So first the Quectel EG-25G is a miniPCIe form factor card, we are looking for an M.2 card. The M.2 spec is a little different - smaller and less power consuming.
Then also if you look at other modem please look carefully if they also support voice and if yes, how they do it. Last year when we started doing research there were almost no ready-made M.2 modem cards available that supported voice - but for a phone I guess this is an important feature?
Lastly when you look at bare chips please do not forget that you can not simply 1:1 compare a complete pre-qualified modem module with the bare chips. There is a lot more to go into a modem module than just the silicon parts - like the bespoken qualification, testing and not to forget patent licenses. The 3GPP 4G patents are way over a thousand from several hundred patent holders. A huge amount of money from the modem module price goes into these licenses. The basic rule of thumb is to set aside about 20% of the sales price of a cellular device for patent royalties.
The cellular market is a battle field full of booby traps.
So, at what point you gonna be able to tell us which modems we can buy with confidence ?
Preferably, it would be right after the full spec release for L5.
Most of us will need to use that other slot to close the gaps in LTE coverage. And would need to know feasible alternatives as soon as possible.
Can you point to a specific geographical area in the U.S. where the L5 will have more gaps in coverage than your current phone? (plus the carrier youâre interested in)
I donât really know by my heart nor care to look up
The point is that my carrier has 2, 4, 13, 66 bands and L5 modem has 2 & 4. I travel for work all across the country (rural and urban) and donât all of my phones so far had all of these bands.
Though, my biggest concern is the actual white listing of the phone by Verizon. Because this carrier has no fall back for voice on gsm. As of now they have cdma , which they announced shutting Down completely by December. So, if I donât get to have VoLTE enabled I wonât be able to get phone calls at all.
Something similar happened w ATT when my unlocked phone wasnât on the list (but VoLTE capable)and 3g is so bad where I live, that I was missing most of the calls. With VZW would be just dead
Well, if you go to cellmapper.net, zoom out to all US and check those four band for Verizon LTE, you might notice that 13 and 66 donât add much coverage. Except youâre in North Dakota a lot.
Speaking of ATT - my biggest mistake.
I left VZW for âfreedom of choiceâ - buying unlocked phones. They ended up being more strict and on top of that TERRIBLE coverage in comparison. I even bought their device - branded Moto Z and still was missing/dripping calls all over LA , Orange county and Riverside. Same w my friends & fam on other devices. Had to run back to VZW
Ok
So this is the tower near me and j already have poor signal
Bands 4 & 13. Now w L5 Iâll lose the 13.
Most likely will get me to miss some phone calls, especially given the direction they have pointed
And seems like there is plenty of 13 and 66 in SoCal - Orange county area.
As well as North Cal and NE - Washington.
Tried to attach the screenshot, but donât see how
One more interesting finding.
Going more through âruralâ areas and just around highways 13 becomes more dominant. Which makes sense , because itâs using their old low frequency spectrum. Just found towers carrying just that band - 13.
Just direction-wise, it looks like that Gemalto M2M GmbH Cinterion ALAS66A-US (LTE, W-CDMA, GSM Module) is right choice for you. Hopefully it will be available with/for Librem 5. Note: Gemalto ALAS66A-US will not send on B28, if the network does not explicitly request a measurement or handover to this LTE band.
I live in Montana and Verizon is the only carrier that has service where I live. Its band 13 all around where I live. Without full verizon support, its a show stopper. I am with others looking for another modem that supports my needs. Until we have an official list of supported modems, I canât commit, no matter how much I want to.
Sorry but I cannot speculate about as this is not my domain. I can only say that there shouldnât be any difference in supporting the same multiple designs based on Gemaltoâs proprietary LGA footprint compatibility. Therefore size and placing of CinterionÂŽ ALAS66A-US to M.2 card may be very similar in procedure as for CinterionÂŽ PLS8 wireless module. Again, I just (incompetently) hope that (only) Purism could make needed and particular region usable M.2 cellular modem card for Librem 5. Furthermore I have no insight to complete GCF certification declaration paper or any other technical info about. So, letâs hope: just a few dollars more than Gemalto CinterionÂŽ PLS8-US (per piece).
It identifies the range of bandwidth in the band that can be used.
Band 41 is about 200 MHz wide, so the 200M devices support all (up to 20 MHz) carriers in the band, while the 120M devices will only support the lower 120 MHz (the spectrum closer to Band 40).
In the end, this likely wonât matter, since LTE networks on Band 41 are very rare and most carriers will more likely use 5G there (like Sprint does in the US).
