Setting up a 4G modem with network USB emulation with OpenWRT on the MPR-L8 or A5-V11
In my previous post, I have explained how to setup a 3G/4G modem with USB connection emulating a serial device, in this post I will explain, how to set it up with a modem emulating network connection on the USB interface, like the ZTE MF-821D. The same method applies if you want to use an Android phone as a modem.
The process is very similar to the previous post, here I will describe only the steps, which are different.
First do to the initial setup of the router according to the previous description.
Next, when adding modules, you should add only the module kmod-usb-net-rndis. You may add the module kmod-usb-storage, according to my experiences this was needed to use an Android 5.0 phone as modem, and it allows you to use pendrives for additional storage.
After installing the modules, restart the router and insert the modem.
Setting up the network interface
Go to Network/Interfaces and click Add new interface.
That is it, after connecting with the modem to the internet you should have a working 4G connection. If in the modem you set up automatic connection, then you do not need to connect always manually.
If you have a mini 3G modem, look at my other posts in this topic to see more hints on how to use them.
The process is very similar to the previous post, here I will describe only the steps, which are different.
First do to the initial setup of the router according to the previous description.
Next, when adding modules, you should add only the module kmod-usb-net-rndis. You may add the module kmod-usb-storage, according to my experiences this was needed to use an Android 5.0 phone as modem, and it allows you to use pendrives for additional storage.
After installing the modules, restart the router and insert the modem.
Setting up the network interface
Go to Network/Interfaces and click Add new interface.
In the create interface give a nice name to the interface, select the DHCP client protocol and select the newly added eth1 adapter (this is the new interface created for the modem).
On the interface configuration page select that it should be in the wan firewall zone, then save and apply the settings.
Now you should go back to the interface list and click connect to start the interface. Now you are connected to the modem.
Look at the address obtained by the interface and point your browser to the address 1 in that subnet (In this case the address was 192.168.0.100/24 and the address 1 is 192.168.0.1). Here you will find the modems internal interface, where you can connect to the internet or read/send SMS messages.
If you have a mini 3G modem, look at my other posts in this topic to see more hints on how to use them.
Comments
1. A5-V11 acts as a USB to Ethernet adapter
2. A5-V11 is sharing the Ethernet connection via WIFI
A tutorial of how to achieve this would be awesome.
1. I did not see any traces that the A5-V11 could act as a USB to Ethernet adapter. I am not vey familiar with it's HW, but as far as I know, the mini USB connection is only for charging the device.
2. Sharing ethernet connection via WiFi is the standard Access Point method of work, this is possible without any problem with OpenWRT. For this simply set up the wired ethernet connection to connect to the ethernet and then set up the WiFi interface to do NAT for the ethernet interface.
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