NOW $700 - PCI PCMCI Slot Card for EVDO REV A connectivity

cturner

I think this would be an excellent feature for pfSense. I have a Soekris net4511 and want to be able to use the Sierra wireless 860 HSDPA card on it. It's just PPP, that's all. I made a feature request ticket: http://cvstrac.pfsense.com/tktview?tn=1516

EVDO and HSPDA cards natively supported in pfSense would be a Godsend. I can provide the hardware for a month or two if it will get this going. Soekris net4511, 2GB flash, and Sierra Wireless 860 HSDPA card on Cingular/AT&T. I get 1.1mbit down 58kbit up on the card in the Dallas TX area.

andyc007

Gents,

I'd be happy to add to the bounty if this support includes Sierra 875U support as well (same Sierra driver apparently supports 850/860/875/875u anyway).. Will add another $600 for a "newbie"-ready solution quickly :) with some basic doco!

It would need to be another WAN port option that can support failover between LAN ports and 3G card. (What we are doing is failing over between 3x ethernet links and 3G in a mobile situation where there is satellite options etc.

Cheers!
Andy

Sifter

Did this bounty ever get completed? Any updated status?

sullrich

@Sifter:

Did this bounty ever get completed? Any updated status?

Nope.

Sifter

I was reading over at evdoforums and came across the following thread. http://www.evdoforums.com/thread6875.html This started to make me think. Would the mini-pci slot on the wrap board support this card once driver support is built into pfsense? This would be a pretty slick setup, having everything fully contained inside the box besides an antenna.

dotdash

I believe that all the WRAPs, etc have mini-pci slots and the EVDO cards are mini-PCIe cards, and would not fit.

kapara

Just a bump…unless there is an update...... ;D

Shaggy

Edit: I may have spoken too soon. I was looking to come over here from m0n0wall but just realized that the embedded version of pfSense requires 128mb of ram and I only have 64 so unless the solution can be easily ported over to m0n0wall, I will have to withdraw my offer.

I can add another $100 for a solution that works with a Sprint Aircard 580 (Qualcomm MSM 5500) as a failover solution in case our dsl goes out. It doesn't have to be an automatic failover in my case as the card won't be permanently in the Soekris 4521, it will be manually inserted if the dsl goes down. Of course an automatic failover option would be nice too. ;-)

I can provide remote terminal access to the Soekris board and card if it helps.

Pyramid linux is supposed to have this feature but I have had several issues with Pyramid so I am looking at other distros.

Thanks,
Jeff

P.S. By the previous subject line, I am assuming this brings the bounty to $700

kapara

I don't think anyone monitoring this post gets notified by a modification. Try posting a new message. As to your question you might want to direct that to one of the devs.

Mark

cmb

If we can get a working solution for this, I want to port it to m0n0wall as well if it's acceptable to Manuel.

3G has proven very difficult to implement because virtually every card requires its own custom kernel patch, so I don't know how likely it will be that we'll ever see a solution supporting a large number of 3G cards. We'll have something that supports at least some cards in 1.3.

Those who are interested in this, could you please post the specific make and model of the card you are wanting to use?

kapara

Hi CMB,

Is this true for USB EVDO Cards? I think Sullrich is testing with USB unless PCMCIA and USB are no different regarding the developement. Also Since it has been a while it might be a good idea to see who is still interested in this bounty. I currently do not have a need since I used an alternate solution but I will still honor my bounty. I actually like the fact that I am no longer tied to a specific card so if one of my customers goes down I can easily rush in and provide Internet access. I also would like to offer this as an option for managed services…failover option.

tacfit

Kyocera 650 (PCMCIA)

cybrsrfr

@cmb:

3G has proven very difficult to implement because virtually every card requires its own custom kernel patch, so I don't know how likely it will be that we'll ever see a solution supporting a large number of 3G cards. We'll have something that supports at least some cards in 1.3.

I think a native PFSense solution would be great. Until then the best way I see of doing this is with the CradlePoint CTR350 you can bridge the EVDO to the ethernet port on it and plug that into the WAN or secondardy WAN on PFSense.
http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/2124/63/

Please note: I don't work for CradlePoint, EVDO info, or 3Gstore.com. Just think the technology is cool and could work nicely with PFSense.

@cmb:

Those who are interested in this, could you please post the specific make and model of the card you are wanting to use?

I prefer any of the EVDO Rev A. USB options because they would work on the both the full and embedded hardware.

dotdash

Haven't looked at this stuff in a while. A solution for me would have to be usable with hardware that is currently available from providers in my area. A quick check shows that in the Chicagoland area, both Sprint and Verizon offer the Sierra 595U and the Novatel U727 as USB options, so support for either of them would be ideal. Something that could adapt a currently available pcmcia card to USB/Ethernet would also be acceptable. I have pretty much given up on using a pci adapter- only certain models work, there are fit issues, and they're not a solution for Alix/Wrap boxes.

daurwid

I would like to see this happen as well. I have a Pantech PX500 Rev. A. http://www.pantechusa.com/web/guest/px500

eri--

If people are still interested in this i would like to take this bounty.
Though it requires test hardware from all parties interestred in the bounty or at least a remore freebsd machine with console access and the card pluged in.

Waiting for answers from pledgers and response to the above comments.

Ermal

dotdash

It's been a while, but I can still get the money for this bounty allocated. If the bounty is accepted we will be getting a new account for testing. I'm looking at getting Sprint with the Novatel Merlin u727 usb-modem. The Sierra hardware is changing- the 595u seems to be being phased out for the 575.
There looks to be some experimental support for some cards, including the u727 here:
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/p4-projects/2008-March/025214.html
It would be easier for me to setup remote access to a test box than to ship the equipment, but if needed can work something out.
Just to recap, our general guidelines are:

Device is usable as a normal interface in pfSense, able to used for failover, etc.
Must be usable with hardware I can get new now, preferably a modem I can get with the account.
USB connectivity seems the only usable solution.
The code is open source / part of pfSense.

sullrich

I have been working on this in my spare time. Ermal is going to port a driver from OpenBSD so we will most likely share this bounty in the end. However I need to finish up the OpenVPN project before I can fully commit to this one…. but soon.

cybrsrfr

@sullrich:

Ermal is going to port a driver from OpenBSD

Which cards will this driver support?

sullrich

Having trouble locating the email. Will keep looking.