I have the Dutch telecom provider Simpel. Mobile data in the Netherlands works fine. In the Netherlands, I use Simpel with mcc=“204” mnc=“16”. See here some previous reports by me:
Currently, I’m in France, but I can not get mobile data working.
Do you have any suggestions to determine what is causing this issue?
When I go to GNOME Settings > Mobile > Network, Automatic is enabled. I see only one network name below, which is greyed out and checked. The network is Orange F. But at other times, I saw another name: BYTEL. When I disable Automatic, Choose Network starts spinning. Many times I got a timeout, but now I’m repeating it to write this topic, all of a sudden I do get a list, with several names duplicated: SFR, Free (2x), 208 16, BYTEL (3x), Orange (2x), Orange F. Before this, I often got a timeout in getting the network list.
Now I have the question which of these I should select. Or should I stay at the Automatic selection? How does this Automatic selection work?
Do I have to make any changes to the serviceproviders.xml? For example, for Simpel it seems that I have to use (also abroad, I got an SMS with this) the Access Point: internet.access.nl.
Any hints and suggestions to get mobile data working, or to debug this issue are welcome.
OK, this is very strange. Now, just after writing the post above, and thus fiddling with the settings, mobile data works. The network is now Orange F. So, for sure getting on mobile data can get some improvements, also I’m happy to have mobile data again, but unfortunately, I do not know what the root cause of the issue is now.
I lost the connection with the Orange F network that worked. Now I am automatically connected to BYTEL again, where mobile data is not working. Just as described in the first post of this thread.
Because of the issue with the timeout, I cannot change the Network back to Orange F, and therefore have no mobile data again.
Is there a CLI command that I can use to change the Network?
Do not know why, but while on a train for hours going across French Riviera area, mobile data is consistently working for me while moving fast here.
Settings:
PureOS Byzantium
Network: “Orange F” (this seems to be automatic)
Access Point: I am picking a Verizon button left from when I was in US, even though Verizon is not my provider
Data Roaming: didn’t seem to matter if it was on or off
User actions: Typically I switch modem on using HKS. Then 4G shows on top bar but is not working. Then I go to settings and click around between “3G, 4G (Preferred)” or something, then back to “4G Only” for network type. Then it blinks out and back to 4G icon on too bar again, this time with great working data.
APN info used is weirdly empty, here’s a screenshot if I open up what it is using:
It almost looks like it is just entering nothing and that makes it work?
Anyway, I hope I’m not leaking too much PI by saying I’m overseas like this, but I live in other peoples’ houses anyway, so when I’m away they’re still home. Thus I’m being a bit silly to say this, stalkers don’t use it against me. (But what would you do anyway?)
- Sent from a train in France - Sent from my Librem 5
(je ne parle pas français. Je suis un touriste américain ignorant .)
Are you sure you’re not just connected to the SNCF wifi?
I would guess that your mobile provider (Google Fi, right?) is handling the connection to Orange France behind the scenes.
I don’t think Fi uses Verizon’s network for any coverage.
If it’s empty, I don’t see how it could be connecting to anything. The APN name “Verizon” may just be something that you typed in yourself in the past.
If true, then this is unusual.
EDIT: Is your Fi maybe connecting to wireless networks automatically?
Well it’s easy to test: just use the kill switch to turn off WiFi.
I don’t think Linux (as opposed to the WiFi card) will connect automatically even if there is no security on the Wireless Access Point, at least not until you have, the first time, given the OK to connect to that WAP.
Typically I only turn on the switch of the feature I am using. So, when I was using modem, the WiFi kill switch was physically off, just as a matter of habit.
Thus, if “Google Fi was connectin to WiFi” in these situations, we’re talking about the modem somehow accessing WiFi on the Librem 5 while the physical WiFi switch is turned off.
I didn’t ever think to consider that doing so was possible. If it is, that would somehow in my mind start to bring HKS criticisms to a whole new level, but maybe that’s just me being ignorant. I guess we can’t HKS an antenna?
In that case, the Librem 5 is not using the WiFi card.
So you can focus on what the cellular modem is doing.
Would it be possible for a blackbox modem that secretly also has WiFi functionality to connect to unsecured WiFi and then bridge that across to pretend that it has a cellular connection? Or advertise an extra USB endpoint for the WiFi network connection? Yeah, I guess so. Theoretically possible. At high levels of paranoia. (Note that the former would be basically undetectable by the phone while the latter would be very detectable.) Not necessarily sensible though because the Broadmobi modem has enough problems working with all carriers in all countries on the cellular network without trying to do WiFi as well.
Yeah, in my opinion I highly doubt this to be happening. What you said makes sense, but I think the Broadmobi modem would have more problems and edge cases of failure on the Librem 5 if it was doing all of that extra bizarre legwork to pretend this or that.
