Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    ZTE Mobley as USB

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    9 Posts 4 Posters 3.0k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • D
      dangerusty
      last edited by

      I'm currently using a ZTE Mobley (VM6200) 4g device via wifi-as-wan. There is some packet loss, so I was trying to use the usb port instead. Nothing at all shows up when I plug it in and reboot. I have a different device (ZTE Pocket Wifi) plugged in via USB and shows up as ue0 interface successfully.

      I've plugged it into my Windows PC and it does show up in device manager as "ZTE Technologies MSM". From pfsense shell, I ran "usbconfig" and got the following:

      
      [2.3.4-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.home]/root: usbconfig
      ugen0.1: <ehci root="" hub="" intel="">at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
      ugen0.2: <product 0x07e6="" vendor="" 0x8087="">at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
      ugen0.3: <802.11 n WLAN Ralink> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON (450mA)
      ugen0.4: <zte wcdma="" technologies="" msm="" zte,incorporated="">at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON (500mA)
      ugen0.5: <zte technologies="" msm="" zte,incorporated="">at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON (500mA)
      
      [2.3.4-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.home]/root: usbconfig -d ugen0.4 dump_device_desc
      ugen0.4: <zte wcdma="" technologies="" msm="" zte,incorporated="">at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOSTspd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON (500mA)
      
        bLength = 0x0012
        bDescriptorType = 0x0001
        bcdUSB = 0x0210
        bDeviceClass = 0x0002  <communication device="">bDeviceSubClass = 0x0000
        bDeviceProtocol = 0x0000
        bMaxPacketSize0 = 0x0040
        idVendor = 0x19d2
        idProduct = 0x1405
        bcdDevice = 0xf151
        iManufacturer = 0x0001  <zte,incorporated>iProduct = 0x0002  <zte wcdma="" technologies="" msm="">iSerialNumber = 0x0003  <mf9751zted000000>bNumConfigurations = 0x0001
      
      [2.3.4-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.home]/root: usbconfig -d ugen0.5 dump_device_desc
      ugen0.5: <zte technologies="" msm="" zte,incorporated="">at usbus0, 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 = 0x0117
        bcdDevice = 0x5033
        iManufacturer = 0x0001  <zte,incorporated>iProduct = 0x0002  <zte technologies="" msm="">iSerialNumber = 0x0003  <p680a1zted000000>bNumConfigurations = 0x0001</p680a1zted000000></zte></zte,incorporated></probed></zte></mf9751zted000000></zte></zte,incorporated></communication></zte></zte></zte></product></ehci> 
      

      I don't have a great deal of experience with pfsense, can someone point me toward some troubleshooting steps? Thanks.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        That's just the VM6200 connected in that output?

        Try running dump_all_config_desc on those devices. If it shows up as an rndis device you might just need the driver.

        Steve

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Q
          q54e3w
          last edited by

          My vm6200 mobley was plug and play although I haven't finished configuring it for failover yet. It's got an IP address and working with pfsense 2.4.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • F
            FranciscoFranco
            last edited by

            Also might not hurt to checkout the menu of the Mobley and make sure tethering is turned on. Also check for any storage drive with device drivers that can be disabled from the menu.

            It would help to learn how the above user connected, if via ppp or ue0.

            Hotplugging the device and watching the output from the console would be most beneficial in telling the mode.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Q
              q54e3w
              last edited by

              I configured it as PPP

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • D
                dangerusty
                last edited by

                Alright, I've updated to pfsense 2.4. It detected the mobley when I plugged it in, but didn't show up as a ue interface. I created a PPP interface and was able to receive an IP and connect. Unfortunately, three modem ports show up: cuaU0.0, cuaU0.1, cuaU0.2. When I reboot, I have to switch randomly between them to find out which one it switched to.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Q
                  q54e3w
                  last edited by

                  It should connect correctly under the cuaU0.2. I have no idea why it should jump around though.
                  What sort of perf are you seeing through your connection?

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • D
                    dangerusty
                    last edited by

                    While playing around with it, now the ports listed are cuaU0.0, 0.1, 0.2. Just a couple minutes ago, they were cuaU1.0, 1.1, 1.2. Now they've switched back to 0.0, 0.1, 0.2. I've now setup three interfaces for this one WAN to float around on. Hopefully the monitoring in the gateway group will handle that well enough. I'll report back if it stays on 0.2 like you say it should.

                    On my Sprint ZTE Pocket Wifi, I'm getting 29mbps down, 20mpbs up, 30ms ping. When I can keep an ATT ZTE Mobley interface up, I get 33 down, 28 up, 46ms ping.

                    My plan is to load balance both. These providers can cause poor performance if the tower is busy, including high latency. I'm hoping this setup will help avoid that as much as possible.

                    interfaces.png
                    interfaces.png_thumb

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • D
                      dangerusty
                      last edited by

                      The pocket wifi shows as usb ethernet device. When I reboot pfsense, it won't boot due to "network interface mismatch", because it checks before the usb items show up in the console. I had to add "ue" to the list of interface types to skip in "is_interface_mismatch()" function of /etc/inc/util.inc.

                      This wasn't a problem in pfsense 2.3, but appears to be a problem now on 2.4

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • First post
                        Last post
                      Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.