Librem 5 Evergreen - BM818-T1 for B28 - status?

Hardware Librem 5
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Hi

Some time ago there was an indication that a B28 700MHz supporting modem (BM818-T1) was a real possibility for those of us living in rural Oceania …

Any chance this will be a variant offered for Evergreen?

Thx

Glen

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You could buy your own M.2 cellular modem and experiment to see if you can get it to work. It needs to be a M.2 3042 B-key card that supports USB 2.0.

A Google search turned up these models that support B28:

You will have to investigate to see which ones support USB 2.0.

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In the hypothetical scenario that Purism decides not to supply the BM818-T1, why wouldn’t you just buy one yourself?

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Because nobody sells it. At least a Google search didn’t turn up a seller. Maybe you could get a bunch of people together who want it and do a special order from Broadmobi. It is ridiculous what M.2 cellular modems cost, but the issue is the low volume of sales.

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We’ve heard the feedback and are already looking into the T1 on our end. Just note we’re still working through and finalizing modem selection, possible upgrade pricing for certain modems, standalone pricing, etc.

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Thanks Richard, keeping fingers crossed…

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Hi amosbatto,

Thanks for this, and the list. I guess trying to drive a modem I’ve sourced myself is within the realm of “something which is possible” - but I’m hoping for the perfect answer from Purism :slight_smile:

We’ll see - it would be an interesting project.

Thx again…

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Is it FIBOCOM NL952-EAU-20 (Cat. 12, cca. $150.00) too long (30.0×52.0×2.3mm) to be placed within some future version of Librem 5 (+10mm)? FIBOCOM NL952-NA-00 (Cat. 20, Qualcomm SDX24, cca. $180.00) is non-B28 version. Both Fibocom LTE M.2 Module Series include VoLTE and CSFB (USB2.0, USB3.0, SIM ×2). Support for Linux is planned and hopefully asking this size related and therefore stupid/partial question doesn’t hurt someone (if cheaper, eventually feasible as optional B28 solution for users that like to buy it, or any other that is adequate, from Purism, opposing the ones that does not / will not support B28 at all).

P.S. “Telstra’s coverage bands are 4G-LTE band 28 and 3, and 3G-WCDMA band 5, therefore any device must support these three bands as a minimum”, which BM818-T1 card includes. But another non-expert question might be if Purism is allowed to import this particular M.2 modem to USA before assembling it together with Librem 5 for APT market? Also, BM818-T1 is missing B20 so I don’t think it is welcomed to EU either.

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Commonsense would apply to all such manufacturing scenarios?

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Considering how big a 3042 card is, I doubt that future versions of the Librem 5 will allow an even larger card.

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@GlenOfNZ an update on this Topic.

We have new developments about this:

I am happy yo announce that we have the BM818-T1 available, more information in the bellow post.

I will close this thread, as there are several threads about the T1 and we would like the debate about these news would happen in one place to make the debate easier.
The thread above

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