Description of the issue: the devices stop sending data after crossing the border of the country (i.e.: entering Zimbabwe) and stop sending data, do not respond to SMS commands.
Causes of the issue: in some African countries, the devices connect to unsupported operators which may have GPRS status 0 when "Temporary blacklist" functionality in not enabled. However, in some special cases, operators provide GPRS status "1", despite not providing data connectivity.
Troubleshooting steps:
1. Check whether the object is present in TrustTrack.
2. Login to client's webuser and check where the connection was lost. In case it was a border area, most likely there is an issue with supported operators in this country.
2. Send SMS commands "coords", "gsminfo", "getapn" and perform basic troubleshooting for lost connectivity via SMS. The device response to "gsminfo", which includes text "GPRS:0" may indicate there is an issue with the operator and temporary blacklist may not have been enabled.
3. Check diagnostics tools in the SIM provider's platform (i.e.: Vodafone):
4. In case there is an issue with an operator, most likely the status would be similar as in the screenshot below ("Required feature not supported in mobile network" or similar message):
5. In case the device responds to SMS commands, check if the device has correct APN:
password getapn
In case APN is incorrect, change it to the correct one. In case it is correct, proceed further.
5. In case the device has correct APN and responds to SMS commands, check if the device has temporary blacklist enabled:
password getcfg 144
6. If not enabled (answer is "value: 0"), try to enable Temporary blacklist, if not yet enabled:
password setcfg 144 900
Note: Be careful, as in some cases, enabling temporary blacklist can prevent the device from connecting to all GSM networks in the country and troubleshooting would become more difficult.
7. In case the device does not answer to SMS commands, clarify with the client whether the device is powered up. In many cases, the device do not respond due to disconnected power supply and/or device.
8. In case device is indeed powered up does not respond to SMS commands, you may need to wait until device will reconnect to the supported network (possibly, after crossing the border).
Special cases:
In some cases, incorrect subscription profile is assigned, not suitable for African countries. Some countries are not in the list, therefore the connectivity may not work there, as there are not supported operators. More information here: Vodafone Coverage by rate plans - Operations - Confluence (atlassian.net)
In some cases, temporary blacklist does not prevent the device from connecting to unsupported GSM networks (GPRS status is displayed as "1"), therefore such operators can be blacklisted. More information here: [link]
Expected result:
The device has reconnected and sending data as specified.