For me it usually sorts itself out by itself eventually but if I can’t be bothered waiting, I use the workaround noted (turn setting off and then on again). In my case I am definitely experiencing roaming because Settings / Mobile / Details shows a change of APN.
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I have now had one week using Vodafone on the L5 and it seems to be fine. I suppose that the only issue is whether the complete turn off of 3G has occurred and what I am experiencing is how it will be from now on. But no problems so far.
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Update here as a Belong (Telstra) user. The phone works for everything except calls. Calls don’t ring whether I try calling someone, or they call me. Belong is still threatening to cut off my service in a couple weeks. My understanding is that Telstra has some weird VoLTE configuration requirements compared to other providers and so the phone doesn’t work on their network. If anyone is with Telstra and can still make/receive calls, I would appreciate any insight as to how, because I really don’t want to toss the phone when it still works perfectly.
Unfortunately, swapping providers is not an option for me. Telstra is the only provider that has reception in my area.
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Residents of Australia and travelers to Australia should read this: Australia’s 3G Shutdown - Why your 4G/5G Phone is now Blocked!
@JCS, I hope Purism is fully aware of the implications.
@irvinewade, the article also sheds light on this:
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In regard to the L5, so far it seems ok on Vodafone, but I’m not using it daily yet until this debacle is settled.
I have another Google pixel 7a loaded with Graphene that has been working fine on Telstra. But when I run some of the diagnostics listed in these articles it tells me that it will not work with VoLTE, yet it does.
This entire rollout has been a dog’s breakfast so I don’t really know where I stand with anything yet.
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This is perhaps the most significant part of that for readers in this forum.
There are many makes and models of phone where you could turn up in Australia and find that you can’t use your phone for the entirety of your stay. Even though mobile telcos are supposed to be exempting visitors, that exemption is not being implemented because (for now) it is too difficult.
Yes and no. When I made that comment it was almost certainly before mobile telcos started blocking phones. However, yes, the fundamental issue is that some phones make all calls using VoLTE except that the phone reverts to 3G when calling emergency services. Whether the BM818 modem in the Librem 5 falls into that category I don’t know and it is difficult to impossible to test.
(If this applies to the BM818, I imagine it could be fixed with new modem firmware but whether that firmware update is forthcoming from Broadmobi, I don’t know.)
The fundamental problem is that mobile telcos don’t know either … so the set of phones that is being blocked is not equal to the set of phones that ought to be blocked as per the government Determination (to the extent that one accepts that any phone should be blocked, and putting aside phones owned by visitors to Australia).
I have raised this with my local member but so far he doesn’t seem to understand - and I am pursuing a number of other completely unrelated issues as well so I have not yet taken the time to make another attempt to explain the situation, which admittedly is quite complex.
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