PinePhone Carrier Support

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Revision as of 03:23, 16 March 2023 by Fxc (talk | contribs) (→‎North America: -modem firmware)
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This page contains hints on setting up cellular network connectivity for specific carriers. For more general information, see the carrier support section of PinePhone#Modem. For the APN settings see PinePhone APN Settings.

Check compatibility

To check if the PinePhone is supported on your carrier:

Search for your carrier on frequencycheck.com and compare the carrier's LTE/GSM/WCDMA frequencies to the PinePhone's supported frequencies (listed in the File:Quectel EG25-G LTE Standard Specification V1.3.pdf modem specification sheet).

It is likely that there will be a few frequencies that your carrier uses which are not supported by the PinePhone. Not all of the carrier's frequencies need to be supported by the PinePhone for it to work - as long as most of them are supported, you will still get good coverage.

Tested and working carriers

The following is a list of carriers which has been tested by users and confirmed to be working (excerpt):

Asia

Country Carrier name SMS working MMS working Calls working Data working Tested OS (with version) and UI
Japan SoftBank Mobile Not tested Unsupported by carrier No No Mobian Phosh, December 2020
Japan 楽天モバイル / Rakuten Mobile Unsupported by carrier Unsupported by carrier Yes Yes Mobian Phosh, January 2021
Japan 楽天モバイル / Rakuten Mobile Unsupported by carrier Unsupported by carrier Yes No Manjaro Plasma Mobile February 2021
Japan NTT Docomo Yes Not tested Yes Yes Mobian Phosh, February 2021
India Vodafone / Vi India Yes Not tested Yes Yes DanctNIX (Arch Linux ARM) with Phosh, March 2021
Malaysia Celcom Yes Not tested Yes Yes Gentoo, SXMO
Malaysia Maxis Yes Not tested Yes Yes Gentoo, SXMO
Malaysia U-Mobile Yes Not tested Yes Yes Gentoo, SXMO
Malaysia Yes Yes Not tested Yes Yes Gentoo, SXMO
South Korea KT Yes Not tested Yes Yes Manjaro Phosh, June 2021
China China Mobile Yes Not tested Yes No Mobile NixOS, December 2021
China China Telecom Yes (hack needed) Not tested Yes (hack needed) No AOSC OS Phosh, January 2022
Japan 楽天モバイル / Rakuten Mobile Yes Not tested Yes Yes Mobian Phosh, January 2022 (revised from January 2021)
China China Unicom Yes Not tested Yes Yes pmOS 22.06.3 Phosh, BLunlck'd, upd'd to *8M2G_30.006*, November 2022

Africa

Country Carrier name SMS working MMS working Calls working Data working Tested OS (with version) and UI
Test Test Yes Yes Yes Yes TestOS with Phosh, 20201129

Europe

Country Carrier name SMS working MMS working Calls working Data working Tested OS (with version) and UI
Ukraine KyivStar Yes Not tested Yes Yes Mobian Phosh(11Nov21)
Ukraine Vodafone Yes Not tested Yes Yes Manjaro ARM Phosh(29Jun22)
Sweden Fello (uses Telia network) Yes No (data and MMS APN are different) Yes Yes Mobian Phosh, October 2022
Sweden Hallon (uses Tre network) Yes Yes (when manually selecting the MMS APN) Yes Yes Mobian Phosh, October 2022
Sweden Comviq (uses Tele2 network) Yes Yes (when manually selecting the MMS APN) Yes Yes Mobian Phosh, October 2022
Sweden Tele2 Yes Not tested Yes Not tested Manjaro ARM Posh
Sweden Telenor SE Not tested Not tested (should NOT work, data and MMS APN are different) Yes Not tested Manjaro Plasma Mobile beta2
UK RWG Yes Not tested Yes Yes (special APN) postmarketOS Phosh (Edge) - 11 March 2023
UK Three Yes Not tested Yes Yes Manjaro Plasma Mobile beta2
UK Vodafone Yes Not tested Yes Yes ALARM & pmOS (Phosh?), modem FW latest - 26 Feb 21
UK Sky Mobile (O2) Yes Not tested Yes Yes ArchLinux Phosh (20210908 image, fully updated) - 3 October 2021
UK Smarty Mobile (Three) Yes Yes Yes Yes Arch Linux SXMO (Wayland) - 23 March 2022
UK Honest Mobile (Three) Yes No Yes - buggy Yes postmarketOS 22.12 (Phosh) - 20 February 2023
France Orange Yes Not tested Yes Yes Manjaro Phosh Beta6 and later - 9 march 2021
France SFR Yes Not tested Yes Yes Manjaro Phosh Beta6 and later - 9 march 2021
France Free Yes Not tested Yes Yes pmOS SXMO (Wayland) - 27 March 2022
Czech Republic O2 Yes (only on 2G) Not tested Yes Yes Mobian Phosh (20210517 image up to date) - 2 June 2021
Germany Congstar Yes Not tested Yes Yes (IPv4 & IPv6) Mobian (Megi's kernel 5.13.0-rc4, apt up-to-date) with Phosh, 2021-06-07
Germany E-Plus Yes (sending only 2G) Not tested Yes Yes Manjaro Phosh and postmarketOS, 2021-10-15
Germany Telekom Yes Not tested Yes Not tested Mobian Phosh (5.10-sunxi64), 2021-07-28
Germany O2 / Telefonica Yes Not tested Yes Not tested Plasma Mobile
Hungary Telekom Yes Not tested Yes Yes (IPv4) Manjaro Phosh Beta 12, 2021-07-30
Hungary Telenor/Yettel Yes Not tested Yes Yes Mobian-Phosh-20210517, 2021-09-24
Denmark CBB Yes Not tested Yes Yes Manjaro Plasma Mobile Beta 5, 2021-06-30
Belgium Telenet Yes Not tested Yes Yes postmarketOS v20.05, v21.03, v21.06 and edge, 2021-08-15
Belgium CARREFOUR Yes Not tested Yes Yes postmarketOS v20.05, v21.03, v21.06 and edge, 2021-08-15
Poland Play Yes Not tested Yes Yes Manjaro Phosh Beta 18, 2021-11-14
Poland Orange Yes No Yes Yes (IPv4 & IPv6) Manjaro Phosh v21.10, 2021-12-23
Poland Premium Mobile Yes No Yes Yes Manjaro Phosh v22.01, 2022-01-13
Italy WindTre Italy Yes Not tested Yes Yes Archlinux ARM Plasma Mobile
Switzerland Salt Yes Not tested Yes Yes Phosh on Mobian + Arch

North America

Country Carrier name SMS working MMS working Calls working Data working Tested OS (with version) and UI
USA AT&T Yes Yes Yes Yes
  • Mobian - Phosh
USA T-Mobile Yes No Yes Yes
  • Arch Linux Arm 2020/11/29
  • Mobian - Phosh
  • Manjaro - KDE Plasma Mobile
USA T-Mobile Yes Yes Yes Yes
  • Mobian Bookworm (Phosh) (2022-03-08)
USA MetroPCS (T-Mobile) Yes No Yes Yes
  • Arch Linux Arm (Phosh,SXMO) 2021/04/29
  • Manjaro - Phosh 2021/04/29
  • Mobian - Phosh 2021/3/20
USA T-Mobile Yes - buggy No Yes - buggy Yes - buggy
  • Manjaro - Plasma Dev 2020/11/21
  • Ubuntu Touch - 2020/11/26
  • KDE Neon 2020/11/02
USA Mint Mobile (T-Mobile) Yes Yes Yes Yes
  • Mobian - Phosh 2021/3/14
  • postMarketOS - Phosh, Sxmo, Plasma Mobile 2021/5/26
  • Ubuntu Touch 2021/5/24
  • Manjaro - Phosh 2022/3/25
USA Patriot Mobile (T-Mobile) Yes Yes - chatty v0.6.1 - mmsd-tng v1.8 Yes Yes
  • Arch Linux Arm - Phosh 2022/01/12
USA Tello (T-Mobile) Yes Yes Yes Yes
  • DanctNIX (Arch Linux ARM) - Phosh 2022-07-09
USA TracFone No No No No
  • postMarketOS - Phosh 2022/06/28
USA Verizon Yes Not tested Yes Yes
  • Mobian - Phosh 2021/3/1
USA US Mobile Yes Not tested Yes Not Tested
  • Mobian - Phosh 2022/01/09
USA Verizon No No No No
  • Ubuntu Touch 2021/5/24 (You can occasionally get the settings to work with Verizon, but it seems like the settings automatically changes the carrier to the wrong one after a few minutes)
USA Verizon Not tested Not tested Yes Not via gui
  • Manjaro - KDE Plasma Mobile 2021/5/10
USA Verizon Yes Not tested Yes Not via gui
  • Manjaro - Phosh 2021/5/31
USA Verizon Yes Not tested Yes Yes
  • postmarketOS - Phosh 2021/5/31
USA Verizon Yes Not tested Yes Yes
  • Arch - Phosh 2021/5/31
Canada Freedom Yes Not tested Yes Yes
  • Arch Pinephone - Phosh (APN: internet.windmobile.ca), 2021/4/25
Canada SpeakOut Yes Not tested Yes Not tested
  • Mobian - Phosh 2021/11/18
USA Consumer Cellular (AT&T) Yes No Yes Yes
  • Manjaro - Phosh 2021/06/26
USA Google Fi (T-Mobile) Yes No Yes Yes
  • Arch Linux Arm - Phosh 0.10.2 2021/05/29
Mexico Telcel Yes Not tested Yes Yes
  • Mobian - Phosh Weekly 2022/04/13
  • PostmarketOS - SXMO De Sway v21.12 (stable) 2022/04/13
  • PostmarketOS - Phosh v21.12 (stable) 2022/04/13
  • PostmarketOS - Plasma Mobile v21.12 (stable) 2022/04/13
  • PostmarketOS - sxmo edge 2021/09/09
USA Ting Yes Yes - buggy Yes Yes
  • Manjaro - Phosh 2021/12/10
USA Simple Mobile Yes Yes Yes Yes
  • Mobian - Phosh - Make sure APN is "Simple" in settings (note uppercase S)

South America

Country Carrier name SMS working MMS working Calls working Data working Tested OS (with version) and UI
Test Test Yes Yes Yes Yes TestOS with Phosh, 20201129

Australia / Oceania

Country Carrier name SMS working MMS working Calls working Data working Tested OS (with version) and UI
Test Test Yes Yes Yes Yes TestOS with Phosh, 20201129
Australia Beyond (Telstra) Yes Yes Yes Yes Manjaro Phosh Beta 20.
Australia Belong (Telstra) Yes Yes Yes Yes Arch (Danctnix), Feb 2022.
Australia Optus Yes No. Ticket lodged with Chatty and mmsd re multiple APN issue Yes Yes Manjaro Phosh Beta 20. Manjaro Plasma Mobile Beta 9 (Data working with this release). SXMO (Danctnix and PMOS edge December 2021).
Australia Amaysim (Optus) Yes No. Ticket lodged with Chatty and mmsd re multiple APN issue Yes Yes Manjaro Phosh
Australia OPTUS (Dodo) Yes Manjaro Plasma Mobile 5.23.4, 2021-12.27 (deepsleep disrupts settings)
Australia Vodafone Yes Yes Yes (No VoLTE) Yes pmOS Edge 5.15.3 kernel, 2022-02-10 with Phosh

Middle East

Country Carrier name SMS working USSD working MMS working Calls working Data working Tested OS (with version) and UI
Israel Cellcom prepay receive+notify NA NA ring+ notify NA on PmOS Sxmo May 14 2021.
Israel Cellcom Talkman receive+notify YES YES (when manually selecting the MMS APN) ring(VoLTE not working) YES on mobian Feb 04, 2022, Earthquake early warning system did not show a notification on Feb 07, 2022
Israel Cellcom Talkman NO NO NO ring+ notify (VoLTE not working) YES on Plasma Mobile Feb 04, 2022
Israel Golan TC receive+notify YES NA ring+ notify (VoLTE not working) Yes on mobian/phosh March 13 2022
Israel Partner prepay receive+notify NA NA ring+ notify NA on PmOS Sxmo May 14 2021.
Israel Pelephone prepay receive+notify NA NA ring+ notify NA on PmOS Sxmo May 14 2021.
Israel Hot prepay receive+notify NA NA ring+ notify NA on PmOS Sxmo May 14 2021.
Israel 019 prepay No NA NA Bars only NA on PmOS Sxmo May 14 2021.

Special carrier notes

Warning: This section contains providers which do not work or require special settings or actions to work.

Some carriers might support only certain frequencies or might require certain settings in Ofono or ModemManager. The following is a list of collected notes for carriers regarding special settings, hints or information:

USA

AT&T

According to this page, AT&T's primary bands are 12 and 17 - 700ac and 700 MHz respectively. Phone and SMS with PinePhone work out-of-the-box with AT&T. If you transfer a SIM card from another phone you were using with AT&T, you may need to activate the PinePhone through AT&T's website. Calls and SMS messages work. 4G and MMS work if these settings are used for APN, MMSC, and Proxy.

AT&T may drop support with their network upgrade in the near future like their child company Cricket Wireless already has. This page lists their supported devices for their new network.

Consumer Cellular

Consumer Cellular is a MVNO that uses both AT&T and T-Mobile networks. On the AT&T network LTE data works without special configuration. If you transfer a SIM card from another phone to the PinePhone, you may need to contact customer support in order for them to register the IMEI association to the correct hardware; in one case it was first incorrectly identified as a Samsung Google Nexus Prime before later being correctly identified by the modem model Quectel EG25-G. Customer support also explicitly enabled VoLTE on the device. After VoLTE instructions on this site were followed and APN instructions on the Consumer Cellular site were followed, VoLTE was confirmed working.

Cricket Wireless

Cricket wireless is a MVNO that uses AT&T's network. VoLTE was fully supported, but the PinePhone is no longer considered a compatible device in the US by the carrier (as of March 2021).

Faith Wireless

Faith Wireless is a MVNO that uses AT&T's network. VoLTE was fully supported, but the PinePhone comes up as a Mobile Broadband Device. Faith Wireless does not service Mobile Broadband Devices. (As of February 2022)

SimpleMobile

SimpleMobile is a T-Mobile prepaid MVNO operating in the United States. 4G LTE, VoLTE, data, and SMS all work on the PinePhone after activation. Activation can be done online without extra software or assistance, go to https://www.simplemobile.com/activation/byopcollectsim and make sure you have your SIM card and IMEI ready.

Sprint

Sprint is currently not supported due to unknown reasons. Any input regarding this issue is highly appreciated.

T-Mobile

According to this page, T-Mobile's primary frequency band for the United States is 12 (700ac MHz).

T-Mobile's bands and protocols are summarized on this page.

While the PinePhone's modem does support all LTE bands that T-Mobile uses in the US (And is one of the best choices for band support with the PinePhone's modem in the US), VoLTE is still listed as "Under development" by the modem manufacturer. T-Mobile's system also does not list the PinePhone as a compatible device due to this lack of official VoLTE support. The modem is capable of working on T-Mobile with VoLTE support enabled.

Verizon

According to this page, Verizon's primary frequency band for the United States is 13 (700 MHz). Verizon's bands and protocols are summarized on this page. According to the same page, Verizon might restrict their network to only approved devices.

Some users reported that they were able to activate their Verizon SIM by using an Verizon-approved burner phone and then inserting the SIM into the PinePhone.

TracFone

Following TracFone's acquisition by Verizon, support for the AT&T and T-Mobile bands has been deprecated as of early June 2022. TracFone has the same issues with connecting as Verizon, as they now exclusively use Verizon's frequency band.

Google Fi

Only T-Mobile service works currently, not US Cellular or Sprint. The APN is h2g2. Information from the forum.

Bear in mind that initial activation of the SIM card is not possible without an Android phone running Google Apps.

It should also be noted that Google uses a non-standard MMS implementation that is unlikely to be supported on the PinePhone at any point.

Europe

Telekom Germany

With low signal, there may be loud interference noise audible in calls on the receiving end. It has not yet been tested whether or not this problem is carrier specific. An easy fix is extending the modem antenna with aluminum foil (or similar) inside the back cover of the phone.

Orange Poland

Setting up dual stack IPv4 and IPv6 may require extra work, because the carrier provides IPv4 connectivity on internetipv6 APN via a protocol called CLAT/NAT64.

Sweden

Calls, SMS, and data (2G, 3G, and 4G) should work out of the box (tested three carriers on Mobian Phosh). On about half of Swedish carriers, MMS works when set manually, the rest have different data APN and MMS APN. VoLTE (i.e. 4G calls) did not work out of the box (for me) but worked well after updating firmware to ADSP Version 01.003.01.003 and installing Pinephone Modem SDK. Regarding call quality, from my experience; 3G has the best quality, then 4G also works well although you often hear electrical white noise sound (on your side), 2G works well but there is a risk of strong noise when on bad coverage (this can affect both sides of the call). Voicemail should work, you should get a SMS when you have a missed call etc. Only issue I had was that when getting sent to voicemail in a call, for some target carriers (?) it was completely silent.

Asia

China Telecom

The baseband itself ships with bad (for CDMA, which isn't supported by EG25-G) MBN file for CT, so a force change of MBN file to the generic one is needed to get VoLTE (thus SMS+Call) work.

Run the following AT commands to force ROW_Generic_3GPP which can support VoLTE on CT: 

AT+QMBNCFG="autosel",0
AT+QMBNCFG="select","ROW_Generic_3GPP"
AT+QCFG="ims",1

SoftBank

SoftBank USIM cards are IMEI-locked, and on top of that will only work on either Android or iOS. A free SIM is available, but that one is data only. The same problem might exist with MVNO's who make use of the SoftBank network, and therefore it's advised to pick either NTT docomo or au as the MNO.

Known issues

Known issues:

  • The FrequencyCheck model page does not list either Pine64 or the PinePhone.
  • T-Mobile's system does not list the PinePhone as a compatible device due to the lack of official VoLTE support from the manufacturer, despite the fact that it does work.
  • MMS doesn't currently work in any distribution on the PinePhone by default. This means images and group chats will not work in text messages.
  • Some providers may allow only certain known devices identified by their Type Allocation Code.

MMS workarounds

These scripts allow partial MMS support on a PinePhone in distributions without working MMS support:

There is a Haskel MMS client. MMS can also be manually composed with mmsd on the command line.

Resources

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