OVMS AT&T GoPhone SIM card installation guide

[dsm363]

I got tired of the text messages from [email protected] reminding me of multiple dental appointments I apparently had. I disabled SMS on my account.

I called to complain about the money and spent about 15 min on the phone but the person extended my expiration date until end of December so that $25 I have on there should last until then instead of expiring in August.

 

[JohnnyLounge21]

"You'd get a SIM good for use on AT&T, and pre-tested with OVMS. No SMS, but data at around US$2/MB, and perhaps US$2/month admin fee - so monthly fee would total about US$6/month. Pre-paid for a minimum of 6 months or so (but term can be whatever you like)."

This would be of EXTREME interst to me. Agreed 100% with "Costs, fear and hassles with SIM cards and cellular arrangements has been quoted as one of the biggest hindrances with OVMS style systems."

Can we get this set up as a start to finish type of package that we pay for all at once and it arrives more or less ready to go? Including the antenna and anything else we may need?

 

[wiztecy]

Last time (last year) when I setup my OVMS they stopped the new accounts for the GOPhone plans that are pure data plans. They stuck me with an overpriced IPad data plan which is about $20/month for 250mb. I don't use all that much data... the OVMS is careful with that. If anyone knows of a way in getting a new gophone pay as you go account please let me / us know. Thanks.

 

[Curt]

Last time (last year) when I setup my OVMS they stopped the new accounts for the GOPhone plans that are pure data plans. They stuck me with an overpriced IPad data plan which is about $20/month for 250mb. I don't use all that much data... the OVMS is careful with that. If anyone knows of a way in getting a new gophone pay as you go account please let me / us know. Thanks.

It's true that they no longer offer the data-only plan, but the 10-cent/minute plan comes pretty close. I just got mine about three months ago.

Since I don't use it for voice, I never pay the 10-cents/minute. Data is charged at a Pay-Per-Use rate of 1-cent/5kb, which comes to about $10/month (I demo the OVMS app A LOT!). I also added SMS service at $4.99/month for 200 messages (this is optional). I preloaded the account with $100, and have the SMS package set up to renew automatically.

 

[wiztecy]

Thanks Curt, I'll look into that plan you have the next time I'm at AT&T.

It's true that they no longer offer the data-only plan, but the 10-cent/minute plan comes pretty close. I just got mine about three months ago.

Since I don't use it for voice, I never pay the 10-cents/minute. Data is charged at a Pay-Per-Use rate of 1-cent/5kb, which comes to about $10/month (I demo the OVMS app A LOT!). I also added SMS service at $4.99/month for 200 messages (this is optional). I preloaded the account with $100, and have the SMS package set up to renew automatically.

 

[markwj]

I've used these guys a few times before, but this seems a pretty good deal:

ATT Go Phone $100 Prepaid Pay As You Go TopUp Refill Reload Card PIN service

Are these sorts of deals (US$100 of credit for US$72.99) normal?

P.S. Not an advert, not a recommendation. No kick-back. Just interested in whether this is normal for pre-paid cards in USA.

 

[bradc]

I've used these guys a few times before, but this seems a pretty good deal:

ATT Go Phone $100 Prepaid Pay As You Go TopUp Refill Reload Card PIN service

Are these sorts of deals (US$100 of credit for US$72.99) normal?

P.S. Not an advert, not a recommendation. No kick-back. Just interested in whether this is normal for pre-paid cards in USA.

Signs you are dealing with shady dealers who are using stolen or fraudulently-issued PIN codes for refills:

- Prices below market rate or 'too good to be true'
- PIN's are never issued to you
- Seller demands your phone number to refill your account himself

These sorts of services are convenient ways for criminals to make money off of stolen bank/credit cards. The criminals use stolen cards to buy PIN's at face value. Then, they try and quickly sell them at a discount to unsuspecting customers. They need to sell the PIN's quickly, before the bank/credit card indicates the card is stolen and AT&T cancels the PIN's. This is why the criminal only offers a refill service and doesn't hand out PIN's. They don't know at any time which of their PIN's are still valid. But because the criminal hasn't actually spent any real money, he can just keep trying with fraudulent PIN's until one works.

By giving your money to these operations, you're furthering the market for stolen goods and putting your own account at risk. Stick to legitimate resellers and don't fall for deals that are too good to be true.

 

[markwj]

Signs you are dealing with shady dealers who are using stolen or fraudulently-issued PIN codes for refills:

- Prices below market rate or 'too good to be true'
- PIN's are never issued to you
- Seller demands your phone number to refill your account himself

These sorts of services are convenient ways for criminals to make money off of stolen bank/credit cards. The criminals use stolen cards to buy PIN's at face value. Then, they try and quickly sell them at a discount to unsuspecting customers. They need to sell the PIN's quickly, before the bank/credit card indicates the card is stolen and AT&T cancels the PIN's. This is why the criminal only offers a refill service and doesn't hand out PIN's. They don't know at any time which of their PIN's are still valid. But because the criminal hasn't actually spent any real money, he can just keep trying with fraudulent PIN's until one works.

By giving your money to these operations, you're furthering the market for stolen goods and putting your own account at risk. Stick to legitimate resellers and don't fall for deals that are too good to be true.

Interesting. But, surely this is traceable back to the seller? They find the pin was used by phone X. Owner of X says he got it from reseller Y. Police knock on door of Y and ask why he is selling stolen goods.

I've used these guys for iTunes cards for 4 years now (for friends). Always quick and reliable, and in that case we get the actual codes to enter.

 

[FANGO]

Hi all.

I have OVMS installed in my car and it was working just fine until I brought the car in for service. After service, I reconnected the system to my CAN bus connector, and now all it does it blink codes at me - Red+Green blinks 5 times, then red blinks alone 4 times. I *think* this means it's detecting a PIN lock on the SIM card. I took the SIM card out and tried it in a phone, and it works just fine, and isn't locked (I even added a PIN lock and then removed the PIN lock to be sure). It's still doing the same blink error message for me.

I might be misreading the error message, but if so, I can't figure out what 9 red blinks would mean. It's not in the user guide so I have no idea what that message means.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I might fix this? I do have money left on the SIM card, but it expires on the 12th.

 

[markwj]

Hi all.

I have OVMS installed in my car and it was working just fine until I brought the car in for service. After service, I reconnected the system to my CAN bus connector, and now all it does it blink codes at me - Red+Green blinks 5 times, then red blinks alone 4 times. I *think* this means it's detecting a PIN lock on the SIM card. I took the SIM card out and tried it in a phone, and it works just fine, and isn't locked (I even added a PIN lock and then removed the PIN lock to be sure). It's still doing the same blink error message for me.

I might be misreading the error message, but if so, I can't figure out what 9 red blinks would mean. It's not in the user guide so I have no idea what that message means.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I might fix this? I do have money left on the SIM card, but it expires on the 12th.

Red blinks 4 times is definitely PIN lock. But, the SIM could not have been locked if it wasn't removed. Maybe you mis-read the code? Are you sure it is not blinking out the version of the firmware? That happens during boot-up.

9 red blinks is GPRS TCP CONNECT failure. It can't connect to the configured server.

 

[FANGO]

It's not the firmware, because it repeats this same blink code over and over. I don't know how the configured server might have been changed or anything, especially while it was in service, since they would have just disconnected it and not done anything else.

So if it's red+green 5 times and then red 4 times (which means, green 5 times and red 9 t, that's "GPRS network initialization" step and it's having a GPRS TCP connect failure during that step?

Would this be something on AT&T's end, perhaps, which just changed over the course of the week and I need to go talk to someone there and tell them to fix it? Or do I need to try reregistering on the server, or changing the address or something in my configuration? I have no idea how the configuration would have been changed while it was in service.

 

[jayfrost]

Fango,

Have you found a fix for this. I am on the att 10 cent a minute plan and just installed my ovms. I am getting the same behavior and it is quite frustrating. Have you sms the GPRS? command to see if you are getting connected? My shows error (0x0042AT=CIPSHUT Then later it just shows Not Connected (0x0042)

I am wondering if this because of the plan I have selected?

J

 

[jayfrost]

Hello all,


I have recently installed my OVMS v2 into my Tesla Roadster. The install was smooth and sms works fine with the OVMS. My issue is that it cannot connect via GPRS. I have followed the guides and tried all the various suggestions.


My setup:


ATT $.10 per minute plan* it says data is $.01 per 5KB
APN of WAP.CINGULAR
No login and no Pass (i have tried using my sim card # and pin but failed as well)


I keep getting the error (0x0042) not connected.


Can anyone help?


Thanks,


Jason

 

[dsm363]

Any US alternatives to this that don't have the funds expire after a certain time? I was able to get them to push the expiration date back but still have only used $30 of $100 in a year.

 

[dsm363]

Thought I'd check in again if there were any US data plans that don't expire that anyone could recommend. Thanks.

 

[saprolf]

Mark, I got a friend and he wants to use t-mobile instead with an additional sim card. That should be possible as well or?

 

[smorgasbord]

Thought I'd check in again if there were any US data plans that don't expire that anyone could recommend.

The UK Global SIM Card is, I think, the best bet for US-based OVMS users, as long as you use a smartphone app and stay away from heavy SMS use. I've spent less than $60 for 17 months, so that's a little over $3.50 per month (including random SMS messages for setup/debugging/ACC).

 

[7racer]

I just looked at my gophone plan from ATT and it looks like they added voice to my plan for some reason! GRRRRR...I tried to change it online but it is only allowing me to pick other voice plans.
like DSM mentioned, any better data plans?

With those on ATT, what plan did you tell them to set up? Did you have to bring your car back to the store?

 

[dsm363]

The UK Global SIM Card is, I think, the best bet for US-based OVMS users, as long as you use a smartphone app and stay away from heavy SMS use. I've spent less than $60 for 17 months, so that's a little over $3.50 per month (including random SMS messages for setup/debugging/ACC).

Thanks. Which network does it piggyback on? I get decent signal with AT&T.

 

[Curt]

With those on ATT, what plan did you tell them to set up? Did you have to bring your car back to the store?

It looks like you can't have a go phone plan without voice, but you can go with the $0.10/min plan. That way, you aren't paying for voice, since you won't be making any voice calls. I'm using the $0.10/min voice plan, with the 200/month SMS package ($4.99), which I get auto-renewed out of my balance. If you use the smartphone app, you will be charged for actual data usage from your balance, at $0.01/5kb.

I use both the smartphone app and SMS messages A LOT. I demo it constantly to folks, especially at EV-related events, and I average just under $10.00 per month total, which I top up with another $100 dollars about every 10 months.