US carrier compatability

Hardware Librem 5
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Hello,

I’m making a new thread because others are quite old or have wrong info.

Just got my Librem 5 USA, shows full bars with a Verizon sim but can’t do calls or texts.

I think the bigger question is not whether the modem will support the network, but whether the network will allow use of the phone.

I don’t want to pay a bunch for cell service. I contacted puretalk and they said the phone is not supported, they run off of ATT towers.

What providers in the US allow a non- iOS/Android phone to use their network?

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Check out this wiki for various countries’ networks that have been tested with the Librem 5. Short answer: For the U.S., T-mobile or MVNOs that run on T-mobile’s network.

Note that VoLTE is not fully functional on the L5 yet, but it’s being worked on.

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I’ll check that out, thanks.

It’s such a shame that a device supports a network but the network (like Verizon) refuses it because it doesn’t have all of their spyware installed.

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Since VoLTE became a thing, OEMs have had to go through specific testing and apparently expensive certification with each network (in every region where they want to market the device) in order to implement the network’s VoLTE spec.

Until 3G started shutting down everywhere, some OEMs likely didn’t bother implementing VoLTE on every device, for every network, in every region, probably reasoning that their phones could still get by (more cheaply) with 3G or 2G calling. That’s not possible in the U.S. anymore, and in some other regions as well.

The interesting thing about the L5’s BM818-A1 modem is that it was designed for automotive uses, which is probably why T-mobile recognizes it and authorizes it; it must have already been certified for that network, and apparently not for Verizon or AT&T. (But then T-mobile has always been more BYOP-friendly than the other U.S. networks.)

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This doesn’t fix the problem of lack of native calling and texting via Verizon, but out of curiosity does data work with Verizon’s SIM?

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Comparing the LTE bands that Verizon uses, with the LTE bands of the current U.S. modem, it appears 4G data should work just fine. Just not for phone call carriage.

https://www.frequencycheck.com/carriers/verizon-wireless-united-states?c_id=3269315

However, in our Cellular Providers wiki, I see that one person failed to get data working on PagePlus (Verizon’s network). I don’t know what the issue was…maybe Verizon just didn’t authorize it to connect…?

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Just tried the Verizon sim again. Earlier I had let the sim sit in there for ~12 hours, I set the msg apn, no calls and no texts.

I’ve gone out and gotten a prepaid tmobile sim (voice+sms work, not mms after changing mms settings again …).

So with the Verizon sim back in and wifi off, the browser doesn’t load and also curl ifconfig.me doesn’t work.

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the signal stength showed 3/4 bars 3G

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the signal with the tmobile sim shows 3/4 bars 4G

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mobile internet seems to also not work with the tmobile sim, curl or browser

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Latest mobile-broadband-provider-info_20210805-1pureos1_all.deb is from 13-Dec-2021 and I see >Verizon< in-there, with all necessary </apn> data:

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I burned a tmobile sim card months ago, I didn’t follow the directions on when to install in the sim card, so it basically broke my sim card. GOt a new tmobile sim and it worked along with web browsing, albeit slow. Mint mobile I am currently using with a prepaid sim card as like a second line to tinker and play with as I am not yet satisfied L5 is daily driver read and it works fine.