This project takes you through building a functional cellphone using off-the-shelf parts,

Any thoughts on building your own phone?

Recently I had the idea of building my own phone with a Raspberry Pi. I started searching and I found this article where someone had already done this. Unfortunately this article is from 2014 and I can’t find a newer article with a functional phone with SIM card. At some point this guy says he’s running Raspbian. Are there mobile desktops for Debian? Mobian doesn’t look very real.I don’t want Android although Lineage/etc might be acceptable… (Although now I’m thinking of putting Droidian on an old phone…)

Anyway does anybody have any info, thoughts, or advice on this? Am I a total idiot for wanting to attempt this?

  • non_burglar@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 days ago

    In the days of 3G, this was possible. However, LTE and 5G networks will not allow uncertified modems to connect. If you’ve ever been through getting a Mikrotik LTE router on a North American network, you’ll recognize that pain.

    Using Mobian (very real, BTW), or PostmarketOS are your best bets at the moment. Easier to reverse-engineer drivers than to go through the hoops of certification.