mmcli simple connect timeout

[stuart]

I'm hoping that those with inside knowledge might explain where my 
problem lies.

I have a sim (ee, uk) that works well in an EE 4g hotspot gadget, and 
I'm putting it into a laptop to use it there as I will get more value 
from it.  The laptop is a Dell 7280 running ubuntu 19.04, with a Dell 
DW5811 card installed. Using the MM GUI I can send sms messages. But I 
can't connect to the internet, which I can do via the hotspot thingy. 
Setup seems simple with not a lot to tweak so I'm at a loss.

When I do: sudo mmcli -m 0 --simple-connect="apn=everywhere" i get

      error:couldn't connect the modem: 
'GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.ModemManager1.Error.MobileEquipment.NetworkTimeout: 
Networktimeout'

but this arrives instantly so hardly has any time for the network to do 
anything.

doing: sudo mmcli -m 0

gets this listing (below). Which seems to me to indicate that the device 
is good so far as I can tell.

So my questions are: what drives the timeout?, why so quick?, what to 
do? - remembering that sms works!

GPS also seems to report as good and enabled but won't reply with any data.

thanks for any help

Stuart


   --------------------------
   General  |      dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0
            |      device id: 0347830024ec737f0684643755814e4391d212b7
   --------------------------
   Hardware |   manufacturer: Sierra Wireless, Incorporated
            |          model: DW5811e Snapdragon™ X7 LTE
            |       revision: SWI9X30C_02.08.02.00
            |   h/w revision: EM7455
            |      supported: gsm-umts, lte
            |        current: gsm-umts, lte
            |   equipment id: 353991070783xxx
   --------------------------
   System   |         device: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-2
            |        drivers: cdc_mbim
            |         plugin: Dell
            |   primary port: cdc-wdm0
            |          ports: cdc-wdm0 (mbim), wwp0s20f0u2i12 (net)
   --------------------------
   Numbers  |            own: 07377400xxx
   --------------------------
   Status   | unlock retries: sim-pin2 (3)
            |          state: registered
            |    power state: on
            | signal quality: 54% (recent)
   --------------------------
   Modes    |      supported: allowed: 3g; preferred: none
            |                 allowed: 4g; preferred: none
            |                 allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 3g
            |                 allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
            |        current: allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
   --------------------------
   Bands    |      supported: utran-1, utran-3, utran-4, utran-5, 
utran-8, utran-2,
            |                 eutran-1, eutran-2, eutran-3, eutran-4, 
eutran-5, eutran-7, eutran-8,
            |                 eutran-12, eutran-13, eutran-20, 
eutran-25, eutran-41
            |        current: utran-1, utran-3, utran-4, utran-5, 
utran-8, utran-2,
            |                 eutran-1, eutran-2, eutran-3, eutran-4, 
eutran-5, eutran-7, eutran-8,
            |                 eutran-12, eutran-13, eutran-20, 
eutran-25, eutran-41
   --------------------------
   IP       |      supported: ipv4, ipv6, ipv4v6
   --------------------------
   3GPP     |           imei: 353991070783xxx
            |  enabled locks: fixed-dialing
            |   registration: idle
   --------------------------
   SIM      |      dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/SIM/0
   --------------------------
   Bearer   |      dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Bearer/1