I am aware, that it is possible to add Gemalto cellular modem to non-USA made Librem 5. So, how much does it cost? And why this information is not said anywhere?
Does such a MoDem, usable in Librem 5, exist?
Even the Librem 5 USA use a Thales / Gemalto german modem.
Yes, my mistake. I was talking about Gemalto. I will update the question.
OK, someone asked the same question last week-end in the forum.
We don’t know for the price for the moment.
The community FAQ will certainly be updated whe we will have an official statement.
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In no way do I speak for Purism but … the Gemalto (Thales) modem is being custom made for the Librem 5. It is possible therefore that prices aren’t completely locked in yet - and could depend on expected volumes.
As I understand it, all units that have been shipped out so far have used the Broadmobi modem. Ergo it is not in practice possible to add the Gemalto modem at the current time - other than of course you are free to source any physically and electrically compatible modem and install it in the phone and try to get it working. Such is the beauty of a modular system.
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I just got back a response from the Purism. It is 28.10.2020 currently. Evergreen batch soon will be shipped.
What I asked:
How much does it cost to add Thales Cinteron PLS8 cellular modem in non-USA made Librem 5? Is it even possible? If not, how much it costs stand-alone?
What response I got back:
We do intend to have this option in the future. But at this moment I
cannot specify any details.
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Since Purism hasn’t yet sent out an email, asking people which modem they want for Evergreen, I’m guessing that Purism doesn’t yet know how many M.2 cards it should manufacture with the PLS8. I’m assuming these will be made by the same company in the San Diego area that made the DevKits.
Kind of a chicken-and-egg problem, because it is hard to ask customers how many want the PLS8, if the price isn’t known and it isn’t yet known whether VoLTE will be supported by the BM818. Without that info, many people can’t decide which modem they want.
The email to select the modem will be the real indicator that Purism is close to shipping.
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I’m not sure if this has been asked before:
Can it be assumed that the energy consumption (affect on battery life) of the modems Gemalto / BroadMobi is roughly the same ? If not, which one is more efficient ? (planned use is in the EU)
Yes, to all of that.
It really really needs to be not-an-email so that it can be handled in a more automated, flexible and dynamic way.
i’d rather Purism sent first an email to people asking if they want evergreen shipped sooner without the modem(s) or later with the modem … ideally after all this time we would get both at the same time !
edit : backwards lol !
My impression is that the priority is the integration of the Broadmobi modem and that more software development is needed to fully support the Thales modem.
After seeing this tweet, I’m getting more optimistic:
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i believe they’ve mentioned before that L5-China and L5-USA are going to be shipping at the same time. the modem is still a question to be answered.
is that accurate Purism ?
Specs are right for the modem, it’s the right chip, but it’s doesn’t seem to be the right form factor (this says LGA) - that’s meant for something else. So it’s difficult to tell if that price is any indication as we do not know how that compares to the m.2 modemcard.
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