For calling from Dino, there should be a call icon in each conversation you have open. To call someone you haven’t messaged/called before, you need to open a conversation with them first, and ensure you’re subscribed to their presence (via the contact details).
Current mobile cellular devices are inherently problematic for location privacy - there is no way to avoid that (it’s baked into how cellular networks work). This is why we need a new long-range communication technology, which we’ll have to build ourselves. I started doing this with WOM (see https://wom.community/ for details) but have not had much time to work on it recently. If others would like to work on WOM, I highly encourage it.
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Look into something like Meshtastic using LORA technology. You can create your own meshnetworks with it.
Actually that would be cool to have a LORA module for the Librem 5. Couldn’t do voice but you could text.
Official update sent out from Purism today:
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For all y’all who kept paying your bill, I hope they credit you for it.
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X2. I’m interesting in seeing how this plays out. Looks like only current subscribers are getting email updates (I’m out of the loop now)
They did give me a refund within a day or two after I asked (this was prior to the above announcement).
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Has anybody have their service restored? I have submitted my ARA but so far nothing.
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I wrote to support today after turning on my Librem 5 USA phone (it has been a while) and NOT getting a cell connection. I’ve been paying $99/month for AweSIM.
I went through prior e-mails and found one from September asking me to fill out a PDF to give Purism Internal Transfer Authority. So I completed that today and sent it in.
I am so frustrated that the company identified me as being affected and that they continued to charge me for a subscription to NOTHING!
WHAT A MESS! I hope it can be worked out rapidly because I DO NOT HAVE PATIENCE THAT I GIVE OUT FREELY!
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To Purism support’s credit. They contacted me this afternoon and offered to refund me or credit payments forward towards coverage with a new (required) SIM card to restore service.
That was pretty darn quick response. I guess in the fray with so many affected customers, they didn’t or couldn’t stop charging people and must have presumed those of us being charged who can’t access the network would contact them to cancel or pursue options. It just took me a bit longer because this is not a device that I use very often or very much. I just want it connected so that it will work whenever I do find time to use it or hack around on it.
Best regards to all.
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Keep us posted on how the service performs… I’ve been waiting to turn mine back on until I see people claiming it’s good to go now.
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asking again, slightly differently this time, if any Awesim customer ever has had their service restored since it was shut off in 2022 August? also if you havent had your service restored but are a current awesim customer send a peep
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Purism has sent me new SIM cards which I assume would work if I used them, but I am holding off on having my service restored with Purism and am using a different carrier for the time being.
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Can any AweSIM user indicate what protection this plan has against SIM swaps?
From my experience, I have my shipping address on file with Purism. They have never sent me anything without using my saved shipping address.
Could someone at Purism be duped into sending a new SIM to a different address, I do not know.
Just received my new SIM and it works. Just selected the AweSIM Internet NXTGENHONE Access point as originally instructed.
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my Awesim service is restored: quick question on the APN settings are we supposed to use NXTGENPHONE which is a AT&T APN setting or use the TMobile APN setting:
Which i have been using so far with the following observations:
- mmsg works with image receive send but only in jpg between L5 and iphone, iphone cant receive .png files apparently (something L5 can do but Apple mega corp cant
) - while on an active domestic call that i placed, with openvpn active, the Firefox browser was not able to receive data - basically couldnt use it (turning wifi on while on the call made the browser work again also over openvpn again)
- could not place an international call, long waiting no tone followed by a weird message from TMobile or the other side Voda Phone saying something about the number not being recognized (AWESIM on AT&T did not have any issues using +## phonenumber so i assume its an incorrect Virtual Network setting)
It would been a horrible internet consumer (and business, yes, of course, business) experience to have the SIMple/AweSIM plan shutdown.
In terms of non-proprietary cellular data service, here is a quote from a different topic.
As mentioned from Kyle_Rankin, post:11, topic:10418, full:true,
And here’s the company statement for more evidence.
Other than looking for a backup carrier, Purism’s data plan policy is said to register its name in place of its customers like a retail store. It would appear that there is no true non-proprietary cellular data service provider, especially in GNU/Linux standard, just yet, or at least in the main markets.
I would at least remain hopeful that Purism’s privacy policy for its data plan makes a difference compared to other cellular data service providers (aka Mobile Virtual Network Operator [MVNO]). I also hope that plan payments/services would transfer to and from the company as the transaction stated despite corporate contracts (hey, PureOS is a pretty good product [and that’s without embellishment]). It’s kind of weird to see other operators come into play like it’s two companies wrangling over the data due to contradictory privacy policies. Then again, I recall smaller mobile phone companies make their own plans as minor businesses from the much larger telecommunication corporations. I guess that’s just reality to take place in the form of trust and acceptance.
To sum it all up, regardless of cellular data service privacy policies, I am just being a bit cynical over the sustainability of the plan transactions just because some corporation made an uncompromising act against its business customers. Maybe Purism did got a bit too good for a corporation’s comfort zone?
If things do come shaking down, I guess the next best thing would be alternatives to Purism’s cellular data service plans.