05-24_15:32:10:198] Get clientNAS = 4

[05-24_15:32:10:229] Get clientUIM = 1

[05-24_15:32:10:261] Get clientWDA = 1

[05-24_15:32:10:293] requestBaseBandVersion RM502QAEAAR13A03M4G

[05-24_15:32:40:327] requestSetEthMode message timeout

[05-24_15:33:10:327] requestSetEthMode message timeout

[05-24_15:33:40:328] requestGetSIMStatus message timeout

[05-24_15:33:40:329] requestGetSIMStatus err = 110

[05-24_15:33:40:329] requestSetProfile[1] internet.v6.telekom///0

[05-24_15:34:10:330] requestSetProfile message timeout

[05-24_15:34:10:330] requestSetProfile err = 110

[05-24_15:34:10:357] QmiWwanThread read=-1 errno: 2 (No such file or directory)

[05-24_15:34:40:331] requestGetProfile message timeout

[05-24_15:34:40:331] requestGetProfile err = 110

[05-24_15:35:10:332] requestRegistrationState2 message timeout

[05-24_15:35:10:333] requestRegistrationState2 err = 110

[05-24_15:35:40:334] requestQueryDataCall message timeout

[05-24_15:35:40:334] requestQueryDataCall err = 110

[05-24_15:35:40:334] ifconfig wwan0 0.0.0.0

[05-24_15:35:40:348] ifconfig wwan0 down

[05-24_15:39:36:149] requestRegistrationState2 MCC: 262, MNC: 3, PS: Detached, DataCap: UNKNOW

[05-24_15:40:49:110] QmiWwanThread read=-1 errno: 2 (No such file or directory)

[05-24_15:40:51:030] QmiWwanThread read=-1 errno: 2 (No such file or directory)

[05-24_15:41:19:078] requestRegistrationState2 message timeout

[05-24_15:41:19:078] requestRegistrationState2 err = 110

[05-24_15:42:33:031] requestRegistrationState2 message timeout

[05-24_15:42:33:031] requestRegistrationState2 err = 110

[05-24_15:42:33:046] requestRegistrationState2 MCC: 262, MNC: 3, PS: Detached, DataCap: UNKNOW

[05-24_15:44:13:109] requestRegistrationState2 MCC: 262, MNC: 3, PS: Detached, DataCap: UNKNOW

[05-24_15:44:14:902] requestRegistrationState2 MCC: 262, MNC: 3, PS: Detached, DataCap: UNKNOW

tom · 3 Jun 2024, 17:57

@tahawaru Before using quectel-CM can you try running the following to set the network mode to LTE + 5G as a test:

echo -ne "AT+QNWPREFCFG=\"mode_pref\",LTE:NR5G\r" | busybox microcom -t 1000 /dev/ttyUSB2

And as a note this is how you can experiment with sending AT commands to the modem for debugging purposes

tahawaru · 5 Jun 2024, 17:06

@tom
Done!
rb5:~$ echo -ne "AT+QNWPREFCFG="mode_pref",LTE:NR5G\r" | busybox microcom -t 1000 /dev/ttyUSB2
AT+QNWPREFCFG="mode_pref",LTE:NR5G
OK

-------------an then ---------

rb5:~$ quectel-CM -s internet.v6.telekom
[03-02_13:30:15:961] Quectel_QConnectManager_Linux_V1.6.0.24
[03-02_13:30:15:966] Find /sys/bus/usb/devices/2-1.1 idVendor=0x2c7c idProduct=0x800, bus=0x002, dev=0x004
[03-02_13:30:15:968] Auto find qmichannel = /dev/cdc-wdm0
[03-02_13:30:15:968] Auto find usbnet_adapter = wwan0
[03-02_13:30:15:968] netcard driver = qmi_wwan, driver version = 22-Aug-2005
[03-02_13:30:15:969] Modem works in QMI mode
[03-02_13:30:16:000] /proc/5931/fd/7 -> /dev/cdc-wdm0
[03-02_13:30:16:000] /proc/5931/exe -> /usr/bin/quectel-CM
[03-02_13:30:18:001] cdc_wdm_fd = 7
[03-02_13:30:18:017] QmiWwanThread read=-1 errno: 2 (No such file or directory)
[03-02_13:30:19:004] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[03-02_13:30:20:033] QmiWwanThread read=-1 errno: 2 (No such file or directory)
[03-02_13:30:21:005] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[03-02_13:30:23:007] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[03-02_13:30:25:008] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[03-02_13:30:27:010] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[03-02_13:30:58:034] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[03-02_13:31:28:035] QmiWwanGetClientID message timeout
[03-02_13:31:28:065] Get clientDMS = 1
[03-02_13:31:58:067] QmiWwanGetClientID message timeout
[03-02_13:32:28:068] QmiWwanGetClientID message timeout
[03-02_13:32:58:069] QmiWwanGetClientID message timeout
[03-02_13:32:58:081] requestBaseBandVersion RM502QAEAAR11A04M4G
[03-02_13:32:58:081] QMIType 26 has no clientID
[03-02_13:32:58:081] requestSetEthMode err = -19
[03-02_13:32:58:081] QMIType 11 has no clientID
[03-02_13:32:58:081] requestGetSIMStatus err = -19
[03-02_13:32:58:082] requestSetProfile[1] internet.v6.telekom///0
[03-02_13:32:58:082] QMIType 1 has no clientID
[03-02_13:32:58:082] requestSetProfile err = -19
[03-02_13:32:58:082] QMIType 1 has no clientID
[03-02_13:32:58:082] requestGetProfile err = -19
[03-02_13:32:58:082] QMIType 3 has no clientID
[03-02_13:32:58:082] requestRegistrationState2 err = -19
[03-02_13:32:58:082] QMIType 1 has no clientID
[03-02_13:32:58:082] requestQueryDataCall err = -19
[03-02_13:32:58:082] ifconfig wwan0 0.0.0.0
[03-02_13:32:58:106] ifconfig wwan0 down

What is the correct procedure to have the 5G connection up and running?

tom · 5 Jun 2024, 17:31

@tahawaru You might have to reach out to your telecom company to confirm that they allow connection to their network via. this Quectel modem

tahawaru · 28 Jun 2024, 12:35

@tom

I have reached out to the SIM card and APN telecoms provider.
They gave me a username and a password.
Where can I input those 2 parameters?

Best wishes,

tom · 1 Jul 2024, 12:41

@tahawaru quectel-CM is not something that we developed, it's a tool from Quectel themselves so I can't give you a definitive answer but looking at quectel-CM -h it looks like you can do something like this:

quectel-CM -s $APN $USERNAME $PASSWORD

This is the source if you want to see how that flag's arg parsing works: https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/utilities/voxl-modem/-/blob/master/src/quectel-CM/main.c?ref_type=heads#L665

tahawaru · 1 Jul 2024, 12:41

@tom

rb5:/$ quectel-CM -s internet.v6.telekom telekom tm
[07-01_12:35:51:016] Quectel_QConnectManager_Linux_V1.6.0.24
[07-01_12:35:51:018] Find /sys/bus/usb/devices/2-1.1 idVendor=0x2c7c idProduct=0x800, bus=0x002, dev=0x003
[07-01_12:35:51:020] Auto find qmichannel = /dev/cdc-wdm0
[07-01_12:35:51:020] Auto find usbnet_adapter = wwan0
[07-01_12:35:51:020] netcard driver = qmi_wwan, driver version = 22-Aug-2005
[07-01_12:35:51:021] Modem works in QMI mode
[07-01_12:35:51:051] /proc/8405/fd/7 -> /dev/cdc-wdm0
[07-01_12:35:51:051] /proc/8405/exe -> /usr/bin/quectel-CM
[07-01_12:35:53:052] cdc_wdm_fd = 7
[07-01_12:35:54:053] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[07-01_12:35:56:055] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[07-01_12:35:58:057] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[07-01_12:36:00:058] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[07-01_12:36:02:059] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[07-01_12:36:04:061] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[07-01_12:36:06:062] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[07-01_12:36:08:064] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[07-01_12:36:39:078] QmiWwanInit message timeout
[07-01_12:37:09:080] QmiWwanGetClientID message timeout
[07-01_12:37:39:081] QmiWwanGetClientID message timeout
[07-01_12:37:39:092] Get clientNAS = 4
[07-01_12:37:39:123] Get clientUIM = 1
[07-01_12:37:39:155] Get clientWDA = 1
[07-01_12:37:39:155] QMIType 2 has no clientID
[07-01_12:37:39:155] requestBaseBandVersion err = -19
[07-01_12:37:39:187] QMIType 1 has no clientID
[07-01_12:37:39:187] QMIType 1 has no clientID
[07-01_12:37:39:219] QmiWwanThread read=-1 errno: 2 (No such file or directory)
[07-01_12:38:09:189] requestGetSIMStatus message timeout
[07-01_12:38:09:189] requestGetSIMStatus err = 110
[07-01_12:38:09:189] requestSetProfile[1] internet.v6.telekom/telekom/tm/2
[07-01_12:38:09:190] QMIType 1 has no clientID
[07-01_12:38:09:190] requestSetProfile err = -19
[07-01_12:38:09:190] QMIType 1 has no clientID
[07-01_12:38:09:190] requestGetProfile err = -19
[07-01_12:38:09:202] requestRegistrationState2 MCC: 262, MNC: 3, PS: Detached, DataCap: UNKNOW
[07-01_12:38:09:202] QMIType 1 has no clientID
[07-01_12:38:09:202] requestQueryDataCall err = -19
[07-01_12:38:09:202] ifconfig wwan0 0.0.0.0
[07-01_12:38:09:223] ifconfig wwan0 down

tahawaru · 1 Jul 2024, 12:43

@tom

I'm using a mobile prepaid SIM card.
There are other SIMs available such as IoT SIMs.
May be an IoT SIM card will be suitable for this situation.

tom · 1 Jul 2024, 16:39

@tahawaru I like using Google Fi, super easy to setup