Below we have gathered useful information for customers that have issues with getting a correct SIM card from US operators.
1. SIM card size
Our devices use a mini-SIM (2FF) SIM card size. Obtain SIM kit with the correct SIM size from your operator.
2. Choosing a plan
Our device requires calls/texts services enabled, data is not required. Depending on a carrier, it can be M2M or IoT plan or a normal plan just like for a mobile phone.
3. IMEI number
If your cellular operator requires IMEI number for a SIM card activation, you can check the IMEI on SMSEage device in web-GUI > menu Settings > tab Sysinfo.
4. Operators
a) T-Mobile
- If you have troubles getting the right SIM kit, ask for "T-Mobile 3-in-1 SIM Starter Kit"
- no other problems were reported by our US customers
b) AT&T
- If you have troubles getting the right SIM kit, ask for "AT&T Universal SIM Card"
- SMSEagle NXS-97xx-4G devices are certified by AT&T
- SMSEagle MHD-8100-4G devices are using Quectel EG25G LTE modems - certified by AT&T. This information is often required when activating SIM by AT&T customer service.
- Messaging plan should be associated with a SIM
c) Verizon
- currently only SMSEagle NXS-9700-4G and NXS-9750-4G devices are certified for use in Verizon network.
- according to official information from Verizon all the standard M2M price plan options are available (including unlimited text)
d) Sprint, US Cellular
- no problems were reported by our US customers
e) virtual operators
- some customers use virtual operators like Mint, Ultra Mobile, Red Pocket, AlarmSIM, Tello, or Twilio Programmable Wireless. Contact a virtual operator of your choice for more details on their plans and SIM availability.
If you experience any problems with getting your US SIM to work, please submit a support ticket to obtain help.
Some helpful tips from our US customers
- Use a delay between SMS texts (can be set in menu Settings > Application) to prevent blocking by spam filters.
- Send messages from each modem to the other modems every 1 hour (this creates an artificial "chat" traffic) so the line is not cold.
- Encourage the recipients to reply as one-way text will get a number blocked more quickly.
- Consider using MMS instead of SMS.