Novatel Cellular LTE modem

[anomaly0617]

This is running OPNSense 23.7.9-amd64, new build.

The hardware I have:

• ProtectLI FW2B-0 (CPU: Celeron J3060, Mem: 8GB, SSD: 250 GB)
• PCI-E SIM Card Adapter (Installed in the WiFi/LTE slot)
• Novatel LTE modem (Installed on the PCI-E SIM card adapter)
• External Antennae for LTE

The Novatel card shows up on the system as ue0, and I can assign it as the WAN interface.

What I cannot do is define an APN for the SIM card, get information from the SIM card, or connect to the modem at all using cu -l as noted in OPNsense documentation. So the interface is there, but showing as down. I have DHCP and DHCP6 selected for the IP address assignments.

I found this HOWTO and attempted to follow it. But I do not have a /dev/cuau0 or child devices.

I do however see the device when I run the following:

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root@fw-026-001:/dev # dmesg | grep Nova
ugen0.4: <Novatel Wireless, Inc. Novatel Wireless HSPA> at usbus0
cdce0: <Novatel Wireless, Inc. Novatel Wireless HSPA, class 239/2, rev 2.00/0.00, addr 3> on usbus0

And running usbconfig, I see the following:

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root@fw-026-001:/dev # usbconfig
ugen0.1: <Intel XHCI root HUB> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=SUPER (5.0Gbps) pwr=SAVE (0mA)
ugen0.2: <vendor 0x1a40 USB 2.0 Hub MTT> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=SAVE (100mA)
ugen0.3: <Avocent Avocent AVRIQ-USB> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=LOW (1.5Mbps) pwr=ON (100mA)
ugen0.4: <Novatel Wireless, Inc. Novatel Wireless HSPA> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=HIGH (480Mbps) pwr=ON (500mA)

Since there's no /dev/cuau0 or similar device, I cannot run cu -l /dev/cuau0 or see any child devices like .1 or .init or whatever.

I also tried cdce0 and ugen0.4:

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root@fw-026-001:/dev # cu -l /dev/cdce0
/dev/cdce0: No such file or directory
link down


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root@fw-026-001:/dev # cu -l /dev/ugen0.4
cu: unsupported speed 9600
root@fw-026-001:/dev # cu -l /dev/ugen0.4 -s 115200
cu: unsupported speed 115200
I can't create a PPP interface as defined in the HOWTO doc because when I go to that screen (/interfaces_ppps_edit.php) there's no Link Interface(s) in the dropdown, even if I unassign the NovaTel ue0 interface from the WAN assignment.

I'm likely missing something stupid due to having no experience configuring an internal, integrated cellular modem into an OPNsense box. I've done this loads of times using a JetPack or MiFi.

What am I missing?

Thanks in advance!

[Maurice]

The presence of ue0 means the modem uses USB Ethernet emulation, so you won't have to establish a PPP connection. You may still need a serial interface for configuration though. No serial interface being found could mean that the modem is not yet supported by FreeBSD. You can check the u3g driver for supported devices:

https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/tree/sys/dev/usb/serial/u3g.c

Cheers
Maurice