While discussing my Librem 5’s modem firmware with support, they wanted to indicate the following:
“Please know that we are working on adding support for a newer modem model that will eventually replace the BM818 modem, however, this is still in development and will not be ready until at least a few months from now.“
I asked if they are able to share more details about this and though unable to share too much at this time, they did mention the following:
”The only detail that I can share is that they will be global so there will only be one modem model and customers will be able use the same modem in different regions of the world.”
Personally, I’m very excited to know a future option is on the horizon (Rogers in Canada doesn’t play nicely with Librem 5 right now…). Does anybody have a guess as to which modem they might be working with?
There are only limited number of options with voice and physical dimensions. The global option could be 8202g but I doubt that since it’s EOL [although it does work and those are still available and proven to work] and the next models aren’t global - although it’s always possible that Simcom has a new model available in that family. The Quectel Redtop could be a possibility and sensible as they have a modem line that is compatible family so future updates would be possible. Some other option could work too.
It’s another issue, but I hope that L% isn’t tied to specific modems but rather there would be feature or tool that let’s the phone identify modems and manage them, if user switches them - like, community could update a database and that library is then used to setup the modem (config, setttings, firmware etc.).
I think it will be closed source modem whose firmware source code I do not have access to, and will never have access to until the day I die. I think that it will be small and square and connect using the M.2 style of interface used by the Librem 5.
This is only a conjecture, but probably for the first year that I am using it, at random times it will lose data connectivity without any warning or notification on my device, and so then I will open the Settings > Modem application, and I will toggle off roaming, mobile data, Modem connectivity entirely, switch the hardware kill switch, switch it back to enable the modem again after a pause for capacitors to drain, switch the software Modem connectivity back on (“Turn off airplane mode” is what GNOME settings might say), switch the mobile data back on, and then switch the roaming back on.
And then at that time, although 6G will be the accepted standard and 5G will be considered the poor man’s historical connection service, the 5G of the device will reconnect and start providing data. And from there, I will realize I was 2 minutes late receiving a critical message of high importance from my work. During that time, because I did not receive that message, huge amount of money will be lost by the company where I work, but I will live hoping that despite this we will weather the storm and continue on, because this is the consequence of my decision to use a Librem 5.
That is what I think will happen with the new modem.
Edit:
I forgot to mention that during those 2 minutes while I was unable to receive data, a newer and younger employee who was hired to cover a similar role to myself – and who has adamantly told me that I need to join “the AI religion” and become “augmented” – will solve the high stakes problem at the company in lieu of myself. And so because I was so hard to contact during that time, he will solve the problem by asking AI to do it instead. However, the AI’s solution to the problem will be directly and simply what was asked of it, which will turn out to be a bad idea that has negative ramifications for years to come because of its shortsightedness. [This is not a criticism of our future AI overlords, but of the consequences of doing whatever you’re explicitly asked to do.]