4G failover options for pfSense?
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The only network able to provide any useable speed for an emergency 4G connection in our building is Sprint. If I get 10 Mbps on that connection, I'm happy, because the three other major players were only able to give me a fraction of that. Sprint is supposedly the worst network out of the four major networks in the US. So don't base your decisions on what others claim to be the best network. All data is based on an averages. Averages don't tell you what's good for your specific scenario. Do you own testing and find out. You can install roof top antennas pointing at towers and really go overkill with the 4G setup if you like. It all comes down to what you need.
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Just as a reference here's what I see using a ppp connection via an internal Sierra modem:
[2.4.4-RELEASE][admin@3100.stevew.lan]/root: speedtest-cli --source 187.30.105.169 Retrieving speedtest.net configuration... Testing from Three (187.30.105.169)... Retrieving speedtest.net server list... Selecting best server based on ping... Hosted by Structured Communications (London) [2.56 km]: 49.696 ms Testing download speed................................................................................ Download: 39.69 Mbit/s Testing upload speed............................................................................................... .Upload: 18.08 Mbit/sTechnically it's an LTE device, EM7305, but the PPP connection limits it.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:
Technically it's an LTE device, EM7305, but the PPP connection limits it.
Why would PPP limit it? PPP is the standard way of sending packets over a serial connection. Years ago, we used to use it for dial up connections and more recently I've configured it on T1 & fractional T1 as well as ISDN. In fact, routers from Cisco, etc., can be configured to use PPP over that sort of situation. PPP is also used with ADSL, as PPPoE. PPP is just another protocol that can be used to carry IP. It has no bandwidth limit.
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As far as I know it's not possible to connect over LTE with PPP, you are limited to DC-HSPA at a max of 42MBps. However if that is the case then that 40Mbps result looks pretty good! Also I think there was another user reported a higher value awhile back.
Anyway it would be far better of we could connect using QMI or MBIM but FreeBSD/pfSense doesn't support that. Yet.Edit: Actually that doesn't appear to be true, can connect over LTE but using PPP does limit the speed. Unclear where the limit is though.
Steve
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go get an es450
everything else is not worth it.
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@stephenw10 said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:
Actually that doesn't appear to be true, can connect over LTE but using PPP does limit the speed. Unclear where the limit is though
"Download: 39.69 Mbit/s"
"Upload: 18.08 Mbit/s"That might be the 3g limit. HSPA+ max is 42 Mb down and 22 up, which fits in with what you show. The old 3g supported serial connections, IIRC, but LTE is IP only.
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Just tested from my phone:
~175 Mbps down and ~60 Mbps up.
That being said, it seems that there is nothing decently priced (+- 100 euros) that have gig interface so I either have to go with 100Mb ethernet (yuk) or find a USB 3 dongle (which I think is impossible)
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D-Link DWR-953 is the only option that seems decent at 117 euros...
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The Netgear LTE modems are not that much more, are well tested with pfSense and don't include a bunch of hardware you don't want like wifi. I would get that over a USB device every time.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:
The Netgear LTE modems are not that much more, are well tested with pfSense and don't include a bunch of hardware you don't want like wifi. I would get that over a USB device every time.
Steve
I imagine you are talking about:
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/mobile-broadband/lte-modems/LB1120.aspx#tab-techspecs
Well, I can only find the Netgear LB2120 and its at 150 euros.... Kind of a big price spike when Im gonna be using this maybe 1 day every 365 days a year as a failover connection.
Is there something wrong with the D-Link?
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First off, what your phone can do is irrelevant. It's what the actual equipment you use is capable of that matters. However, you're not going to get anywhere near 1 Gb with LTE, no matter what you use.
