Trouble Connecting to Sprint

[habituallimit]

Hi I currently have a BYOD Free unlimited plan with sprint for a year. I decided to try it out and see what happens. I was under the impression that I didn't need a actually device and I merely need to put the sprint sim in router with MC7455 generic firmware installed and it would be able to connect into a sprint tower with no problems once signed up (knowing this is a bit of a long shot for me).

I installed recommended golden orb firmware on the router everything went good up until actually connecting into sprint. I didn't have the time to focus on getting the sim working on the router so I didn't work on it for awhile (still read up on info on this site though) but apparently that is a bad thing to have inactivity on sprint. My sim card became inactive and apparently they deactivated the sim card for inactivity. Thinking reactivating the sim would be easy on sprint was in fact far from it. Since the card was in a special suspension it took several phone calls equating to 3 hours yesterday trying to reactivate my sim card. I'm assuming I may be under the clock now to get a full connection from sprint before they discontinue my service again.

Eventually I did reactivate the sim but I am still at the point I was left off with before with the sprint sim either reconnecting and or not making a full connection to use the internet (I'm not really sure). Right now I'm not worried about having a great connection I just want to be able to make a connection in general to test the internet. I've tried various techniques used within the sprint BYOD free unlimited thread on lte hack group but none of them seem to work. I figured I should stop and ask for help from other people who have more experience than I with sprint. Any suggestions Would be much appreciated. I'd like to try everything possible before I keep and or ditch the sprint free plan.

Below is what I'm currently using to connect in to sprint along with current AT!GSTATUS? information.

Carrier:
Sprint

Distance_to_Tower:
3 known sprint towers within 1 mile (I live in a city so possibly more towers)

Type_of_Device:
WE826-T2

Router Firmware:
GoldenOrb_2018-11-03 ( OpenWrt 18.06.1 )

antenna's:
SMA Omni-directional LTE antennas

Type_of_Modem:
Sierra Wireless MC7455

Modem firmware:
preferred fw version: 02.24.05.06
preferred carrier name: GENERIC

Cable_Type:
CAT6 Ethernet Cable

Bands able to connect to:
I've watch my modem connect into all sprint bands. It seems to mainly want to connect into band 41 though 25 and 26 are better S/N ratio.

Code: Select all

AT!GSTATUS?
!GSTATUS: 
Current Time:  1134		Temperature: 40
Reset Counter: 1		Mode:        ONLINE         
System mode:   LTE        	PS state:    Attached     
LTE band:      B25    		LTE bw:      10 MHz  
LTE Rx chan:   8640		LTE Tx chan: 26763
LTE CA state:  NOT ASSIGNED
EMM state:     Registered     	Normal Service 
RRC state:     RRC Idle       
IMS reg state: No Srv  		

PCC RxM RSSI:  -69		RSRP (dBm):  -101
PCC RxD RSSI:  -70		RSRP (dBm):  -98
Tx Power:      0		TAC:         410C (16652)
RSRQ (dB):     -10.4		Cell ID:     08201907 (136321287)
SINR (dB):      5.4


OK

[JimHelms]

What APN are you using?

It could be one of three APN's:

Code: Select all

r.ispsn
n.ispsn
x.ispsn

[habituallimit]

What APN are you using?

It could be one of three APN's:

Code: Select all

r.ispsn
n.ispsn
x.ispsn

I managed to connect but that's after amazon sent me my sma to tnc adapter so I could add the 698-2690MHz Cisco 4G LTE Antennas And Extension Base. So I'm guessing it's maybe the attenna's that helped (I'm not sure). I'm getting around 25-20 down and 1up. I'd like to increase my upload speed but for now I want to monitor connection stability throughout the week. It seems to crash randomly at which needs a at!reset but there are long times of stability as well and only had one time where at!reset didn't work and had to power down the router after doing extensive testing.

I used the n.ispsn sprint apn as recommended within LTE hack FB group. On the LTE hack FB group a person recommended to another to add At+cgdcont=3,"IPV4V6","OTASN" so I did but it didn't seem to work when I added this even after I restarted the router. Again not 100% sure why my sim works now but I guess it was a antenna issue maybe.

Here is what's going on with my connection right now.

Code: Select all

AT!GSTATUS?
!GSTATUS: 
Current Time:  543		Temperature: 52
Reset Counter: 1		Mode:        ONLINE         
System mode:   LTE        	PS state:    Attached     
LTE band:      B41    		LTE bw:      20 MHz  
LTE Rx chan:   41176		LTE Tx chan: 41176
LTE CA state:  ACTIVE      		LTE Scell band:B41    
LTE Scell bw:20 MHz  		LTE Scell chan:41374
EMM state:     Registered     	Normal Service 
RRC state:     RRC Connected  
IMS reg state: No Srv  		

PCC RxM RSSI:  -81		RSRP (dBm):  -113
PCC RxD RSSI:  -83		RSRP (dBm):  -116
SCC RxM RSSI:  -82		RSRP (dBm):  -116
SCC RxD RSSI:  -85		RSRP (dBm):  -117
Tx Power:      22		TAC:         410C (16652)
RSRQ (dB):     -12.4		Cell ID:     0820B50C (136361228)
SINR (dB):      4.4


OK

[CAL77]

I didn't have the time to focus on getting the sim working on the router so I didn't work on it for awhile (still read up on info on this site though) but apparently that is a bad thing to have inactivity on sprint. My sim card became inactive and apparently they deactivated the sim card for inactivity. Thinking reactivating the sim would be easy on sprint was in fact far from it. Since the card was in a special suspension it took several phone calls equating to 3 hours yesterday trying to reactivate my sim card.

Thus was informative. I am struggling with an EM7455 and, as a consequence, like you, didn't have my SIM active for several weeks. I found when I put it into its original hotspot device that it didn't work. One fairly easy phone call later and the service was re-activated. I was occupied with other matters at the time so didn't have the presence of mind to inquire "Why?". Lesson learned is to be diligent to show some activity periodically.

[habituallimit]

Thus was informative. I am struggling with an EM7455 and, as a consequence, like you, didn't have my SIM active for several weeks. I found when I put it into its original hotspot device that it didn't work. One fairly easy phone call later and the service was re-activated. I was occupied with other matters at the time so didn't have the presence of mind to inquire "Why?". Lesson learned is to be diligent to show some activity periodically.

Glad you found that informative.

That was part of my problem of getting reactivated in a faster manner. I don't have a hot spot to put my sim in to keep it active. I just have my router and that's it. The major mistake I did was calling in to the normal sprint number. By going through the normal channels I eventually hit the financial depart after a lot of tries. However to talk to a human about this particular situation I needed to request a credit payment with sprint (I did not need that) then explain to a human why I'm really calling and then they may link me in within their own department. However the said method hit a wrinkle when a guy said he needed to actually call my number. Since I don't have a actually device with this plan that was a impossibility. To gripe a bit, I do not get why you can't ask to hit a human directly within the financial department of sprint.

However what I did do and this was much much much easier was call the recommended number on the sprint BYOD unlimited free slickdeals site and they were extremely helpful for me. Eventually I was able work up the chain of command with very helpful sprint support. They eventually got me in touch with a lady within the financial department and I explained the "situation" that my device is busted but wanted to work on it with a working sim card and she activated the sim with no problems. Didn't even care to ask if she could call the number.

In retrospect if my plan becomes deactivated from inactivity (under a special suspension again) I may call the sprint financial department directly if they ask to call the cell number directly I'll go through the motion till they unlock my account then hangup and see if it keeps being active (maybe?).

Below I'll post the good number to call and get your cell activated again as well as if you ever want to take a whirl with dealing with sprint credit department. If someone claims they may not be able to do something hangup and call again till you get it done. Sprint is just a giant hustle you'll eventually find the right person that can get the job done.

1: People at this sprint number seem to be great and willing to help 866-782-8777
2: Sprint Financial Department 800 639 6116 (I really wouldn't call this unless you wanted to experiment)

I'd also recommend getting a My Sprint app. You can easily keep track of your billing and bandwidth usage on a month to month bases.

[BillA]

Props to Habituallimit for having the patience of getting his router to work on Sprint.
With Sprint, it would be easier to simply tether a working phone via usb to the router to act as a modem, no fuss no muss. lol

Sprint and MetroPCS are the only two carrier in the US which still require you to provide them the equipment's serial number (MEID/IMEI). Especially with Sprint, it takes considerable time and effort to get any non-phone equipment to work. The only good news is that once they get absorbed by Tmobile, hopeful they'll do away with their old archaic system and join the rest of the world with freely switchable sim cards.