North American Mobile Networks

[melduforx]

Hi all!

I’ve been following this project for many years and decided to pull the trigger and buy it… then I saw the issue with connectivity to NA mobile networks.

Does anyone know which ones have been tested so far? Or is it just simply not permitted on the network?

Is there an update on the regulatory approval? I’d be happy to try a bunch of different companies if it looks like approval is going to take much longer.

Justine, if you’re reading this, I think this is a piece of tech art. Great job on creating this!

Thanks.

[imyxh]

So, as someone who has worked a little on the firmware for the RUSP, here is my perspective.

Dan mentioned this in another thread:

From what I understand about the phone working on US networks, the issue is Carriers have added the requirement that all phones pass certain independent lab testing before being allowed on their networks. That testing requires the FCC license to be granted/completed.

The initial kits that have gone out are pretty much experimental to see if the assembly process works for people and if anyone can find a network that they can operate on. As far as I can tell, most are working on these as a secondary project when they have the spare time so there haven't been any reports of success.

Until very recently, this was Justine's experience. But in the process of assembling some new phones, and after we decided to start rewriting the firmware, we actually got network registration (and calling, and receiving calls, and sending texts via the serial console....) to work. Or at least we did with one AT&T prepaid SIM card, though I don't think it's limited to just AT&T. We have not done any independent lab tests, or gotten any FCC licenses. So I now have no idea why it wasn't working before. It's possible the old firmware or hardware was simply buggy—when I get a chance, I'll try testing my T-Mobile SIM with both the new and old versions of the firmware. It's also possible that Justine did her earlier testing without the auxiliary antenna attached (which is better than the daughterboard antenna), or without the battery (which might be needed to power LARA's current spikes). Either way I think it was so long ago that whatever test configuration that first led Justine to conclude that the carriers were blocking us is lost to time.

In no way do I want to imply that if you buy a phone, it will definitely work on your carrier! I'm just sharing that somehow we actually managed to find success. If you'd like to compare new and old firmware, the new one is here: https://github.com/skysedge/rusp_firmware

TL;DR: a couple weeks ago while we were messing around we discovered "oh, huh, it works" and I for one haven't yet figured out why it does now but didn't before