Boron 2G/3G Never connects to cloud

Troubleshooting
1

I have 2 Boron 2G/3G devices, and one of them will never connect to the Particle cloud using the internal SIM.

At first both devices behaved the same, but flashing one of them with the 0.9.0 bootloader/system/tinker fixed the issue.

With the second unit, I followed the same process, and it still fails to connect. I’ve left it for up to 18 hours.

With a Hologram external SIM card it connects just fine – within about 30 seconds so it doesn’t seem like a hardware issue.

I’ve cleared the APN etc a number of times (using buttons on the unit and in code – against 0.9.0 or 1.1.0RC1) and I’ve also run through the setup process on the App countless times. Still no luck.

I’ve driven the unit around the city (Calgary, Canada) – no change.

I’ve swapped antennas, and even tried without – nope.

I’ve run through the cloud debug tool, and there are a number of carriers in my area – but I always get:

AT+CREG=2,2
AT+CGREG=2,2

… it seems as though it can’t find a willing carrier.

I’ve updated to 1.1.0rc1 – no change.

I’ve removed the SIM from my account ( it appears after I run the onboarding process in the App) a number of times.

The only way the device will connect to the Particle cloud is using a third party (Hologram) External SIM. It seems as though the internal SIM isn’t really activated.

I’ve entered a ticket into the Particle support system – but it seems as though they’re swamped.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

2

Immediately after posting this topic, I flashed the 0.9.0 boron-clouddebug.bin on top of the 1.1.0rc1 bootloader, and managed to put the unit into SOS mode (SOS flashing RED).

I then re-flashed the 1.1.0RC1 system and Tinker, and bootloader, and within 2 minutes the device connected to the Particle cloud.

I see the internal sim in my SIM list, and it’s associated with the correct device (Although the SIM for my other Boron doesn’t appear anywhere – and it seems to work fine).

I’d really like to know what might have happened here – as I’m about to make a decision (Hologram vs. Particle) for a major project – and if this is expected behavior due to teething/Canada/???.

Thanks.