Hi all,

About a year ago I bought a TP-Link Archer MR600 4G router and picked up
a Smarty Data SIM, popped the SIM in and away it went.

I have had it as a backup gateway with the thought of moving onto it
100% to save on the VM cable BB costs.

I leant the router / SIM to daughter who found it better (and cheaper)
than her ADSL service and ordered her own Smarty Data SIM (as she's
already a Smarty user). Unfortunately the SIM didn't work in the router
'No SIM card detected', suggesting it's a mechanical / electrical /
electronic rather than a settings issue?

I also had a Huawei 4G router and the SIM daughter got worked straight
away in that (and she's using it for the time being for their BB access).

I took the working Smarty SIM out of my spare phone and that wasn't
detected in my TP-Link MR600 either, even after a factory reset /
restarts etc. Put my original SIM back in, all works ok again? I picked
up another Smarty SIM (un-activated etc) but it didn't detect that either.

Googling around it seems this isn't a unique situation (Smarty <>
TP-Link) but in most cases, it seems the router works fine with 'other'
supplier SIMs?

So, is anyone familiar with the actual configuration of these SIMs and
know if there might be 'a reason' why it looks like this router can
'see' an older SIM but not 3 new ones? SIMs that do seem to work in
other devices (phones / 4G routers etc) please?

FWIW, the old and new SIMs look identical (as far as the pads are
concerned) and should both be at least 4G, if not 5.

I guess I could pick up a selection of other (data?) SIMs and see if the
router even 'sees' them in the hope that it helps paint a better picture.

I'm sure we could get Smarty to switch accounts / numbers about so
daughter could use my actual Data SIM and router but other people are
interested in trying a mobile BB solution and I can't really recommend
the TP-Link <> Smarty combo if they aren't compatible?

Cheers, T i m

On Sunday, 29 October 2023 at 11:35:37 UTC, T i m wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> About a year ago I bought a TP-Link Archer MR600 4G router and picked up
> a Smarty Data SIM, popped the SIM in and away it went.
>
> I have had it as a backup gateway with the thought of moving onto it
> 100% to save on the VM cable BB costs.
>
> I leant the router / SIM to daughter who found it better (and cheaper)
> than her ADSL service and ordered her own Smarty Data SIM (as she's
> already a Smarty user). Unfortunately the SIM didn't work in the router
> 'No SIM card detected', suggesting it's a mechanical / electrical /
> electronic rather than a settings issue?
>
> I also had a Huawei 4G router and the SIM daughter got worked straight
> away in that (and she's using it for the time being for their BB access).
>
> I took the working Smarty SIM out of my spare phone and that wasn't
> detected in my TP-Link MR600 either, even after a factory reset /
> restarts etc. Put my original SIM back in, all works ok again? I picked
> up another Smarty SIM (un-activated etc) but it didn't detect that either.
>
> Googling around it seems this isn't a unique situation (Smarty <>
> TP-Link) but in most cases, it seems the router works fine with 'other'
> supplier SIMs?
>
> So, is anyone familiar with the actual configuration of these SIMs and
> know if there might be 'a reason' why it looks like this router can
> 'see' an older SIM but not 3 new ones? SIMs that do seem to work in
> other devices (phones / 4G routers etc) please?
>
> FWIW, the old and new SIMs look identical (as far as the pads are
> concerned) and should both be at least 4G, if not 5.
>
> I guess I could pick up a selection of other (data?) SIMs and see if the
> router even 'sees' them in the hope that it helps paint a better picture.
>
> I'm sure we could get Smarty to switch accounts / numbers about so
> daughter could use my actual Data SIM and router but other people are
> interested in trying a mobile BB solution and I can't really recommend
> the TP-Link <> Smarty combo if they aren't compatible?
>
> Cheers, T i m

Probably whether there is a 3G or 4G network in each location. Could be some Three gouging. but it sounds technical.

On 29/10/2023 11:33, T i m wrote:
<snip>

> I guess I could pick up a selection of other (data?) SIMs and see if the
> router even 'sees' them in the hope that it helps paint a better picture.
>
I did today, Voda, EE, O2 (+ GiffGaff, VOXI etc) and they all worked,
'SIM card prepared' first and every time, suggesting it's not the router
/ SIM socket / electronics generally and it even brought up the Internet
on a couple of them.

Strangely though a couple of unused but possibly older Smarty SIMs were
also seen?

The most frustrating thing is that it's now stopped seeing my Unlimited
Smarty Data SIM so I'll have to get them onto that tomorrow.

Cheers, T i m

On 31/10/2023 00:39, T i m wrote:
> On 29/10/2023 11:33, T i m wrote:
> <snip>
>
>> I guess I could pick up a selection of other (data?) SIMs and see if
>> the router even 'sees' them in the hope that it helps paint a better
>> picture.
>>
> I did today, Voda, EE, O2 (+ GiffGaff, VOXI etc) and they all worked,
> 'SIM card prepared' first and every time, suggesting it's not the router
> / SIM socket / electronics generally and it even brought up the Internet
> on a couple of them.
>
> Strangely though a couple of unused but possibly older Smarty SIMs were
> also seen?
>
> The most frustrating thing is that it's now stopped seeing my Unlimited
> Smarty Data SIM so I'll have to get them onto that tomorrow.
>

In case it helps anyone, I zoomed in on a picture of the connector side
of the Smarty SIMs and noted what looked like quite heavy scratching
where the SIM socket contacts touched the card as it was slid into the
router.

https://ibb.co/zh9H042

I gave them both a good clean / polish and tried them back in the router
and lo-and-behold, they both worked.

https://ibb.co/54NbF3C

Daughter brought her Smarty SIM down and I gave that one a clean but
initially it wasn't detected. I then gave it a further clean / polish
and this time it worked (or it was a coincidence etc)?

I've leant her my TP-Link MR600 router again with her SIM for her to
test and if it keeps working, she should be more confident getting the
same router (as it does seem to work fairly well).

Cheers, T i m