GSM

APN

Required tools
  • a 2.5mm hex key and a #2 Philips screwdriver, to open the main RBRcervello enclosure
  • a computer with an Ethernet interface and a web browser
  • an Ethernet cable, straight/patch, for connection between the GSM modem and computer

The GSM modem integrated into the RBRcervello may be able to automatically determine the appropriate APN for the inserted SIM card. In the event that it cannot, the APN must be manually specified in the modem configuration. To do so, we will need to have the RBRcervello keep the GSM modem powered on, then connect directly to the modem via Ethernet from a computer with a web browser.

  1. Open the main RBRcervello enclosure as described on the Airtime page.
  2. Power on the RBRcervello.
  3. Connect to the debug port as described on the Controller troubleshooting page.
  4. At the debug> prompt, enter the services command to enter the services menu.
  5. At the debug\services> prompt, enter stop publisher to disable the telemetry process. This will prevent it from launching and interfering with our use of the modem.
  6. Enter exit to return to the debug menu.
  7. At the debug> prompt, enter the command to enter the power menu.
  8. At the debug\power> prompt, enter on modem to turn the modem on.
  9. Wait for the modem to finish powering up. This will take a little over a minute, and is indicated by the blue LED labeled “CPU” stopping blinking and staying lit continuously.
  10. Attach one end of the Ethernet cable to the port on the modem, and the other to the computer. After a short period of time, your network interface should automatically be assigned an IP address.
  11. Open a web browser, and navigate to http://192.168.168.1.
  12. When prompted, enter admin as the username, and rbrcervello as the password.
  13. From the “System” menu, open the “Summary” page. You should see this interface:

    If the “Connection Status” field displays “Connected” or becomes “Connected” after a few minutes, then the modem is correctly configured. Please contact RBR for further telemetry troubleshooting assistance.
  14. To reconfigure the APN, open the “Carrier” menu and select “Settings”.
  15. On the carrier settings page, populate the “APN” field with the provider-specified APN.
  16. If the carrier requires authentication, check the “Advanced+” box, select the appropriate authentication mode from the “Authentication” dropdown (options are “PAP” or “CHAP”; if you don't know then “CHAP” is more likely), then populate the “User Name” and “Password” fields as appropriate.
  17. At the bottom of the page, click “Submit «”, then wait for the modem to finish saving the changed settings.
  18. Confirm that the connection settings are correct by monitoring the “Connection Status” field on the system summary page. If the connection status does not eventually become“Connected” (1-2min), return to step 14 to correct the connection settings.
  19. To confirm that a data connection is available, open the “Applications” menu and select “Diagnostics”.
  20. In “Ping Host Name”, enter dataincoming.rbr-global.com. Ensure “Ping Count” is set to 4, and “Ping Size” is set to 56.
  21. Click “Start”, then wait for the ping test to complete. The ping test should complete within 30 seconds. If the output text contains any messages indicating “unreachable host” or similar, the modem has not established a connection to the Internet. Confirm your connection settings and try again.
  22. Once the modem can successfully connect to the GSM network, you can instruct the data controller to resume normal telemetry operations. At the debug\power> prompt, enter off modem to turn the modem off.
  23. Enter exit to return to the debug menu.
  24. At the debug> prompt, enter the services command to enter the services menu.
  25. At the debug\services> prompt, enter start publisher to re-enable the telemetry process.
  26. Enter exit to return to the debug menu, then enter exit again to log out of the debug menu.