Problem with reconnecting when using Ericsson H5321 modem and Aero2 BDI network

[Dan Williams]

On Sat, 2018-11-10 at 16:34 +0100, Mateusz P wrote:
> Hi,
> I have a problem with modemmangager 1.6.8-2ubuntu1 and 1.8.2-1.
> 
> Modem: Ericsson H5321.
> Computer: Lenovo ThinkPad X230.
> Network: Aero2 BDI (Polish, APN darmowy).
> 
> The network (according to obtained licence for using radio spectrum 
> frequencies) is obliged to provide a service of a free Internet
> access 
> with a few limits.
> One of those limits is an automatic disconnection every (about) 1
> hour. 
> In order to access the Internet again one needs to reconnect and
> solve 
> the Captcha.
> 
> The first problem with the mentioned modem is that the disconnection
> is 
> not visible to the user - the Network Manager works as if the
> connection 
> would be still active - the Network Manager shows the connection as 
> still active and one needs to disconnect manually as there is no 
> Internet access.

Looks like the modem doesn't indicate disconnection via MBIM Basic
Connect Packet Service State.  When you think it's disconnected, could
you run:

mbimcli -p -d /dev/cdc-wdm3 --query-connection-state=0

I'm curious what the "Activation State" property will be when the modem
is disconnected.

If it reports that the activation state is disconnected, then we
probably need to implement support for the MBIM Basic Connect "Connect"
notification, or implement polling the state via
load_connection_status.

Dan

> The problem is there is no way to reconnect to the network as after 
> disconnecting Network Manager only flashes connecting icon and shows 
> disconnected icon.
> After restarting Network Manager or modemmanager services the
> problem 
> still persists. It can be solved by suspending or rebooting the
> computer.
> The problem exists on both Linux Mint 19 Xfce (1.6.8-2ubuntu1) and 
> Manjaro 17.1.12 OS-es (1.8.2-1).
> 
> Related logs (dpkg -l, mmcli, modemmanager, NetworkManager): 
> https://gist.github.com/mp107/238e6d745770a4f666902fd45a8de95e
> Timestamps of some of the trials of reconnecting to the network: 
> 1541701353, 1541701417.
> 
> Best regards,
> Mateusz
> _______________________________________________
> ModemManager-devel mailing list
> ModemManager-devel at lists.freedesktop.org
> https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/modemmanager-devel