FMC920 - Free Mobile (France) operator compatibility issue

Telematics Issue
1

Hello,

I would like to know if the FMC920 is compatible with the “Free Mobile” operator in France.

The FMC920 is listed as supporting the following LTE bands:
B1 (2100 MHz), B3 (1800 MHz), B7 (2600 MHz), B20 (800 MHz), B28 (700 MHz)

Free Mobile France operates on B3 (1800 MHz), B7 (2600 MHz), and B28 (700 MHz) — it does not use B20.

Issue observed:

  • With an Orange SIM card: works perfectly, GPRS activates normally, data connection established.
  • With a Free Mobile SIM card (same device, same location): GPRS Status stays “Deactivated”, Actual Operator Code stays at 0, even though Signal Level shows “Good Signal”.
  • APN was manually set to “free” (confirmed correct: MCC 208, MNC 15).
  • Auto APN was also tested with no improvement.
  • SIM PIN is not an issue (SIM State: Ready).

Given the good signal level, I suspect either:

  1. A specific LTE band used by Free in my area (possibly B28) is not being properly negotiated by the device, or
  2. Some Free-specific network registration behavior is not handled correctly by the firmware.

Firmware version: 04.00.00 Rev:14

Could you help confirm whether B28 is fully supported on this device, or suggest what else might cause this behavior?

Thank you very much.

2

Hi,

Thanks for writing to us.

First of all, I would like to inform that B28 is supported by the FMC920. Please refer to the attached datasheet for the supported LTE bands.

FMC920-QJIB0: LTE FDD: B1/B3/B7/B8/B20/B28
FMC920-QKIB0: LTE FDD: B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B28/ B66

To further investigate the issue, I would like to request you to check the following:

  1. Check the Free Mobile SIM in a phone: Please insert the Free Mobile SIM card into a phone and check whether the phone establishes an LTE connection at the same location. If possible, please also check which LTE band is being used.
  2. Check the operator code: Please verify whether the operator code detected in that area is present in the GSM Operator Blacklist. Also, please check whether the detected operator is the home network or a roaming network. If the device is registering on a roaming operator, add the detected operator code under the GSM Operators tab, save the configuration, reboot the device, and check again.
  3. Reduce the record and send periods: Please try reducing the Min Period and Send Period for both Stop and Movement modes. This will help the device maintain a more active connection with the server.
  4. Check GPRS settings: Please use the following settings:
    • Configure the APN manually as free.
    • Disable GPRS Limit Connection.
    • Set Authentication Type to None.

After applying the above configuration, please reboot the device and check whether the Actual Operator Code changes from 0 and whether GPRS Status becomes Activated.

Thanks.