RTN APN won't swtich interfaces

Aaron S

Aaron S

Active Member
I'm running into a frustrating problem with my LS where it won't reliably let me use the built in cellular modem (AT&T SIM card). I have a both a Verizon hotspot (wifi) and the AT&T cellular built in to the LS, because the cell coverage is spotty and sometimes one will work where another won't. There are 2 annoying parts - the "Auto" setting on the receiving interface does nothing. It will only use WiFi or nothing if it's on Auto. Then, when I manually switch it to cellular, it won't even try, because the "cellular data on" setting is grayed out and I can't switch it. On the home screen, the 3G meter shows zero bars, even though I'm within range of the towers. Sometimes at an arbitrary time later it will come on, but I don't know why I cant turn it on or off.

20191211-12.46.21_00454_4G_LTE.png
 
toivo1037

toivo1037

Active Member
Aaron,
For some reason I remember you working on the West end of Mich UP?
Not sure if this will help you at all or not:
If so (anyone in Michigan) be aware they are changing the address of Michigan CORS over today. New address is 148.149.0.87 if you need it.
 
Aaron S

Aaron S

Active Member
toivo1037 said:
Aaron,
For some reason I remember you working on the West end of Mich UP?
Not sure if this will help you at all or not:
If so (anyone in Michigan) be aware they are changing the address of Michigan CORS over today. New address is 148.149.0.87 if you need it.
Click to expand...

That was a temporary assignment this summer for a couple weeks. I'm back at my regular office in Minnesota now.
 
M

Mike Lacey

Member
Are the AT&T towers near you broadcasting 3G? I believe as they update the towers for 5G they are doing away with the 3G signal.
 
Adam

Adam

Well-Known Member
5PLS
Aaron S said:
I'm running into a frustrating problem with my LS where it won't reliably let me use the built in cellular modem (AT&T SIM card). I have a both a Verizon hotspot (wifi) and the AT&T cellular built in to the LS, because the cell coverage is spotty and sometimes one will work where another won't. There are 2 annoying parts - the "Auto" setting on the receiving interface does nothing. It will only use WiFi or nothing if it's on Auto. Then, when I manually switch it to cellular, it won't even try, because the "cellular data on" setting is grayed out and I can't switch it. On the home screen, the 3G meter shows zero bars, even though I'm within range of the towers. Sometimes at an arbitrary time later it will come on, but I don't know why I cant turn it on or off.

View attachment 9499
Click to expand...
Turn of the Wifi, then set the recieving face to Cell. I think it might work.
 
Aaron S

Aaron S

Active Member
Adam said:
Turn of the Wifi, then set the recieving face to Cell. I think it might work.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I did, 10 minutes later it still wouldn't let me choose "cellular data on" and just sat in the CDF float.

I know the towers are ok, because when it chooses to work, it shows bars in that signal graph, and I have been able to run off the SIM card only in those cases.
 
R

Ryan

Member
I have an ATT sim card in my LS also and I sometimes run into the issue you describe. I also have another carriers sim in slot 2, when it wont go to "cellular data on" I toggle it over to the other sim and that seems to fix it every time. I dont think its a connection issue, I think the sim just needs to reinitialize sometimes, not sure if you can do that with just one sim in. I think the reason "cellular data on" is greyed out sometimes is because that radio button functions like an indicator of whether or not you receiving cellular data when its actively trying to connect, if it connects it will toggle on by itself.

Another thing that seemed to help reliability in the past was to set the "network mode" under sim cards settings to 3G only instead of automatic, sometimes it would switch over to a 2G signal and it wont work well on 2G, however mine is on auto now and seems to be working fine. Might want to make sure your not set to 2G only.
May want to rule out any cellular account issues also, I got super frustrated with it once, turned out I had used up all my data plan for that month. Leaving remote assistance on all day seems to use a fair amount of data. Good Luck
 
Aaron S

Aaron S

Active Member
Thanks Ryan. I'll try it as you explained. That makes sense to me. I just wish there was a little more transparency in the software so you could know what it's doing and why (when it comes to connectivity anyway). All this workaround stuff is frustrating.

Also, I put 2 sim cards in my LS (one Verizon and one AT&T) and I'll try switching back and forth in J-Field like you said. For some reason I thought only one of the two slots could have a card in. These are the same cards out of my hotspots (I've been carrying two devices along with me for wifi) so I know the account is good. Plus, we get unlimited data on these things so no worries there.
 
Shawn Billings

Shawn Billings

Shawn Billings
5PLS
The hardware is there. But you need an OAF to activate the cell modem. It's GSM (AT&T) not CDMA (Verizon). A CDMA version is available but will very likely require a trip back to San Jose.
 
Aaron S

Aaron S

Active Member
So I tried the suggestions above. Worked OK in the office, but in the field it didn't. It seems the LS has a hard time deciding what to do in areas of marginal cell coverage, which is pretty much everywhere I work. So I'm just accepting that I'll carry 2 hotspot devices and use whichever one gets a stronger signal - run the LS in WiFi mode all the time. The cellular part is just too unreliable.

And just as an aside, I used both SIM card slots at the same time while in the office testing. One slot had an AT&T card and the other was Verizon - I can't remember which was in what slot. I took the SIM cards out of the hotspot devices and used them in the LS. Since I have a good strong signal at the office, I was able to switch back and forth pretty easily using the config screen and toggling between "SIM CARD 1" and "SIM CARD 2" at the top of the screen. I did have to shut down cellular data and 4G mini card on the config screen before it would let me switch, but it got dialed in and lock using either card.
 
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