4G failover options for pfSense?

akuma1x

@riahc3 said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:

Plus, correct me if I am wrong, but LTE hits over 100 Mb correct? Which would be limited then...

You're in Europe, so you'd have to check with your carrier. Here's some US 4G LTE data. That's why I said it's no big deal.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-mobile-network,review-2942.html

Jeff

riahc3

@akuma1x said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:

@riahc3 said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:

Plus, correct me if I am wrong, but LTE hits over 100 Mb correct? Which would be limited then...

You're in Europe, so you'd have to check with your carrier. Here's some US 4G LTE data. That's why I said it's no big deal.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-mobile-network,review-2942.html

Jeff

Data that means nothing to me.

So now I need a 4G device (dongle/router/etc) that can do 1 Gb

johnpoz

Where do you think your going to get such speeds on LTE? While EU is ahead of much of the world.. Sorry but not close to 100mbps yet..

https://www.opensignal.com/reports/2018/02/state-of-lte

Its a bit over a year old - but 1 year has not tripled LTE speeds.

but LTE hits over 100 Mb correct?

There is a big difference between theory limit and what actually real world..

akuma1x

@riahc3 said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:

So now I need a 4G device (dongle/router/etc) that can do 1 Gb

LOL

Jeff

stephenw10

I assume you mean 'has Gigagbit Ethernet' there? Otherwise wait for 5G!

johnpoz

The LTE modems from netgear have gig interfaces
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/mobile-broadband/lte-modems/LB1120.aspx#tab-techspecs

JKnott

@johnpoz said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:

but LTE hits over 100 Mb correct?

There is a big difference between theory limit and what actually real world..

I just did a test running Speedtest on my Pixel 2 phone. I got 117 Mb down and 43.5 up, with clear line of sight to the nearest cell site, a few blocks away. This compares with the low 90s down & 11 up on my 75/10 package at home over cable.

JKnott

@riahc3 said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:

So now I need a 4G device (dongle/router/etc) that can do 1 Gb

Not likely.

johnpoz

@JKnott said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:

Pixel 2 phone

Yeah that is great phone for LTE speed.. All comes down to your carrier and your device and who else is on the tower.. The numbers are average.. In theory sure you can get 150 - there is a big difference between that and real world, etc. etc.

The modem I linked to can do max 150.. in its specs.. Find a current speed map.. Not like that was for 5g or LTE.. you see the speeds are given as "average" etc..

Test that in say a urban setup where you have 100's of other devices all on the same tower. And your not line of site to it ;)

Guess you should go with LTE for your main speed then ;) Mine is 500/50 at home, where my cell can do 30-40.. Guess which one I use ;)

JKnott

@johnpoz said in 4G failover options for pfSense?:

Guess you should go with LTE for your main speed then ;) Mine is 500/50 at home, where my cell can do 30-40.. Guess which one I use ;)

The problem is in my condo, my signal is so poor, the phone is almost unusable at my desk. Also, my cell plan only has 6 GB of data, vs 500 GB via cable.

I rely on WiFi calling for cell phone calls at home.

Raffi_

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.

stephenw10

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/s

Technically it's an LTE device, EM7305, but the PPP connection limits it.

Steve

JKnott

@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.

stephenw10

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

webdawg

go get an es450

everything else is not worth it.

JKnott

@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.

riahc3

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)

riahc3

D-Link DWR-953 is the only option that seems decent at 117 euros...

stephenw10

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

riahc4

@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?