LTE CAT-M1 on Telstra using FiPy

[Sat]

Hi,

I am trying to connect FiPy to Telstra's CAT-M1 network Band 28. And it is unsuccessful.

Has anyone successfully connected to Telstra's CAT-M1 network?

Thanks.

[nathanh]

@sat said in LTE CAT-M1 on Telstra using FiPy:

I can confirm that certification is NOT required for connection to the network. I have tested various uncertified modules to connect to Telstra's network.

@jmarcelino @IOAg @Sat

I spoke with an IoT engineer at Telstra today and you are correct @Sat , Telstra do not block devices. However, the engineer was aware of the Pycom devices and stated without prompting that they have a "firmware" issue and that's why they won't connect, it is nothing Telstra side. I tried to dig deeper but he could not give any specific details other than a firmware issue with the current Pycom LTE devices.

**EDIT**: I spoke again with Telstra and they believe the issue is with the firmware on the Sequans modem.

Looking through the forums here I saw that the APN name "internet" is hardcoded in? According to my sim supplier the APN for Telstra's IoT network should be telstra.m2m (or alternatively telstra.internet). The Telstra engineer confirm this needs to be set correctly and could be causing issues.

I am good working with python but my ability to easily update and recompile the firmware for a FiPy is lacking... Is there someone out there that could do a quick check to see if this fixes the issue? Or at least give the option to specify the APN on the LTE.init() function?

[Sat]

@ioag said in LTE CAT-M1 on Telstra using FiPy:

is very new to me and no idea where the problem might be. Unfortunately I have no other device to confirm if the connection is broken at Pycom end. Telstra's staff is saying certification is not required for connection.
Also, there is a RAK arduino shield (BG96 LTE) working with Telstra TLE Cat M1, so I am told bu

I can confirm that certification is NOT required for connection to the network. I have tested various uncertified modules to connect to Telstra's network.

[IOAg]

@nathanh same dead connection for me; fipy is very new to me and no idea where the problem might be. Unfortunately I have no other device to confirm if the connection is broken at Pycom end. Telstra's staff is saying certification is not required for connection.
Also, there is a RAK arduino shield (BG96 LTE) working with Telstra TLE Cat M1, so I am told but haven't tested it.

[nathanh]

@jmarcelino Just on the lack of support for Telstra at the moment, do you mean that you are just waiting until it is approved by Telstra before you help people but we should be able to connect. Or do you know if Telstra is actively blocking devices that are not yet approved?

I spoke with my IoT/CatM sim card seller and they said they were unaware of Telstra blocking any devices from connecting as long as you were on the correct band and had the correct SIM. However, I have been trying for 3 days now playing with my FiPy and have been unable to connect. Has anyone had any luck connecting to Telstra yet?

Would be grateful for any update on this as this is literally the last thing to get working on my project.

[nathanh]

Is there any ETA (hopeful or otherwise) when we can expect to be able to utilise Pycom devices on Telstra's CAT-M1 network? I too am keen to get my project going using my FiPy on Telstra's network.

[Sat]

Hi @jmarcelino

Is there a way to get access to the device so that we can issue AT commands? I did read other posts however, there is no clear way to do that. Any help on this will be highly appreciated.

Note: I am working in a lab to connect to Telstra's CAT-M1 network. Therefore, I have more access to connect to their network. If you need to know further information from a network perspective, let me know.

[IOAg]

@jmarcelino Hi, what is the ETA for this support in Australia?

[jmarcelino]

Hi @sat

We don’t yet support Telstra Cat-M1. We’re working on it, thank you for your patience.