Question

I am trying to cell lock my RUT360. This forum has various threads on doing this for Teltonika devices, but neither of the proposed methods seem to work for me.

Method A - gsmctl

This method seems to accept the commands but has no effect,

[email protected]:~# gsmctl -A AT+QNWLOCK="common/4g",1,6175,367

OK

[email protected]:~# /etc/init.d/gsmd restart

[email protected]:~# gsmctl -K

+QENG: "servingcell","NOCONN","LTE","FDD",234,20,21D107,182,6175,20,2,2,14B3,-91,-8,-68,11,255,-32768,-

Method B - microcom

It seems the appropriate tools are not on my device:

[email protected]:~# ifdown ppp

Interface ppp not found

[email protected]:~# /etc/init.d/gsmd stop

[email protected]:~# microcom /dev/modem_cmd

microcom: can't open '/dev/modem_cmd': No such file or directory

[email protected]:~# 

If anyone is able to offer advice on how to cell lock using the RUT360, it'd be much appreciated.

I really hope Teltonika provide a solution for this in the UI soon!

Answer 1

Hello,

I will ask our RnD to share conclusive instructions to successfully cell lock. Also, I have passed your suggestion to add cell locking as a feature via WebUI. I will inform you when I will have anything useful to share.

Regards.

Comments

Many thanks, please let me know regarding the instructions.

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Hello,

There a commands that you should run in order. Also some notes:

1. gsmctl -A 'AT+QCFG="NWSCANMODE",3,1'
2. gsmctl -I (to get neighbour cells)
3. gsmctl -A 'AT+QNWLOCK="common/lte",2,**earcfn**,**pcid**' (earcfn and pcid parameters is from second point of this sequence and chosen by the client, integer type)
4. gsmctl -K (this shows which cell provides connection at this moment)

You were mistyping AT command itself. This means that  <action> = 1, which locks cell by channel number (band) but not by physical cell ID (PCID). By this reason, cell is not changing.

Two more important things by documentation. Firstly, modem can unlock cell after setting to 0 and restarting modem. Secondly, modem need be fixed to LTE-only mode with AT+QCFG="NWSCANMODE",3,1 before locking LTE cell with this command.

In addition, you don't need to make /etc/init.d/gsmd restart, because it will reinit modem and cell locking can disappear.

Regards.

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Hi. I’ve recently bought a QuWireless A950M with a teltonika RUT950 router and really need to fix my cell also. Only problem is that I’ve no idea how to implement the above. I’m a Mac user and with a basic IT knowledge. Does anyone know any specialists in the uk that can help / walk me through. Where to put the above coding in etc. Is it in the Terminal section? 

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VykintasKuzma - thank you! I have not had a chance to try it out yet as I need to do some repositioning of my equipment to be able to reach the cell I need (which is far away, but v fast). But I tested the commands anyway and it seems to work as intended, so thank you very much for the clear instructions.

DanBernie - if you connect to the LAN of your RUT950, you should be able to connect to the device using SSH. On your Mac, open terminal and type: ssh [email protected] (change the IP address to that of your RUT950 if necessary). You can then use the command line interface to configure your router. Couple of cautionary notes though: VykintasKuzma's instructions are for the RUT360, it's probably worth checking the correct instructions for the RUT950 (which I think may be elsewhere on this forum). Also, make sure you understand what any command you type will do, and how to reverse it. You don't want to brick your router. I'm in the UK so feel free to send me a private message if you need any further help.

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VykintasKuzma - I have today successfully locked my modem onto the correct cell, which has greatly improved my speed. Thank you very much for your help with this! I do have one follow up question....

I find that when I am locked to a cell ID, it seems Carrier Aggregation (CA) does not function. If I turn off the cell locking, CA works to the nearest (incorrect) mast. I know CA is possible with the other mast to which I am trying to lock, but when cell locking is used it seems to stay as a single connection.

Would it be possible to check with your RnD team if there is any way to use cell locking, whilst still having CA enabled? I'm not sure whether CA technically counts as 2 cell IDs or not. But would appreciate any advice you can give.

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Hello,

sorry for the delayed response.

In this case, a command like this could be used:

gsmctl -A 'AT+QNWLOCK="common/4g",n,<EARFCN1>,<PCI1>,<EARFCN2>,<PCI2>,...'

Where:

n - the amount of PCIs/cells to lock to;
EARFCN - frequency information of the cell;
PCIN - Physical cell ID to lock to;

More information about cell lock can be found here.

Best regards,
DaumantasG