SXT R + R11e-4G on Rogers (Canada)

gabeluci · Thu Jun 11, 2020 4:51 pm

Short story: it works with one SIM card, but not another.

I finally got my used SXT R in the mail yesterday. It has an R11e-4G in it. My plan is to use it on Rogers. Band 7 is the only common band that both the modem and Rogers support (around here). I do have an EP06-A coming in the mail that I intend to use with this, but I have no idea how long that is going to take, so I want to get this working with the R11e-4G first.

I updated Router OS to 6.47 and reset the configuration to the defaults. In WinBox, I deselected all the LTE bands except 7, and set the correct APN for Rogers (ltemobile.apn). After initializing, when I check the status of the LTE connection, it says "registration-status: denied".

I have a Rogers cell phone, so I took the SIM out of my phone and put that in the SXT, and after initialization, it registered! I used that opportunity to update the firmware on the modem to R11e-4G_V007. I put my data-only SIM back in and it failed again.

I chatted with Rogers last night. They said there should be nothing stopping me from using a new device, and they did see a second IMEI connect. But besides that, they couldn't help.

I have attached log files for the working SIM and the not working SIM. I added extra lines in both files to make it easier to compare them both in something like WinMerge. The initialization looks roughly the same, but here are the first differences I see that seem like they might be significant (side-by-side, times removed):

Not working                                        Working
lte,async lte1: sent AT+CFUN=1                     lte,async lte1: sent AT+CFUN=1
lte,async,raw lte1: +CEREG: 2                      lte,async,raw lte1: +CEREG: 2
lte,async lte1: rcvd OK                            lte,async lte1: rcvd OK
                                                   lte,async,raw lte1: +CEREG: 0
lte,async lte1: sent AT+CPMS="SM","SM","SM"        lte,async lte1: sent AT+CPMS="SM","SM","SM"
lte,async lte1: rcvd +CPMS: 50,50,50,50,50,50      lte,async lte1: rcvd +CPMS: 0,50,0,50,0,50

So notice the "+CEREG: 0" line is missing in the not working log, and also the "+CPMS" values are different. Then both are exactly the same for several lines, then here are the next differences:

Not working                                                                                Working
lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT+CFUN?                                                          lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT+CFUN?
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd +CFUN: 1                                                          lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd +CFUN: 1
lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT%MEAS="7"                                                       lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT%MEAS="7"
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd CQI: N/A                                                          lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd CQI: 0
lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT%MEAS="8"                                                       lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT%MEAS="8"
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd Signal Quality: RSRP = N/A, RSRQ = N/A, SINR = N/A, RSSI = N/A    lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd Signal Quality: RSRP = -128, RSRQ = -12, SINR = 2, RSSI = -108
lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT%PCONI                                                          sent AT%PCONI
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd +CME ERROR: Not camped on cell                                    rcvd duplexing mode: FDD

First, the "CQI" values are different. Then it seems (to my untrained eye) that maybe it just doesn't have a signal, but this happens consistently with that SIM. And if I put the SIM from my cell phone back in, it consistently just works. In the non-working log, it does show a signal about 15 seconds later, but never registers. This part seems to just repeat over and over:

lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT%MEAS="7" 
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd CQI: 8 
lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT%MEAS="8" 
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd Signal Quality: RSRP = -122, RSRQ = -11, SINR = 3, RSSI = -104 
lte,async,raw lte1: sent AT%PCONI 
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd duplexing mode: FDD 
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd Transmission mode: Closed loop MIMO 
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd Bandwidth: 3 
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd EARFCN: 2900 
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd Global Cell ID: 00864B48 
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd Physical Cell ID: 59 
lte,async,raw lte1: rcvd HNBN: N/A

Any ideas why it would work with one SIM and not the other?

gabeluci · Thu Jun 11, 2020 4:53 pm

Oh, I should add: I know the SIM is good because I'm using it in a Netgear 340U aircard right now.

gabeluci · Thu Jun 11, 2020 7:42 pm

Something I just remembered: When I first got this SIM, I tethered from a phone before I got the aircard. I noticed that data on the phone didn't work (in a browser on the phone for example), even though tethering worked just fine. Could that have something to do with it? That's the only difference I can think of between the two SIM cards.

Is there any command I have to send to the modem to make it look like tethering data rather than "regular" data?

I'm going to get a hold of a spare phone again this afternoon and test it again to make sure I'm remembering this correctly.

gabeluci · Fri Jun 12, 2020 6:09 am

Ok, I finally figured it out. I did remember correctly that "normal" data didn't work when the SIM is in a phone, but tethering worked. I plugged the aircard into my computer and checked the APN again, and turns out it was using "lteinternet.apn", not "ltemobile.apn" like I was trying to use in the SXT (and that Rogers told me to use). Argh!

So anyways, that works now.

SXT R + R11e-4G on Rogers (Canada)

SXT R + R11e-4G on Rogers (Canada)

Re: SXT R + R11e-4G on Rogers (Canada)

Re: SXT R + R11e-4G on Rogers (Canada)

Re: SXT R + R11e-4G on Rogers (Canada)

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