Re: Setup for multiple different gsm.sim-operator-id?

[Dan Williams <dcbw redhat com>]

On Wed, 2019-09-11 at 13:01 +0200, Einar Jón via networkmanager-list
wrote:
> On Wed, 4 Sep 2019 at 22:43, Thomas Haller <thaller redhat com>
> wrote:
> > On Wed, 2019-09-04 at 21:59 +0200, Einar Jón wrote:
> > > On Wed, 4 Sep 2019 at 17:11, Thomas Haller <thaller redhat com>
> > > wrote:
> > > > On Wed, 2019-09-04 at 16:46 +0200, Einar Jón via
> > > > networkmanager-
> > > > list
> > > > wrote:
> [snip]
> > > > I think that is not possible, you would need a different
> > > > connection
> > > > profile for each operator.
> > >
> > > I was thinking of doing that, creating profiles
> > > modem12345.nmconnection
> > > modem22334.nmconnection
> > > modem556677.nmconnection
> > > etc...
> > >
> > > But grabbing
> > > IMSI=$(mmcli -m XX| awk /operator id/ ...)
> > > and calling
> > > nmcli c do-stuff modem$IMSI
> > > seems to be the wrong way to use NetworkManager.
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I think you would create each profile only once.
> >
> > Afterwards, you should be able to
> >
> >   nmcli device connect $MODEM
> >
> > and then (depending on the SIM), only one of the profiles is a
> > suitable candidate to activate. You can set properties in the
> > profile
> > that tie to the operator, can't you?
> >
> > The only problem is that you have a larger number of profiles,
> > and that you need to create them (once).
>
> I think we are talking about the same thing. Or I don't understand.
> My device ($MODEM) is always cdc-wdm0. I have a python script
> that creates multiple profiles that are identical apart from the
> [gsm] block that has different values for sim-operator-id, apn
> (and optional username, password and network-id).
>
> I tried the multi-setup stuff, and it is much easier than I thought.
> So now I have 7 mobileXXXX profiles and NM is smart enough
> to get the correct one and connect on startup, without even needing
> nmcli device connect $MODEM
>
> $ nmcli connection
> NAME                UUID                                  TYPE      D
> EVICE
> eth0                7f79871d-15ff-446a-b1c3-
> 5978c81c176b  ethernet  eth0
> eth1                5317eb97-1514-4852-b120-
> ab4fa9173350  ethernet  eth1
> mobile20404         ef48d247-00df-433a-bf6a-
> 97ad54e3b757  gsm       cdc-wdm0
> mobile21407         b9d37621-32c9-4073-8848-86dd8814f503  gsm       -
> -
> <snip> 4 similar lines <snip>
> mobile234507        3d473ad6-7a25-4130-bc61-c2e987bcfa2a  gsm       -
> -
> Wired connection 1  d82449b5-69e2-33c3-944d-c132881f9052  ethernet  -
> -
>
> So... Now I just need a way to get the connection name. Is there a
> better way than
> nmcli c | awk '/cdc-wdm0/ {print $1}'
> ?
>
> And I managed to make a case when none of the profiles connects (set
> gsm.network-id to a provider that isn't in range).
> Then it doesn't activate any profile, and it seems like there is no
> hope to start the modem.
> This is a feature our customers need, that instead of connecting to
> the IMSI of the sim card (like 21407), we prefer to roam with
> operator
> 12345.
> If that fails, fall back on normal roaming. Is that doable? Am I
> using
> gsm.network-id wrong?

network-id locks that connection to the given operator, and if the
modem cannot register with that network, then the connection will fail.
For example, if you are near a border and an international roaming
provider is stronger than your preferred network, and for whatever
reason your device always connects to the roaming provider and costs
you more. That kind of thing.

You could duplicate each connection and leave the network-id empty or
set to the SIM preferred operator. Then set the autoconnect priority of
that connection "worse" than the connection for the roaming operator.
NM should then try the roaming connection first, and if that fails fall
back to the non-roaming connection.

Does that work for you?

Dan

> > > > Note there is merge-request [1]. If that gets merged, the APN
> > > > settings
> > > > would be automatically read from the mobile-broadband-provider-
> > > > info
> > > > file. That should solve your issue in a different way.
> > > >
> > > > [1]
> > > > https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/merge_requests/98
> > >
> > > That might work. If I can put my own apns and passwords in the
> > > mobile-broadband-provider-info file I'd get the same result.
> > > I guess I could just play around with the patches a bit.
> > >
> > > > best,
> > > > Thomas
> > >
> > > --
> > > Regards
> > > Einar Jón
>
>
> --
> Regards
>
>
> Einar Jón
> +31 610 957234
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