Cellular connection failed (arduino, SIM800L)

I am attempting to run the “blink” example from the hologram arduino library. Everything is evidently wired correctly, the other parts of the circuit work properly. The program fails at AT+CSQ and says theres no signal, is this a common issue? Should I be getting 0 signal in Philadelphia? It’s a major, very populated area. Thanks for any help

Monitor output

DEBUG: Verbose monitoring and modem serial access enabled
DEBUG: Write Modem Serial = AT

DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = AT
DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = OK
DEBUG: Write Modem Serial = AT+IPR=19200

DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = AT+IPR=19200
DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = OK
DEBUG: Write Modem Serial = AT+CPIN?

DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = AT+CPIN?
DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = +CPIN: READY
DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = OK
DEBUG: Write Modem Serial = AT+CSQ

DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = AT+CSQ
DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = +CSQ: 0,0
ERROR: no signal
Cellular connection failed
Setup complete
DEBUG: Modem Serial Buffer = OK

Hi, you definitely shouldn’t have any trouble in Philadelphia assuming you’re not in a deep basement or metal box or something.

Is your antenna connected?

Looks like CPIN returned ok, but also still worth checking that the SIM card is inserted correctly. Contacts should be facing against the board and the tab at the corner should be toward the inside.

I am not in a basement I’m in an attic, although I did build a giant faraday cage so that the government couldn’t spy on me (just kidding).

The antenna is connected properly, as far as I can tell, and I have the SIM car with the cut corner as is drawn on the board and as is shown in the instructable image. I didnt really know what you meant by “toward the inside” so i just tried it flipped around to be safe, it failed at CPIN so I flipped it back.

Is it possible my antenna is faulty? is there more to it than just connecting the antenna wire to the board and attaching the external part?

I am having the same exact problem. When I ran another starter script (in the same location in my basement) it saw the TMobile network just fine…but that is the only one what showed up. I am in Northern VA, and we typically have zero issues with cell coverage here.

I am getting the same CPIN reading and I have verified that all of my connections are correct.

Thanks!