Good evening everyone.
I recently bought a brand new Arduino MKR NB 1500 planning to have it working with a Things Mobile SIM in it.
After having tested the modem using the TestModem sketch from the MKRNB library (GitHub - arduino-libraries/MKRNB), I checked that the modem worked correctly.
As a second step, I configured the radio access technology using the sketch ChooseRadioAccessTechnology and set it to mode 2 (i.e. CAT M1 preferred, NB IoT as failover).
However, when trying to run sketches like NBScanNetworks or NBWebClient (both from the MKRNB library), the Arduino seems not to connect to any network.
The output I get after running both the sketches is the same:
NB IoT/LTE Cat M1 networks scanner
AT
OK
AT+CPWROFF
OK
AT
OK
AT
OK
AT+CMEE=0
OK
AT+CFUN=0
OK
AT+CPIN?
+CPIN: READY
OK
AT+CMGF=1
OK
AT+UDCONF=1,1
OK
AT+CTZU=1
OK
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP",""
OK
AT+UAUTHREQ=1,0
OK
AT+CFUN=1
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
where the last command seems to repeat forever.
I have properly activated the SIM I'm using, and also tested it with a normal smartphone, so that cannot be the problem.
I have read some posts on the forum from some people that further updated the firmware to 05.12 after soldering a USB connector to the board.
Is there a less drastic way to try to fix this problem?
Thank you!
EDIT: I am currently using the Dipole Pentaband Waterproof Antenna from Arduino (Dipole Pentaband Waterproof Antenna — Arduino Official Store) even though on the webpage they do not mention the MKR NB 1500 among the supported boards. Could that be the problem?
Hi Mark
No worries for contacting me, I try to give all questions in the MKR1400 and MKR1500 an answer because I am also glad when i get help on other topics. That should be the open source spirit I assume ;=)
TBH I turned away fromMKR1500 to MKR1400 because the global connectivity is better and I need just a small bandwidth so I will answer a bit from past memories..
The +CEREG: 0,0
means the moblie network is not leting you in.
First step: Please load the sketch NB Scan Networks from MKRNB Examples->Tools and paste the result here.
BTW: IMHO you need the latest available firmware, the soldering part is not that drastic, the heck is more with the windows software and the modem, see :
First of all, thank you very much for the answer.
As for the output of the NBScanNetwork, here:
NB IoT/LTE Cat M1 networks scanner
AT
OK
AT+CPWROFF
OK
AT
OK
AT
OK
AT+CMEE=0
OK
AT+CFUN=0
OK
AT+CPIN?
+CPIN: READY
OK
AT+CMGF=1
OK
AT+UDCONF=1,1
OK
AT+CTZU=1
OK
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP",""
OK
AT+UAUTHREQ=1,0
OK
AT+CFUN=1
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
AT+CEREG?
+CEREG: 0,0
OK
It can take a couple of minutes but you wrote you waited forever.
Check the very basics:
Proper Antenna connection
Read out the signal strenght with scannerNetworks.getSignalStrength();
Check if your mobile provider has LTE-M NB enabled in your area. Your mobile phone can access the network because it's a full LTE device, the MKR1500 is not.
Apparently the problem was, as you wisely suggested, the LTE-M coverage in my area. Things Mobile does not provide any LTE-M or NB-IoT connection in Italy, so I switched to a Vodafone SIM and now everything works just fine. Thank you!
Hi intstarep, I've been reading all of your post about the nb mkr1500, this device is driving me crazy, really hard to get connection stability. I tried upgrading the firmware to A.02.04 and it works a bit better. I want to upgrade it to the latest but I can find any link. The only one that I have found is the one that you just posted here #3. Have you tried that one? Should I go for it? As I'm a bit desperate to make this thing work properly haha. Thanks
IMHO 2G/3G is much more available than LTE-M/NB that's why I use the 1400. The modem is another, I have no problems anymore since I use only MQTT for everything (SMS, data transmission) exept OTA which goes over a non-SSL tcp connection.