Soracom Air for Cellular

Subscriber Status

Each Soracom IoT SIM in your account will have a Status label indicating its subscription state and session status. Each status corresponds to a specific network connectivity and billing behavior.

Statuses

^{*1 - Even if a device is powered on and registered to a network, it may not have established a data session, for example, if the Access Point Name (APN) is not properly configured or if data roaming is disabled. Although the device may still be able to access SMS services, it will appear offline.}

Ready

When you register an IoT SIM to your account, its initial subscription status is set to Ready. This status indicates that the registration process was completed successfully and that the SIM is now ready for use.

As soon as a device initiates a cellular connection request, the subscription status will automatically change to Active. No fees are incurred when the subscription is activated for the first time.

Active

A subscription with an Active status indicates that data sessions are allowed. While Active, the status will also indicate whether the SIM is currently Offline or Online.

Inactive

When a subscription is set to Inactive, data sessions are blocked. This status can be used to temporarily prevent a device from consuming any data when network connectivity is not required. As a result, no data usage fees are incurred in this status.

Although data sessions are blocked, your device may continually attempt to reconnect, which could result in excessive power consumption. An appropriate reconnection process is recommended, such as exponentially increasing the duration between reconnection attempts, or implementing a reconnection timeout after a set number of attempts.

Standby

When a subscription is set to Standby, it will behave similarly to the original Ready status, where no basic fees or data usage fees are incurred. As soon as a device initiates a cellular connection request, the subscription status will automatically change to Active again.

This status can be used to control subscription costs when your SIMs will not be used for an undetermined amount of time, and where you want the subscription to automatically reactivate when the device is turned on again.

Unlike the Ready status, a reactivation fee applies when the subscription status changes from Standby to Active or Inactive.

Suspended

When a subscription is set to Suspended, data sessions are blocked, and the SIM does not incur daily or monthly basic fees. This status can be used to prevent a device from consuming any data and to control subscription costs when network connectivity is not required for an extended amount of time.

Although data sessions are blocked, your device may continually attempt to reconnect, which could result in excessive power consumption. An appropriate reconnection process is recommended, such as exponentially increasing the duration between reconnection attempts, or implementing a reconnection timeout after a set number of attempts.

Unlike the Standby status, all data sessions will be blocked, and the subscription must be manually reactivated before a device using the SIM can connect to a network again.

Similar to the Standby status, a reactivation fee applies when the subscription status changes from Suspended to Active or Inactive.

Terminated

If you no longer need your Soracom IoT SIM, you can terminate its subscription by changing its status to Terminated. There are no fees to terminate a subscription, and once terminated, all service will stop and no further basic fees or data usage fees are incurred.

Changing a subscription status to Terminated is a permanent and irreversible action. Terminated SIMs will no longer be able to establish cellular connections. If you need to re-enable a SIM that has been terminated, you must purchase a new SIM, register it to your account, and replace the terminated SIM card in your device with the new SIM.

Terminated SIMs will remain visible in your account for a certain duration, and will eventually be automatically removed from your account.

Viewing Status Update History

You can view the history of changes to a SIM's status.

The following actions are recorded as part of a SIM's status history

• Registering a SIM
• Changing a SIM's Status
• Changing a SIM's Speed Class
• Adding a SIM to a Group or Removing a SIM from a Group
• Adding a Subscription Container to a SIM

To view the SIM update history:

1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen.
2. From the list of subscribers, click the for the SIM you want to view, then click the Details button.
   https://console.soracom.io

   

3. Select Update history to view all changes that have been recorded for your SIM.

   

Changing a Subscription Status

To change the status of a subscription:

1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen.

2. From the list of subscribers, click the for the SIM you want to manage.

3. Click the Actions menu, then select one of the following:

   https://console.soracom.io

   

   • To set its status to Active, select Activate.
   • To set its status to Inactive, select Deactivate.
   • To set its status to Standby, select Standby.
   • To set its status to Suspended, select Suspend.
   • To set its status to Terminated, select Terminate.

Viewing Detailed Session Status

You can also view additional details of an IoT SIM's current or past sessions.

1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen.

2. From the list of subscribers, click the for the SIM you want to view, then click the Details button.

   https://console.soracom.io

   

3. From the SIM Details dialog, click the Session details tab.

Within the Session details tab, you will see a Session Logs table with the following information:

• Time - The timestamp of the session event
• Event - The type of behavior for the event
  • Created - Indicates that the device created a new network connection
  • Modified - Indicates that an existing connection was modified, such as moving between radio towers, or switching from 3G to 4G/LTE
  • Deleted - Indicates that a network connection was closed
• IMEI - The IMEI of the device using the IoT SIM
• MCC - The Mobile Country Code that corresponds to the country where the IoT SIM is connected
• MNC - The Mobile Network Code that corresponds to the network carrier where the IoT SIM is connected
• Country - The country where the IoT SIM is connected, based on the reported MCC
• Operator - The local mobile network carrier where the IoT SIM is connected, based on the reported MNC
• Radio type - The connection technology, such as GSM, 3G, LTE, LTE-M, or NB-IoT
• Area code - The Location Area Code where the IoT SIM is connected
• Cell ID - The Cell ID of the specific Base Transceiver Station where the IoT SIM is connected

Tracking Renewal Fee

Soracom IoT SIMs have an associated annual renewal fee for when the SIM was registered in a Ready state or when the status was set to Standby or Suspended for more than one year. Within the Description tab of the SIM Details, users can view the Renewal Fee tracking date for each SIM.

1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen.

2. From the list of subscribers, click the for the SIM you want to view, then click the Details button.

   https://console.soracom.io

   

3. Within the Description tab, find the Renewal Fee Tracking date.

   

Deleting an Online Session

In some cases, it's useful to delete an existing data session in order to force an IoT SIM device to reconnect, such as to receive new custom DNS settings or update Group settings. You can delete an IoT SIM's existing session directly from the User Console:

1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen.

2. From the list of subscribers, click the for the SIM you want to manage.

3. Click the Actions menu, then select Delete session.

   https://console.soracom.io

   

4. A warning will appear asking you to confirm the action. Click Delete session to confirm.

Programmatic Usage

You can programmatically check the status of an IoT SIM as well as its session status using the Soracom API, CLI, or IoT SIM Metadata Service.

When using the API or CLI, you will need the IMSI number of the subscription.

curl -X GET \
>  -H 'X-Soracom-API-Key: <MY-API-KEY>' \
>  -H 'X-Soracom-Token: <MY-TOKEN>' \
>  https://g.api.soracom.io/v1/subscribers/<IMSI>

curl -X GET \
>  -H 'X-Soracom-API-Key: <MY-API-KEY>' \
>  -H 'X-Soracom-Token: <MY-TOKEN>' \
>  https://jp.api.soracom.io/v1/subscribers/<IMSI>

{
  "imsi": "295050012345678",
  "msisdn": "423012345678",
  "ipAddress": "10.123.45.67",
  "operatorId": "OP0012345678",
  "apn": "soracom.io",
  "type": "s1.standard",
  "groupId": "abcdef00-0000-0000-0000-000012345678",
  "status": "active",
  "tags": {
    "name": "my-sim"
  },
  "sessionStatus": {
    "imei": "860000012345678",
    "cell": {
      "radioType": "lte",
      "mcc": 310,
      "mnc": 410,
      "lac": 42973,
      "sac": 14702,
      "rac": 255
    },
    "ueIpAddress": "10.123.45.67",
    "dnsServers": [
      "100.127.0.53",
      "100.127.1.53"
    ],
    "online": true
  },
  "speedClass": "s1.standard",
  "moduleType": "trio",
  "plan": 1,
  "iccid": "8942310000012345678",
  "subscription": "plan01s"
}

soracom subscribers get --imsi <IMSI> --coverage-type g

soracom subscribers get --imsi <IMSI> --coverage-type jp

curl http://metadata.soracom.io/v1/subscriber