Install 🔗

sudo apt-get install minicom

Basics 🔗

First of all you must open by command:

sudo minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB2

For editing press: CTRL + A and then press E

For exit: CTRL + A and then press X

In Minicom, a delete command does not exist — you overwrite instead.

The port /dev/ttyUSB2 is used for input and output as well. Keep in mind that some logs can overwrite your command, which is painful when you type long commands.

Commands 🔗

Structure of commands 🔗

In Minicom there are two types of commands.

• AT<COMMAND>=<PARAMETER> — Basic set command
  • Example: AT+QGPS=1
  • Standard AT command prefix
  • The command name (e.g., enable GPS)
  • Sets a numeric parameter value
  • To get the value of a parameter, type: AT+<COMMAND>?
• AT+<COMMAND>="<OPTION>",<VALUE> — Configuration command
  • Example: AT+QGPSCFG="autogps",1
  • Configuration command name
  • Option name in string form
  • The value assigned to the option
  • To get the value of an option, type: AT+<COMMAND>="<OPTION>"

Example of commands 🔗

• AT
  • Test the modem connection
  • Returns OK if the module is responding.
• ATI
  • Request module information
  • Returns model, firmware version, manufacturer.
• AT+CSQ
  • Check signal quality
  • Returns signal strength as +CSQ: <RSSI>,<BER>
• AT+CPIN?
  • Check SIM status
  • Returns +CPIN: READY or SIM PIN
• AT+CREG?
  • Check network registration status
  • Returns +CREG: <n>,<stat> (e.g., registered)
• AT+COPS?
  • Query current operator
  • Returns the connected network operator.
• AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","your.apn"
  • Set APN for mobile data
  • Replace "your.apn" with your carrier’s APN.
• ATD*99#
  • Dial packet data network
  • Used to initiate mobile data connection.
• ATH
  • Hang up call or disconnect session
• AT+QGPS=1
  • Start GPS
  • Values: 0 = stop, 1 = start
• AT+QGPSCFG="autogps",1
  • Enable GPS autostart
  • Values: 1 = enable, 0 = disable
• AT+QGPSCFG="outport","none"
  • Disable NMEA output
  • Use "uart1", "usb", "none"
• AT+QGPSLOC?
  • Get GPS location
  • Returns current GPS fix (latitude, longitude, etc.)
• AT+QGPSGNMEA="GGA"
  • Request NMEA sentence
  • You can use "GGA", "RMC", "GSV"
• AT+CPMS?
  • Query SMS memory status
  • Returns used/total SMS slots.
• AT+CMGF=1
  • Set SMS text mode
  • Values: 1 = text mode, 0 = PDU mode
• AT+CMGS="phone_number"
  • Send SMS
  • Type message, then press Ctrl+Z to send
• AT+QENG="servingcell"
  • Query current cellular connection info
  • Returns information about the serving cell (e.g. LTE band, signal strength, etc.)
• AT+QCFG="usbnet",1
  • Set USB network mode
  • Values: 1 = RNDIS, 0 = ECM
• AT+CFUN=1,1
  • Reset and restart the module with full functionality
  • Values: 1 = full functionality, second 1 = reboot after setting
• AT+QGPSCFG="nmeasrc",1
  • Enable NMEA sentence output to console
  • Must be enabled to allow AT+QGPSGNMEA commands to return NMEA data
• AT+QGPSGNMEA="GGA"
  • Request a GGA NMEA sentence with GPS fix data
  • Requires AT+QGPSCFG="nmeasrc",1 to be set first
  • Example output:
    +QGPSGNMEA: $GPGGA,103647.0,3150.721154,N,11711.925873,E,1,02,4.7,59.8,M,-2.0,M,,*77

servingcell Output 🔗

Example:
+QENG: "servingcell","NOCONN","LTE","FDD",230,02,668DD5C,387,3750,8,3,3,5F3,-84,-10,-51,13,7

• 1. "servingcell" — Static identifier indicating this is serving cell data
• 2. "NOCONN" — Connection state:
  • SRV — Connected to LTE cell
  • NOCONN — Registered but not connected
  • LIMSRV — Limited service
• 3. "LTE" — Access technology (LTE network)
• 4. "FDD" — Duplex mode: FDD (Frequency Division Duplex)
• 5. MCC (Mobile Country Code), e.g., Czech Republic
• 6. MNC (Mobile Network Code), e.g., operator code
• 7. Cell ID in hexadecimal format
• 8. PCI (Physical Cell ID)
• 9. EARFCN (LTE frequency channel number)
• 10. Band number
• 11. TAC (Tracking Area Code)
• 12. Reserved / unknown
• 13. Reserved / unknown
• 14. SIB1 scheduling info (usually not needed)
• 15. RSRP (Signal Power)
• 16. RSRQ (Signal Quality)
• 17. RSSI (General signal strength)
• 18. SINR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio)
• 19. Bandwidth index (Quectel-specific, sometimes indicates allocation)