Mint Mobile on Pine Phone 64.
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I received my SIM card from Mint Mobile SIM card today. (based upon the IMEI number on the Pine Phone it showed this carrier would work). I activated the SIM card online with a new cell number and rebooted the phone. The carrier didn't show up so went into the carrier preferences and the Pine Phone is showing the Mint card as an option. I click on it and then back out of the sim preferences but that screen shows "No Carrier." I've done this numerous times with the same results. There is also the option to to use the "Automatic" for the carrier, but with the same results when you back out to the prior screen "No carrier." Since there isn't a save option in the carrier select area I guess it does a save automatically? Is anyone else using Mint Mobile and if so how did you get it to work?
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It might not help, but turn off wifi and reboot, then try setting up the mobile network. Flakey networking is in large part a driver issue I think, but I find networking far more stable if I only enable one at a time (mobile / wifi).
I have just gone 10 hours without losing LTE service today after discovering this, when normally I was rebooting every 1-2 hours to restore service. Seems that the wifi «--» mobile handoff doesn't work quite right.
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Thanks, but still a no go and the Bluetooth is turned off too. Does this APN have anything to do with the cell carrier settings?
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Yes, APN is important. With the right settings i could at least register in the network and mobile data seemed to work.
But not really stable yet
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@Lt-Dillinger
First of all be sure to update your Pinephone over wifi and try again with the different channels.
You may also want to try manual APN settings, Mint's support should provide some info. -
@AppLee I updated the phone soon after receiving it so I'm good there. Regarding the APN settings, I'm not sure what info to put there. I have to admit that Mint Mobile tech support, well I've called twice via my iPhone and twice was disconnected.
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An update: I was on the phone with Mint Mobile tech support for almost an hour. The good news, I was lucky to get one of their folks who is a bit familiar with the Pine phone. We tried doing a manual APN setup BUT the info we put in will not save. Every time I would back out to the prior screen, then go back to what I entered, that new APN I added was gone. The only thing there is the Internet tab and the option to reset it. This being the case, I don't think any carrier is going to work if the phone won't save the info. I asked the tech if other Pine phone users were able to get their phone working with them and she said yes. The phone recognizes the Mint SIM card, but it will not, shale we say, "lock on to it" when I click on it. As soon as you back out to the prior screen, all saved (if it's even saved" info is gone. Next Question. There is an option to wipe the phone, I guess sort of a factory reset. If I do this will Ubuntu Touch be wiped out too?
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@Lt-Dillinger It is saved. There's a weird problem with it not refreshing on the screen. Try putting the apn info in, close settings, then restart phone. Otherwise, reset all apns then reboot and try again. Make sure to turn data on and 2g/3g/4g in cellular settings first.
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There is currently a bug around apn creation not saving input. I am not able to create an mms (mms or mms+internet) context as the config never saves, but if I create an internet only context the setting will save.
Mms doesn't work anyways, so that might be the trouble.
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@Giiba That is the exact problem I'm having. It will save the Internet settings, but not the APN. Ironically, I can save the MMS info, but I don't know if it will work as I can't connect to the Mint carrier.
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An update to help others out: On 8/1/2020 my wife and I had to go to a bigger city in Tennessee (I live in the boonies of NW Tennessee) so I decided to take the Pine 64 with me to see if just maybe it would connect to the Mint (T-Mobile) cell towers and within 15 seconds it was connect with a full 4 bars. So much for the Mint website telling me I had good coverage in my area. So, I tried to call my iPhone X and nothing. I tried having my iPhone call the P64 and it rang through, but very low volume and very scratchy sounding too. What was interesting was I sent my wife a test text and it went through, be she couldn't respond back. So, I'm making progress and I called Mint Mobile who will refund my money as I had a 7 days test run after paying for 3 months. Apparently I need to find a Verizon type plan like Mint as I have very good coverage in my area from my Straight Talk plan, but I don't want to pay that much. Too bad because I was very hopeful with the Mint plan working.
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@Lt-Dillinger
Consumer Cellular $52 and some change two lines and 3g data , it is att just the same
(Oak Ridge) -
@rocket2nfinity I'll look them over, thanks. I have to admit that Mint had the absolute best plan for $15.00 a month plus the tax for my area was $2.75 a month. That price is for a prepay for a year, which I had no problem doing, it's just too bad the coverage in my area sucks. Had it worked I was going to leave Straight Talk for mine and my wife's iPhone too, but it's not to be. What I'd really prefer doing is swapping the Straight Talk SIM out of my iPhone and put it in the PP64, but that doesn't seem to work either even though my iPhone X is unlocked.