JoeBurman1987
Occasional Visitor
Hello everyone.
I am a long time reader of SNB, and this is my first time posting... I have spent hundreds of dollars, and many nights with less than 4 hours of sleep after scouring the internet in the last four weeks attempting to get a home network with 4G NDIS/QMI as WAN operational here...but have hit a brick wall when pairing a specific wireless module to my Merlin router. I have plenty of experience with ASUSWRT-MERLIN, and LOVE this router OS, but I am intermediate (at best) with linux scripting and console commands. I am humbly requesting the assistance of someone more skilled in Linux (specifically the UQMI protocol) than I.
I live in the middle of nowhere, with no other WAN available other than a T-Mobile tower 4.5 miles away, not even DSL or Satellite (tree cover is a problem) is available here. I discussed my intentions with a sales rep at T-Mobile prior to starting this account (and this never-ending process), and this was neither condoned nor denied. He happily added a tablet line to our plan, and gave me a SIM card to use. After installing an external directional antenna attached to a 10' home-brew electrical conduit mast on top of the house , a cellular amplifier in the basement, all coaxial cabling/grounds between the two, a Sierra Wireless MC7455 mPCIE module on a mPCI to USB bridge card, and running Ethernet to several hardwired PCs...I can't seem to run this module on ASUSWRT-MERLIN without the use of UQMI through console commands, which I will assume will need to be ran as scripts on the jffs partition at service-start.
I currently have this 4G module connected via USB to an older Win10 laptop sitting next to the cellular amplifier in the basement, sharing the Windows "Cellular" network over the laptop's LAN port to the AC87U's WAN port. Only problem is, any other network devices which share this connection on the laptop through the network are limited to 60kb/s. The laptop with the 4G module connected to itself is running a solid 8-10mb/s. I suspect all network traffic is being assigned separate IP address (on a different subnet) by the Win10 laptop, and T-Mobile may be somehow identifying and throttling these separate connections as "tethered" devices on a registered device on their network. Regardless, I don't want my laptop on 24/7, and to never be able to remove it from the basement. I really want this USB device paired with that beefy RT-AC87U.
From what I understand; by default, the Sierra Wireless MC7455 is set to direct-IP mode, and can be controlled via AT, UQMI, libqmi, and others.
When initially connected, the "lsusb" command displays the USB device as recognized on the router (ID 1199:9071.) However, the device times out and disappears/disconnects when there is no activity after a little while.
I found that someone else had provided a walkthrough of another Sierra Wireless direct-IP module (the MC7453) which is in the same series, and (is assumed) can be issued the same commands as mine:
http://tiebing.blogspot.com/2015/03/linux-running-4g-lte-modem.html
This is where I hit a brick wall. The blogger's reference command for $device (below), does not apply to ASUSWRT-MERLIN's file structure/location, and any following commands referencing $device error out and fail.
I found that there is a kernal module referencing "cdc-wdm" that I believe I could have the system install after boot with a "start-services" script,
But then, the reference to "/dev/cdc-wdm1" would still incorrect, I believe.
What am I doing wrong, and what would be the next step? I've been banging my head on this desk over this for weeks now. If anyone is able to provide me with a complete solution, or even tid-bits of information that would move me a single step forward, it would be greatly appreciated.
Please and thank you,
Joe Burman
I am a long time reader of SNB, and this is my first time posting... I have spent hundreds of dollars, and many nights with less than 4 hours of sleep after scouring the internet in the last four weeks attempting to get a home network with 4G NDIS/QMI as WAN operational here...but have hit a brick wall when pairing a specific wireless module to my Merlin router. I have plenty of experience with ASUSWRT-MERLIN, and LOVE this router OS, but I am intermediate (at best) with linux scripting and console commands. I am humbly requesting the assistance of someone more skilled in Linux (specifically the UQMI protocol) than I.
I live in the middle of nowhere, with no other WAN available other than a T-Mobile tower 4.5 miles away, not even DSL or Satellite (tree cover is a problem) is available here. I discussed my intentions with a sales rep at T-Mobile prior to starting this account (and this never-ending process), and this was neither condoned nor denied. He happily added a tablet line to our plan, and gave me a SIM card to use. After installing an external directional antenna attached to a 10' home-brew electrical conduit mast on top of the house , a cellular amplifier in the basement, all coaxial cabling/grounds between the two, a Sierra Wireless MC7455 mPCIE module on a mPCI to USB bridge card, and running Ethernet to several hardwired PCs...I can't seem to run this module on ASUSWRT-MERLIN without the use of UQMI through console commands, which I will assume will need to be ran as scripts on the jffs partition at service-start.
I currently have this 4G module connected via USB to an older Win10 laptop sitting next to the cellular amplifier in the basement, sharing the Windows "Cellular" network over the laptop's LAN port to the AC87U's WAN port. Only problem is, any other network devices which share this connection on the laptop through the network are limited to 60kb/s. The laptop with the 4G module connected to itself is running a solid 8-10mb/s. I suspect all network traffic is being assigned separate IP address (on a different subnet) by the Win10 laptop, and T-Mobile may be somehow identifying and throttling these separate connections as "tethered" devices on a registered device on their network. Regardless, I don't want my laptop on 24/7, and to never be able to remove it from the basement. I really want this USB device paired with that beefy RT-AC87U.
From what I understand; by default, the Sierra Wireless MC7455 is set to direct-IP mode, and can be controlled via AT, UQMI, libqmi, and others.
When initially connected, the "lsusb" command displays the USB device as recognized on the router (ID 1199:9071.) However, the device times out and disappears/disconnects when there is no activity after a little while.
Code:
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 1199:9071I found that someone else had provided a walkthrough of another Sierra Wireless direct-IP module (the MC7453) which is in the same series, and (is assumed) can be issued the same commands as mine:
http://tiebing.blogspot.com/2015/03/linux-running-4g-lte-modem.html
This is where I hit a brick wall. The blogger's reference command for $device (below), does not apply to ASUSWRT-MERLIN's file structure/location, and any following commands referencing $device error out and fail.
Code:
device="/dev/cdc-wdm1"I found that there is a kernal module referencing "cdc-wdm" that I believe I could have the system install after boot with a "start-services" script,
Code:
insmod /lib/modules/2.6.36.4brcmarm/kernel/drivers/usb/cdc-wdmBut then, the reference to "/dev/cdc-wdm1" would still incorrect, I believe.
What am I doing wrong, and what would be the next step? I've been banging my head on this desk over this for weeks now. If anyone is able to provide me with a complete solution, or even tid-bits of information that would move me a single step forward, it would be greatly appreciated.
Please and thank you,
Joe Burman
