Hello, Soon I here AT&T and Tmobile not to long from now will be switching over to 5G connection and leaving 4G LTE for good. I know some devices like my phone is already on 5e right now and my IOT project is still on 4G LTE. I was curious If If any of the modems will support 5G that has the 4G LTE already on them? I'm in the USA and I ahve no clue. I need help from the community if everything goes to 5G will I be able to USE my 4G LTE modem on a 5G connection?
Joseph
Any doc on that timing? To my knowledge 4G will be around for quite some time. (3G and GPRS are retired)
To be honest. I have no clue. I was just hereing about it online about AT&T. I only use AT&T myself.
I'm soon to work on a project of mine going from an internet connection to GSM. But I wasn't sure if I can use AT&T on it. Also I wasn't sure Which GSM modems would work here in The usa? I have seen many out there online But I wasn't sure which gsm module to use and what band it needs to make it work. I'm looking at band that AT&T uses.
I'm not sure if the GSM 800, 808, 900 or 900a Modems would work and which one I can use?
Joseph
Could you be confused by discussions about 4G phone not being supported for voice calls because they don’t support voice over LTE (VoLTE) and can only do 3G voice calls?
I have not seen (but don’t look for that much as I don’t live in the US) any plan to drop 4G any time soon. Guts’ feeling, It will probably be around a decade from now….
I could be confused on that part yes. I did look up some GSM modules and it looks like the A6 module will work with AT&T.
GSM?
In an effort to reallocate spectrum, all the carriers around the world have set target dates to do away with GSM networks (and most have already done so).
To play on the safe side You need a 4G modem (SIM7600 type for example or a board with embedded IOT capabilities like the Arduino MKR NB 1500 — Arduino Official Store
Yes it takes gsm and works in the us with us bands. from Tmobile and AT&T. So far from what I'm seeing.
Do you have a link to your GSM module ? The ones I know are actually GPRS and this is actively being shut down around the world
Here it is. https://www.ebay.com/itm/142181039418
The crazy thing is I already have one But I have never used it. Not even sure where it is at. From my eBay it says I already bought one a year ago.
So it’s GPRS. Don’t expect it to work for long if at all.
What I need it for SMS text not GPRS.
to my knowledge
if your modem is based on 2G with a 2G supported SIM on it, upon power up
the SIM quickly tries to register to a nearby cell site with a 2G infrastructure ( for that particular ISP )
once registration is okay, then you can get to the SMS/Internet/Voice part
since most countries are weeding out the 2G, SIM might take some time to do register to the network as It tries to look out for the distant cell site whose 2G still intact, in this case expect to have poorest RSSI that will affect your HTTP/SMS performance
that does not mean anything
GPRS (General Packet Radio Services - also called a 2.5G network) is a packet-switching protocol for wireless and cellular network communication services. it was the first technology successfully deployed in 2G mobile phone systems.
So GPRS by itself can't send an SMS. What your phone does, is that you can connect to any SMS gateway using GPRS which can send an SMS for you.
if your module cannot establish that connection to the SMS gateway (because there is no 2.5G service available in your area) then you are toast...
True, but 2G and 3G are no longer here. Well that’s not true. It is still here used for other things other then cellphone services.
May be we get lost in translation here.... But 2G and 3G == GSM, GPRS, EDGE and UMTS are for cellphone services by common definition of 2G and 3G
the frequencies at the back of these services are indeed repurposed and that's why operators are switching them off.
Yes you are correctly I’m lost a little on from 2g and 3g I come more from a hardware background not a RF or software background. My mistake I’m sorry.
I’m just trying to see if any of the gsm shields or modules such as the ai thinker a6 would work on an att usa network? I have been seeing mix results some they they do some say they don’t. But.
From what I have seen T-Mobile people say do work but not ATT. I just wondering if anyone is also using ATT to make there gsm module work and which module?
Basically sense I’m in the US. I’m just trying to figure out which module or shields lol or with the ATT network.
The A6 module is GPRS so 2.5G which is being switched off as we discuss so this is not a future ready option but if one operator tells you they will maintain this network (I’m surprised) then why not.
Otherwise you need to go for one of the more modern boards
If you were not going for SMS - How much data do you need to transfer and how far is the receiver ? May be a Lora based solution could be an option