Netgate 2100 micro sim + 4G LTE / 5G
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Will any micro sim card from any of the major providers in US (T mobile, Verizon or ATT) work with Netgate 2100. I see that this model has a micro sim card. Can this setup be used as a backup plan? Anybody tried this out and can share their experience?
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Anybody? I would like to use this micro sim for automatic failover scenario's
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@netboy Do you have a supported LTE card already for the 2100? You need to start there - there is no WWAN card built-in to the 2100.
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@rcoleman-netgate said in Netgate 2100 micro sim + 4G LTE / 5G:
supported LTE card
Can you kindly explain " supported LTE card". Is there a list of supported LTE card? I was under the impression that I could buy ANY mobile sim cards from major carrier in US and make it work. Sorry for all the questions....trying to understand how to go about using this feature.
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@netboy You need a radio to run the SIM.
There is no radio for LTE or 4G or 5G in any Netgate product - you have to buy a card to add in to it.Supported cards are those that are supported by FreeBSD. Search in https://forum.netgate.com/category/6/hardware. In fact I'm moving this post there.
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R rcoleman-netgate moved this topic from Official Netgate® Hardware on
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@rcoleman-netgate Thanks for the clarity.
From your reply to make this work:
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I need to install a RADIO using the M2.SATA as explained here.
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Buy a compatible M2.SATA card maybe this
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Buy a micro sim card from major providers
Correct?
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@netboy Only thing I have to add for accuracy:
m.2 is an interface type.
m.2 SATA is a storage device on a m.2 interface.Regarding the radios -- make sure they are supported by FreeBSD 12.3R or they won't be recognized.
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@rcoleman-netgate My bad ....I meant to say I need to install a radio in M2 interface
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@netboy It will be nice if anybody can chime in and done such a thing so that I can learn from their experience
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You need to use an older generation card than that because FreeBSD, and hence pfSense, can only use ppp connections. The card must present an AT interface for it to use.
I have successfully used Sierra em7305/7355 and em7455. There are several OEM equivalents of those cards. Most can be used but require some work like reflashing the firmware or changing the config in Linux before they present an AT port.There are a few threads here detailed peoples experience.
Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Netgate 2100 micro sim + 4G LTE / 5G:
em7455
Thank you. I found one here is the picture - I am assuming this is M2 interface. Is the the one (or similar) which you used?
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It is m.2, all the Sierra EM prefix cards are.
DW5811e is a Dell part number so that card would likely need at least the USB composition and identity changing before it's usable in pfSense.
https://github.com/danielewood/sierra-wireless-modems#change-modem-identity-sierra-wireless--lenovo--dell -
@stephenw10
Is this card considered legacy card? Your best guess will this work?
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Is this card considered legacy card?
This should be a legacy card that will work, if supported
out of the box with your pfSense.With the antennas the grounding will also done for the
card, please never install it without a proper matching
cable installed on it! (No electric input I mean here)Only with the antennas you should look that you get
the right ones, they must support M.2 NGFF cards.
Please don´t take antennas for MHF(0) and MHF2
the standard. It must be from the other MHF
standards be something like MHF4 standard.I would buy a card, then looking what antenna
connectors comes with and according to this I
would buy the antennas then! Like shown below.
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@netboy That is a Lenovo branded card so the same thing applies to it as the Dell version, you will probably need to switch it's USB composition in Linux at a minimum.
But, yes, the em7355 can work. I use an em7305 here now which is just the Euro channel version of that.Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Netgate 2100 micro sim + 4G LTE / 5G:
switch it's USB composition in Linux
Can you please elaborate?
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Same as in the em7455 link I posted above. The modem can be set in various USB 'compositions'. These are modes that determine which interfaces are presented to the host and in which order. pfSense/FreeBSD requires the AT (ppp) interface to be presented to use it but many of the rebranded cards present only the MBIM interface. Therefore it needs to be switched to a composition that presents at least the AT interface and that has to be done in Linux (or Windows) because it can only be done via MBIM and FreeBSD cannot use that.
Steve
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@stephenw10 Is there a cheat sheet how I go about doing it ?
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There are a few write ups about, pretty sure it's been detailed on the forum before. But something like:
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=234578#c14Steve
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@stephenw10 It would have been nice if netgate 2100 came with wifi radio "pre-installed (as an option)" for additional cost! Let me assimilate the information from your URL. Thanks
