No signal strength

[J B]

I just purchased a SF100-G and have tried 2 SIM cards with it. In both cases, and in various locations, both SIM cards show either 0 signal strength right after boot of the unit, or eventually 99 for signal strength. What’s the trick? Is this just a bad unit?

BTW, the unit came with a European power cord, even though I ordered the US model. Does this make a difference at all to the internals of the box?

[Bryon Davis]

Check the Statistics page in the Statistics & Logs. Make sure the SIM Status reads Enabled.

Make sure you are using the correct antenna:

Antenna Specifications

GSM/EGSM Antenna Requirements/Specifications

Frequency Range: 824 – 960 MHz / 1710 – 1990 MHz

Impedance: 50 Ohms

VSWR: <2.0:1

Typical Radiated Gain: 3 dBi on azimuth plane

Radiation: Omni

Polarization: Vertical

Wave: Half Wave Dipole

If possible, try the SIM in a cel phone and see if that gets a signal.

If you still have problems, I recommend creating a case in our tech support portal at support.multitech.com.

[Bryon Davis]

The European and US models use different bands by default. That is why you don’t have any signal strength. I recommend contacting who you got it from and exchanging it for a US model.

[Christian Kapend]

Hi I’ve go also an iSMS server and I’m in Africa. I don’t have any signal strength. What can I do for. This comes from America.

[Bryon Davis]

Hi Christian,

If you mistakenly received a US model, try to exchange it for the correct model from where you bought it from.

If you are unable to do that, you can change the default bands with a AT+WMBS=<Band> command. I’m not sure which band number Africa would use, you can try AT+WMBS=5. This command can be given to each modem by telneting to the iSMS on port 5000-5007, where 5000 is modem 1. This will give you direct access to the modem to enter AT commands. This command should be stored to the modem without needing a AT&W command.

Here are the band settings:

<Band> Frequency Band Configuration

0 mono-band mode 850 MHz

1 mono-band mode 900 extended MHz (900E)

2 mono-band mode 1800 MHz

3 mono-band mode 1900 MHz

4 dual-band mode 850/1900 MHz

5 dual-band mode 900E (extended) /1800 MHz

6 dual-band mode 900E (extended) /1900 MHz

Regards,

Bryon

[Christian Kapend]

Thanks Bryon,

I’m gonna try this and let you know what will happen.

Regards

Christian.

[Christian Kapend]

Bryon Hi, hope you are fine.

I’ve try this procedure but nothing.

Maybe I don’t know how to do it.

Could you please give me some more informations about how to change all this values.

Thank you and Happy New Year…

[Bryon Davis]

Here are the steps to change the GMS bands on modem 1.

1. Telnet to the IP address of the iSMS on port 5000 (modem 1).

2. Enter “AT” without the quotes and make sure you get an OK back.

3. Enter “AT+WMBS?” to check what the current setting is.

4. Enter “AT+WMBS=5”

5. Enter “AT+WMBS?” again to see if the setting changed.

6. Close the telnet session.

If you still have problems, then I recommend creating a case at support.multitech.com. It’s free and they’ll be able to help you troubleshoot it more.

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