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    4G modem on the official list not working

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    • M
      miloman
      last edited by

      Hi

      I bought a modem that was on the "official" list, because i wanted to make sure it would work.

      Well, out of the box it doesn't work.

      https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Known_Working_3G-4G_Modems

      I got the ZTE MF823, because an ethernet device seemed like the way to go.

      I've put the device in RNDIS mode according to this: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ZTE_MF_823_(Megafon_M100-3)_4G_Modem

      (AT+ZCDRUN=8 - switch to 1403 mode (RNDIS))

      And it shows as:

      idVendor = 0x19d2
        idProduct = 0x1403

      usbconfig dump_device_desc
      
      ugen1.2: <zte technologies="" msm="" zte,incorporated="">at usbus1, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON (500mA)
      
        bLength = 0x0012
        bDescriptorType = 0x0001
        bcdUSB = 0x0200
        bDeviceClass = 0x0000  <probed by="" interface="" class="">bDeviceSubClass = 0x0000
        bDeviceProtocol = 0x0000
        bMaxPacketSize0 = 0x0040
        idVendor = 0x19d2
        idProduct = 0x1403
        bcdDevice = 0xf0ab
        iManufacturer = 0x0001  <zte,incorporated>iProduct = 0x0002  <zte technologies="" msm="">iSerialNumber = 0x0003  <mf8230zted010000>bNumConfigurations = 0x0001</mf8230zted010000></zte></zte,incorporated></probed></zte> 
      

      The boot log:

      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		da1: quirks=0x2 <no_6_byte>Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		da1: Attempt to query device size failed: NOT READY, Medium not present
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		da1: 40.000MB/s transfers
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		da1: Serial Number MF8230ZTED010000
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		da1: <zte mmc="" storage="" 2.31=""> Removable Direct Access SCSI-2 device
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		da1 at umass-sim1 bus 1 scbus7 target 0 lun 1
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		cd0: quirks=0x10<10_BYTE_ONLY>
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		cd0: Attempt to query device size failed: NOT READY, Medium not present
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		cd0: 40.000MB/s transfers
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		cd0: Serial Number MF8230ZTED010000
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		cd0: <cwid usb="" scsi="" cd-rom="" 2.31=""> Removable CD-ROM SCSI-2 device
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		cd0 at umass-sim1 bus 1 scbus7 target 0 lun 0
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		umass1: <mass storage=""> on usbus1
      Jul 10 16:31:35	kernel		ugen1.2: <zte,incorporated> at usbus1</zte,incorporated></mass></cwid></zte></no_6_byte>
      

      What am I doing wrong?

      The adapter works fine in both debian+ubuntu+windows.

      I have tried with pfsense 2.2.6 and 2.3.1.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • M
        miloman
        last edited by

        got it working:

        Posting for future hackers….
        I bought a 4G LTE modem from the official list. I chose the ZTE MF823 because it appears as an ethernet device.
        Both nix and windows would see it as a network adapter and bring the connection up straight away. But not freebsd.
        After several attempts at firmware tweaks and whatnot, i stumbled upon this russian thread: https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=76363.0
        I don't speak russki, but i saw this command in the thread:
            "usbconfig -u 0 -a 3 set_config 1"
        so I started digging a bit.
        My device appeared like this: ugen1.2: <zte,incorporated>at usbus1
        And in the end, this command did the trick: usbconfig -d 1.2 set_config 2
        The ue0 adapter appeared:
        ue0: Ethernet address: 36:4b:50:b7:ef:44
        ue0: <usb ethernet="">on cdce0
        cdce0: <cdc ethernet="" control="" model="" ecm="">on usbus1
        ugen1.2: <zte,incorporated>at usbus1
        I could then set the wan interface as ue0 with dhcp, and the interface came up.
        It's been stable ever since, even across reboots.
        Unlimited 40/20Mbps for $20 a month... I like it.
        Imgur album with all the settings and speedtest.
        http://imgur.com/a/TUa23</zte,incorporated></cdc></usb></zte,incorporated>

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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