Recomended 4G PCIe modems

[Mattia_98]

Hello,

I've been thinking of adding a 4G connection to my network since there doesn't seem to be a fibre connection coming in the foreseeable future and I recently saw an unlimited plan by a mobile provider.
Most modems I could find where USB ones with no indication if they are compatible with FreeBSD.
Ideally, I'd want a full-size PCIe 4G modem that I can add to the Firewall so that I don't have any extra external hardware (for ADSL I currently have an external modem).
What are the recommended modems for OPNsense?
I've already searched the forums and found nothing.

I'd really appreciate some help! Thanks.

Regards,
Mattia

[klontje]

Hello Mattia,

I recently dived into the world of 4G as my fiber isn't being delivered for the next few months and I was struggling with working from home full-time over an 8/1Mbit ADSL connection.

I went with a Huawei E3372h USB modem in PPP mode. I had to flash the stick from router firmware 22.x to Modem firmware 21.x which took me about an hour all together.

There are basically two types of modems supported by FreeBSD in general without special drivers; PPP modems and NDIS modems. I however discovered that modems in NDIS mode are NOT supported by OpnSense (although they are in many other *BSD based distro's).

I know it does not answer your question, but hopefully it gives you some insights. I manage speeds of 80-90Mbit download and 12Mbit upload over the USB drive in an USB3 slot.

[Mattia_98]

Hey klontje,

thank you very much for the insight. I guess that 4G full-size PCIe cards do just not exist.

I went with your advise and bought a E3372h and flashed it (for reference, using this guide: https://www.0xf8.org/2017/01/flashing-a-huawei-e3372h-4g-lte-stick-from-hilink-to-stick-mode/).

It works perfectly under Linux, no problems at all. Though I have been having difficulties getting it to work under OPNsense. I've used this guide https://docs.opnsense.org/manual/how-tos/cellular.html to setup the stick but I've just been getting errors getting it to work.

Here the PtP log after a cold boot:

Code: [Select]

2020-04-03T18:34:51 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 4 in 4 seconds
2020-04-03T18:34:51 ppp: [opt1_link0] LCP: Down event
2020-04-03T18:34:51 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: DOWN event
2020-04-03T18:34:51 ppp: [opt1_link0] MODEM: Fail to open serial port /dev/cuaU0.1 on speed 115200
2020-04-03T18:34:51 ppp: [opt1_link0] uu_lock(cuaU0.1): read error: File exists
2020-04-03T18:34:51 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 3
2020-04-03T18:34:48 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 3 in 3 seconds
2020-04-03T18:34:48 ppp: [opt1_link0] LCP: Down event
2020-04-03T18:34:48 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: DOWN event
2020-04-03T18:34:48 ppp: [opt1_link0] MODEM: Fail to open serial port /dev/cuaU0.1 on speed 115200
2020-04-03T18:34:48 ppp: [opt1_link0] uu_lock(cuaU0.1): read error: File exists
2020-04-03T18:34:48 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 2
2020-04-03T18:34:45 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 2 in 3 seconds
2020-04-03T18:34:45 ppp: [opt1_link0] LCP: Down event
2020-04-03T18:34:45 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: DOWN event
2020-04-03T18:34:45 ppp: [opt1_link0] MODEM: Fail to open serial port /dev/cuaU0.1 on speed 115200
2020-04-03T18:34:45 ppp: [opt1_link0] uu_lock(cuaU0.1): read error: File exists
2020-04-03T18:34:45 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 1
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: reconnection attempt 1 in 3 seconds
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1_link0] LCP: Down event
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: DOWN event
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1_link0] MODEM: Fail to open serial port /dev/cuaU0.1 on speed 115200
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1_link0] uu_lock(cuaU0.1): read error: File exists
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1_link0] LCP: LayerStart
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1_link0] LCP: state change Initial --> Starting
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1_link0] LCP: Open event
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1_link0] Link: OPEN event
2020-04-03T18:34:42 ppp: [opt1] Bundle: Interface ng1 created
Maybe you used another firmware for the stick or you used another guide?
I would appreciate the help.

[klontje]

Hey Mattia,

sorry for taking so long to respond. Did you manage to get it to work? I used this guide: http://blog.asiantuntijakaveri.fi/2015/07/convert-huawei-e3372h-153-from.html

It worked pretty well for me. Also make sure you use the correct port on the stick. Depending on the mode you have set it to, you got one or more ports.