FiPy with NB-IoT sim cards but no signal

[naveen]

I am facing the same issue. I am in Japan and using Fipy 1.0r with Hologram sim.
The sim works with phone.
How can I know if the supported band work here? @robert-hh, what do you mean by "It should be r1.2. r1.0 Versions have issues and must be replaced." You mean I need to buy a new one or I can ask Pycom to replace it?

>>> print(lte.send_at_cmd('AT!="showver"'))

SYSTEM VERSION
==============
  FIRMWARE VERSION
    Bootloader0  : 5.1.1.0 [33080]
    Bootloader1* : 5.1.1.0 [38638]
    Bootloader2  : 5.1.1.0 [39529]
    NV Info      : 1.1,0,0
    Software     : 5.1.1.0 [39529] by robot-soft at 2018-09-28 16:07:40
    UE           : 5.0.0.0d
  COMPONENTS
    ZSP0         : 1.0.99-13616
    ZSP1         : 1.0.99-12355

OK

>>> print(lte.send_at_cmd('AT!="setDbgPerm full"'))


OK

>>> print(lte.send_at_cmd('AT!="showCaps"'))

== CAPS config =============================
  .Lock UE on SRV band    : false
  .MFBI support           : true
  .TM8 TDD support        : false
============================================
== CAPS ====================================
  . access stratum: R13
  . catM          : 1
  . nb-IoT        : 0
-- EUTRA bands --
  . supported     : 28/20/13/12/4/3
  . board         : 3/4/12/13/20/28
  . admin         : 
  . pending admin : 
-- EUTRA carriers --
  . admin         : 
  . pending admin : 
============================================

OK

[robert-hh]

@naveen your post shows an old modem firmware. You should update that as a first step.

[robert-hh]

@naveen Looking for the LTE bands used in Japan, it is not likely that a r1.0 device matches. Pycom has a replacement program for these devices. Look at the following link on how to use it. https://forum.pycom.io/topic/3843/important-news-regarding-cat-m1-and-nb-iot-cellular-range.
You need a little patience, because Pycom seems very busy at the moment. Buying a new one, if not from Pycom, may not get you a r1.2 model. Vendors may still have r1.0 devices on stock and sell them in good faith.

[naveen]

@robert-hh I have updated the firmware. It shows more bands now but still not attaching to the network.

SYSTEM VERSION
==============
  FIRMWARE VERSION
    Bootloader0  : 5.1.1.0 [41065]
    Bootloader1* : 5.1.1.0 [41065]
    Bootloader2  : 5.1.1.0 [41065]
    NV Info      : 1.1,0,0
    Software     : 5.1.1.0 [41065] by robot-soft at 2018-12-17 13:03:40
    UE           : 5.0.0.0d
  COMPONENTS
    ZSP0         : 1.0.99-13616
    ZSP1         : 1.0.99-12376

== CAPS config =============================
  .Lock UE on SRV band    : false
  .MFBI support           : true
  .TM8 TDD support        : false
============================================
== CAPS ====================================
  . access stratum: R13
  . catM          : 1
  . nb-IoT        : 0
-- EUTRA bands --
  . supported     : 66/28/26/25/20/19/18/17/14/13/12/8/5/4/3/2/1
  . board         : 1/2/3/4/5/8/12/13/14/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/66
  . admin         : 
  . pending admin : 
-- EUTRA carriers --
  . admin         : 
  . pending admin : 
============================================

Output:

modem command: AT+CEREG=2
response=['OK']
modem command: AT+CFUN=1
response=['OK']
modem command: AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","hologram"
response=[]
attempt to attach cell modem to base station...
modem command: ATI
response=['+SYSSTART']
modem command: AT+SQNCCID?
response=['+SQNCCID: "",""', 'OK']
modem command: AT+CEREG?
response=['+CEREG: 2,0', 'OK']
tac=0
modem command: AT+CSQ
response=['+CSQ: 99,99', 'OK']
modem command: AT+CEER
response=['+CEER: lastEmmCause: NO CAUSE RECEIVED, lastEsmCause: NO CAUSE RECEIVED', 'OK']

[robert-hh]

@naveen That was the case for my r1.0 boards too. I had to replace them by r1.2 boards.

[naveen]

@robert-hh Thanks for your response. Did they send new board or fixed the same one. How long it took to send and get it back? And what was the shipping cost?

[robert-hh]

@naveen They have sent new boards, and it took ~4 weeks. But at that time they were still searching for the best fix.

[naveen]

@robert-hh @Xykon It took over a month and finally I received a new FiPy r1.2 board. I have tested the CAT-M1 firmware on this board using hologram sim and it was able to connect and send message using Softbank japan CAT-M1 LTE network.
But when I upgraded the firmware with NB-IOT (41019), it is not attaching to any network. The Softbank supports CAT-M1 and NB-IOT both. I am in a good coverage area and it took just 2-3 seconds to attach the CAT-M1 network. What could be the reason?

[robert-hh]

@naveen That sounds not good. A few questions:

• which firmware for the FiPy are you using?
• how long did you wait for the attach?

[naveen]

@robert-hh I am using the latest stable v1.18.2.r7 (just updated few hours ago). I waited a minute or so.

[robert-hh]

@naveen I never tried that with the master branch before. I always used the release-candidate branch. But I loaded now the firmware 1.18.2.r7 from the web site and it works too. As far as I remember, the first attach took like 15 minutes. After that, it is down now to ~10 seconds.

[naveen]

@robert-hh I waited for 25 minutes but still it is not attaching to NB-IOT network. I reverted the firmware to CATM1 again and it works flawlessly. How can I debug the issue?

[robert-hh]

@naveen No clue. When it did not work for me, I could not get a hand on debugging. I only purchased another LTE NBIoT module to verify, that the service was available and the SIM worked. It did. Module type SIM7020.