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

    Are you using a USB HSDPA/EDGE/UMTS 3G Modem on pfSense?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Hardware
    36 Posts 14 Posters 26.5k 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.
    • G
      gnhb
      last edited by

      Hi,
      I'd like to know what 3G modem models people are using successfully with pfSense.

      Thanks,
      G

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • M
        mp
        last edited by

        I have this exact same question.  From digging though the forums, I found this post http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,17756.msg91822.html#msg91822

        Which states "I am about to receive an AT&T USBConnect Mercury which is the only one known to work currently at this moment."  This reply is from 2009.  I am curious if anyone can confirm that this 3G modem works with pfSense?  (hopefully without any kernel hacking)

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • S
          sullrich
          last edited by

          USB Connect Mercury works

          u3g0: <sierra 0="" 2="" wireless,="" incorporated="" hspa="" modem,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 0.04,="" addr="">on usbus1
          u3g0: Found 7 ports.</sierra>

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • C
            cmb
            last edited by

            Verizon UM175 works. We'll start a page with known working cards at some point. It's only usable with 2.0.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • M
              mp
              last edited by

              Thank you both for your replies!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • G
                gnhb
                last edited by

                USB Connect Mercury = Sierra Wireless Compass 885 or C885. (Com port is cuaU0.4 (and cuaU0.5 works as well but it's not documented.))

                USB Connect Mercury is AT&T rebranding.

                I'm now using a Huawei E169 which works as well. Com port is cuaU0.0 for the E169.

                I've also used a MC950D from Novatel Wireless, but they seem to be not as common any more. Com port for this is also cuaU0.0

                GB

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • S
                  stevewm
                  last edited by

                  Is there some sort of GUI that shows signal strength from 3G modems?

                  I use a Verizon UM175 as my main internet connection at home (live out in the boonies, dialup barely even works).  I currently use a simple Atom machine running XP with ICS as my "router".  ICS screws up constantly.  Having pFSense running the show instead would be great!

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • C
                    cmb
                    last edited by

                    @stevewm:

                    Is there some sort of GUI that shows signal strength from 3G modems?

                    For some, there will be RRD graphs with signal strength. For the UM175 in particular, we have a utility that pulls those stats and is supposed to be graphing it via RRD, though it has a problem at the moment. It was just fixed in the builds so tomorrow's snapshots should be ok.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • C
                      cmb
                      last edited by

                      btw, it is very stable with the UM175, I wouldn't hesitate using that in production now. Mine gets great throughput, and since it was initially implemented and everything fixed early this year, never had a problem with it, always been rock solid. We have some 2.0 boxes in the field in production with UM175 cards.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • G
                        gnhb
                        last edited by

                        @cmb:

                        For the UM175 in particular, we have a utility that pulls those stats and is supposed to be graphing it via RRD

                        What is the utility? I'd like to add the capability to get stats from the C885 and the E169 and whatever else I can get my hands on. :)

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • G
                          gnhb
                          last edited by

                          I found the utility. It doesn't look easy to extend to other devices, at least by me.

                          Now, hijacking my own thread, I know . . .

                          I've been thinking for a while about creating a (much simpler) tool to send a query to the diagnostic serial ports on a 3G modem to get the signal strength. I think AT+CSQ is a standard query and all the modems I've encountered support it. However, I wasn't planning on doing an historical graphing, just displaying current signal strength. This is from my Sierra Wireless C885
                          –----------
                          at+csq
                          +CSQ: 20,99

                          OK

                          Here's a graph relating the CSQ # to dbm of signal strength. http://www.gprsmodems.co.uk/images/csq1.pdf

                          I've testing using just
                          #echo at+csq > /dev/cuaU0.3
                          #cat /dev/cuaU0.3

                          but the trouble is that the C885 modem never sends a character that makes cat finish catting if you know what I mean. Cat just sends an endless repeat of the same data from the serial port to the terminal.

                          So . . . a slightly more sophisticated program is necessary to send the query to the serial port and get the response back. I thought it could be a command line program that could take the device and the command as arguments. (I would have done it already, but I don't have enough experience with unix programming in C.)
                          Another upside is that this same program can be used to query the modems and automatically set  up the serial ports for the users based on the device type. Whaddyathink?

                          GB

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • C
                            cmb
                            last edited by

                            @gnhb:

                            I found the utility. It doesn't look easy to extend to other devices, at least by me.

                            It's not, Andrew Thompson who wrote that for us (as well as a number of the 3G drivers in FreeBSD) said each vendor has a different way of doing that. Checking with him on the feasibility of at+csq. He could adapt 3gstat to pull that without a whole lot of trouble I think.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • M
                              mlanner
                              last edited by

                              Has anyone tried either one of these two MiniPCI Express modems?:

                              • Novatel 5520 Mobile
                              • UMTS/HSDPA Sierra Wireless MC8775

                              … with an Alix6B2 board?

                              I know a bunch of USB modems would work, but I can't use one of those for this deployment. It will have to be an "embedded" module.

                              I'm considering getting all the hardware to do some testing, but if possible would like to know which modem to get.

                              Thanks in advance!

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • T
                                torontob
                                last edited by

                                Hi,

                                Anyone using Alix boards in Canada in conjunction wtih USB keys?

                                Thanks

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • D
                                  dimi3
                                  last edited by

                                  I',m using Alix board with Huawei E220 working verry good.

                                  Last days I'm trying Vodafone k3765 USB stick, it has 7.2Mbit support, but doesent work with latest pfsense snapshot :(, I hope that this modem will be supported in future, becouse its much smaller and plugs directly to USB port it getets detected by the system but log says that modem does not respond to AT command?i

                                  regards,

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • C
                                    cmb
                                    last edited by

                                    @torontob:

                                    Anyone using Alix boards in Canada in conjunction wtih USB keys?

                                    Yes, not in Canada, but the cards are the same regardless of where you are.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • M
                                      mlanner
                                      last edited by

                                      Yes, but like cmb's reply, not in Canada. I've successfully used a Huawei E181 USB (GSM/WCDMA/HSDPA) stick with pfSense 2.0 BETA4 on the T-Mobile USA's network. The Huawei E180 should work too since it is has the same firmware as the E181, with the only difference between the two models being the WCDMA frequency bands they support. Chances are that many/most other Huawei modems will work too, but I have yet to test that.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • T
                                        torontob
                                        last edited by

                                        Is this supported in version 1.2.3?
                                        Can it be used as a backup or in load-balance mode with a DSL PPoE?

                                        Thanks

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • M
                                          mlanner
                                          last edited by

                                          I haven't tried, but I don't think so. I think it would require loading drivers for those cards. In 2.0 it pretty much just works.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • C
                                            cmb
                                            last edited by

                                            @torontob:

                                            Is this supported in version 1.2.3?
                                            Can it be used as a backup or in load-balance mode with a DSL PPoE?

                                            No and yes.

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