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Do SIMs have any priority order of networks based on signal strength?
Do SIMs have any priority order of networks based on signal strength?

No. The SIMs are non-steered and it's up to the device to choose the first network with strong enough signal.

Jakub Kubinski avatar
Written by Jakub Kubinski
Updated over 3 months ago

Environment

  • SIM type: applicable to all

  • Device: applicable to all

Question

Do SIMs have any priority order of networks based on signal strength?

Answer

No. Onomondo SIMs have no preference lists on them.

Cause

  • Onomondo SIMs are non-steered (PLMN list on the SIM is empty).

  • Instead, we simply allow the radio module to choose a strong enough network according to 3GPP standards.

  • SIMs are designed this way to avoid weak signal selection and reduce registration times.

  • It is the module, not the SIM, that scans for available networks and reads their signal strength.

  • It is up to the device to choose the first network with "strong enough" signal (-85 dBm).

You can read more about the automatic network selection process in this article.

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