Micro SIM on Netgate SG-3100
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Hi all,
I'm based in central London, UK and have been happily using 3 x Netgate SG-3100 devices for over 2 years now. All three currently run 2.4.5-RELEASE-p1.
I would like to install a 4G data SIM card (I'm assuming 5G is not supported) on one of them and use it as another backup interface.
Do I need do purchase any additional kit?
Any hands on experience / recommendations on that?
Thanks,
Adam -
I do exactly that. I have a Sierra em7305 (the em7455 also works) and use a Three data only SIM.
You need to add antennas yourself using whatever method your comfortable with. I used some laptop style self adhesive antennas on the inside of the case. Signal strength is not an issue where I am.Steve
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I'll be running it in central London where I generally get very good reception with Three.
Sierra em7305 is a WiFi card so I would only need it if I want to use the firewall as a WiFi access point. If I want to forward traffic over Ethernet than a SIM card and an antenna is all I need, correct?
Could you point me to the antenna that you use and provide some brief installation instructions?
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@adamw said in Micro SIM on Netgate SG-3100:
Sierra em7305 is a WiFi card
It's not, it's a 4G modem. That's the modem I use.
Pretty much any antennas that have the correct plug on the end will work. The M.2 / NGFF cards use a smaller plug/socket that previous mPCIe cards.
I no longer have a link to the antennas I used. I got them on Ebay from China though. About as cheap as I could find!Steve
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Right, so e.g. this should work:
https://ticktech.com/dell-sierra-wireless-airprime-dw5809e-m-2-laptop-4g-lte-wwan-card-em7305-p9fg8/
and I can plug it into any available M.2 slot.
The antenna has to be contained inside the case (stuck to the lid) unless I drill a hole in the case.
Could you point me to a compatible one from this shop?
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/?searchTerm=cellular+4g+antenna
They seem to be offering quite a selection.
The modem doesn't have any sockets so I need to find one somewhere on the board.
Would you be kind enough to circle its location in the attached picture?
Sorry to be a pain and thanks for your hints so far but I've never done anything like that before :)
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You have to use the m.2 slot closest to the LEDs on the board because that's the one that has the SIM slot wired to it.
Hmm £12 is a good price! I paid significantly more than that. However a Dell branded device may require a firmware swap to get it back to the standard Sierra interface that pfSense can use. Many of them will be in MBMI only mode that FreeBSD has no driver for (yet) and needs to switched in Windows/Linux before use.The antenna sockets are on the modem directly.
None of those antennas at RS look like they will work as they all seem to have the older and larger u.fl plug. You need antennas with a IPEX4/MHF4 plug that the m.2 cards use. It's really almost unbelievably tiny! Just as an example, something like this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Internal-FPC-Antenna-GSM-3G-4G-3dBi-5dBi-6dBi-with-12cm-coaxial-IPEX4-MHF4-Plug/264808382348
Steve
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Awesome!
To give a bit of a background on my requirements:
We are a small company (several employees, mostly working remotely) and will be switching our main line provider soon. We need a solid backup plan if things get delayed or cancelled last minute (not that unusual in Covid times). We can't stay with our current provider for just an extra month. It's either 12 months extension or nothing.
With the hardware topic pretty much sorted out my last worry is mobile data providers' policies and different options to choose from.
I don't think either of them offers static public IP and bridging capabilities.At first glance this appears to be one of the best offers: https://www.vodafone.co.uk/business/data-only-sim
Unlimited Max Data SIM plan - 30 days
Speed: Fastest available
£27.50 (ex VAT) MonthlyBut then I see this: https://www.3grouterstore.co.uk/3G/4G-Fixed-IP-SIM-Cards.html
The max they can offer is 250 GB at £890 +VAT per month on monthly rolling basis.
or: https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/data-sims/
£ 0.0175 x 250 000 MB that's over £ 4k for 250 GB!
We currently transfer 500-600 GB in an out the office every month. Taking into account speed limitations and more considerate usage 250 GB should be enough.
Where do these huge price differences between 4G mobile data plans come from (there must be some reason)?
I know I can overcome changing IP with dynamic DNS but there might be other issues such as OpenVPN. I'm concerned I can quickly find a default cheap plan unsuitable.
Any advise on this?
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Not really I'm afraid. I use Three because it's literally free until I actually need to use it, which is hardly ever. They give you 200MB per month and with tuning that's enough for gateway monitoring and occasional testing.
I will say that if speed is a big consideration for you you should get an external 4G modem device like a Netgear LB2120. You can get actual LTE speeds from that where as the driver limitations in FreeBSD mean you won't ever see more than 42Mbps from the EM7305. I usually see something ~20Mbps here.
Steve
