No.

Thank you, that scotches that then.

Are any of the cell network's SIMs not locked to a specific device family?  If so, which one(s).

One's whose purpose is not to be locked, i.e., not SIMs available on cheap FWA plans.

EDIT: have a chat to Voda.

The SIM cards are TAC locked

dbuckley:

 

I'd like to not use the Spark-supplied SM2; can I use an alternative router and just move the SIM over? 

 

You've got the answer but why don't you want to use it? 

In my opinion, based on a sample size of two, for wireless broadband use, the thing is pants.  It's got an issue with power, see This thread, it locks up every now and again, or just stops working whilst looking alive, so needing a power cycle to restart, and I can't get static routes to work.  The router is inadequately reliable. 

Contrast this with the Huawei B315, which I've used on Skinny, again, sample size two, one still in service with a few years on the clock, and these are rock solid and just work as they should.

Despite the SM2 unreliability, most of the time, all is good, and the actual service is fine.

I was thinking of replacing the SM2 with a Huawei, or perhaps a MikroTik.  Scotched due to TAC locking.  But... it's subject to some debate, but it appears that some MikroTik cellular modems for their routers support AT commands that allow changing the IMEI, so there is a possibility I could use one of these, clone the IMEI to that of the SM2 I've purchased, and maybe the Spark network would be none the wiser.  Quectel apparently also make cards that are reputably able to have the IMEI changed.

dbuckley:

 

In my opinion, based on a sample size of two, for wireless broadband use, the thing is pants.  It's got an issue with power, see This thread, it locks up every now and again, or just stops working whilst looking alive, so needing a power cycle to restart, and I can't get static routes to work.  The router is inadequately reliable. 

 

Contrast this with the Huawei B315, which I've used on Skinny, again, sample size two, one still in service with a few years on the clock, and these are rock solid and just work as they should.

 

Despite the SM2 unreliability, most of the time, all is good, and the actual service is fine.

 

I was thinking of replacing the SM2 with a Huawei, or perhaps a MikroTik.  Scotched due to TAC locking.  But... it's subject to some debate, but it appears that some MikroTik cellular modems for their routers support AT commands that allow changing the IMEI, so there is a possibility I could use one of these, clone the IMEI to that of the SM2 I've purchased, and maybe the Spark network would be none the wiser.  Quectel apparently also make cards that are reputably able to have the IMEI changed.

 

Not the best place to say things like this.  Changing a devices IMEI is a great way to get black listed if the telco finds out

@dbuckley - reading the complete thread you linked to above - didn't you actually identify the problem to be the UPS rather than the modem?

My SM2 has been outstandingly reliable on 4G. A few bugs in the recent firmware need fixing, but the connection itself is great.

Perhaps.  But the reality is that its a significant amount of kerfuffle to change IMEI on a hope, especially when it is to avoid a poor product, so I may just switch providers.  But, looking at Voda (and 2D) they both have 12 month minimum contract terms, and based on recent experience, I don't want to commit.  Sigh.  I may just go back to wired, drag out the old Fritz!Box.  Perhaps its worth a few bucks more to have reliability.

CatsPJs - The problem isn't power per se, the UPS is absolutely fine, it's had the meter and the scope on it, and the disturbance analyser.  There's something fishy about the router and/or it's wall wart.  I didn't get to the bottom of it, but the frequent reboot problem goes away on street power.  It doesn't make good sense, but that's the reality.  I've considered moving the SM2 to the garage and putting it on the other UPS, but even if that works, it's then a trip into the cold to reboot the router when it falls asleep.  I've considered using another wall wart, or perhaps something even more substantial, but ultimately, even if I can power the unit on a UPS with a better PSU, that won't account for the device falling asleep or locking up, or that static routing issue.  When it was one problem, it seemed a problem worth solving.  Experience is now that there are multiple problems, so the SM2 has to go.

I fully agree with you - the connection itself is great, but I'd added the proviso that this is true only when it's working.  And sometimes it stops.  And that is when the weather station data isn't uploaded, and the GSM modem feeder stops.  Both these things are checked to be working every ten minutes, so the brief loss of connectivity when the router changes IP address is not an issue, but just freezing and not passing packets (or responding to the web interface) is a big annoyance.

So, my days with Spark wireless are numbered.  It's perhaps ironic that lower-cost-version-of-Spark, Skinny, has none of these problems.  And I confess to being dumb for allowing a perfectly good Skinny account to age out, so I can't reactivate it :(

dbuckley:

 

....  It's perhaps ironic that lower-cost-version-of-Spark, Skinny, has none of these problems.  And I confess to being dumb for allowing a perfectly good Skinny account to age out, so I can't reactivate it :( 

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why can't you just re-sign with Skinny?

An excellent question:  Because Skinny now appear to use the same modem as Spark do.  As the modem is the problem, changing to Skinny doesn't solve my issues with the SM2.

If a previous gen Spark modem will fit your needs, you can get a used one and use that instead.

@dbuckley fair enough. I incorrectly assumed the UPS must be faulty, but it sounds like the modem just doesn't play nice with that type of set up. My use case sounds a lot more simple than yours. No weather stations & just street power, and connection-wise just two laptops & a wired desktop, two phones and a smart watch connected. 

EDIT- I just visited Trademe & searched B618 - lots of results atm!