Router - TG582N - 3G

Dongles

The router supports the use of some USB mobile dongles. The router contains a list of USB mobile dongles which are supported, and it is possible for the technically minded to add extra dongles to the list.

The list of supported dongles may be viewed with the command:

 {Administrator}=>:mobile device list

If one plugs a USB mobile dongle in, waits a few minutes, and issues the above command, then the sign of a supported dongle is for text similar to this to appear after the list:

 Detected device: ZTE_MF110
 # interfaces  : 3
 AT interface  : 1
 Data interface: 2

rather than:

 No device detected

3G setup

(From a customer) I've only worked out some of this, but I found the following got a dongle working:

 {Administrator}=>mobile ifadd intf=umts
 {Administrator}=>mobile ifconfig intf=umts apn=CHANGEME
 {Administrator}=>ppp ifadd intf=mobilebroadband
 {Administrator}=>ppp ifconfig intf=mobilebroadband dest=umts
 {Administrator}=>nat ifconfig translation=enabled intf=mobilebroadband
 {Administrator}=>ppp rtadd intf=mobilebroadband dst=0.0.0.0
 {Administrator}=>exit

I then went to the web interface http://192.168.1.254/_pppom_cfg.lp?be=0&l0=2&l1=2&name=mobilebroadband - replace 192.168.1.254 with the IP address of your router, and entered the username, password, and APN. For my vodafone SIM, the username was web, the password was web, and the APN was pp.internet.

Some further notes and sources on my blog:

• http://www.mstevens.org/aa/tg582-3g.html
• http://www.mstevens.org/aa/tg582-3g-2.html

(feel free to copy here if you want)

Enabling 3G fallback

The most common usage of 3G will probably be to use 3G as a fallback link in the event of the ADSL link going down. There are several ways of achieving this, depending on the degree of automation required and the network/tariff used for 3G. The following notes are intended to provide guidance, but are unlikely to result in resilience on a par with the Office::1 product.

To configure the 3G link to be permanently up, but traffic only routed when the ADSL link is down, follow the instructions above but then do:

 {Administrator}=>ppp rtdelete intf=mobilebroadband
 {Administrator}=>ppp rtadd intf=mobilebroadband dst=0.0.0.0 metric=20
 {Administrator}=>ppp ifconfig intf=mobilebroadband dnsmetric=20

and, to bring the 3G link up when the router is power-cycled:

 {Administrator}=>:ppp ifattach intf=mobilebroadband

This assumes that the routing metric and dns metric for the ADSL link are both set to 10. Larger numbers represent a higher "cost", so interfaces with lower costs will be preferred. These can be checked with:

 {Administrator}=>:ppp iflist intf=Internet
 {Administrator}=>:ip rtlist proto=ipv4

Assuming the 3G link has higher routing and dns metrics than the ADSL link, no traffic should flow over the 3G link while the ADSL link is up. It's probably worth keeping an eye on this periodically with

 {Administrator}=>:ip iflist

because a 3G fallback link where one has accidently run out of PAYG credit or exceeded a monthly usage limit will be of no use at all.

When 3G fallback is in place machines on the LAN may need to have their resolvers configured differently (probably to specify the router's address as the DNS server), as some 3G networks don't allow access to "foreign" DNS servers.

"Dial" on Demand

One may not want the 3G link to be permanently up, in which case it is possible to configure the 3G link to be "dial" on demand - i.e. the link will be brought up and torn down as needed when the ADSL link fails and is restored.

This may cause problems for users if the 3G network issues a different IP address each time the link is brought up (note that a A&A Mobile Data SIM provides a fixed IPv4 address).

The configuration involves setting the interface to be "dial" on demand; setting a time delay before the link is brought up when needed; setting a time that the link can be idle for before the link is torn down; and deciding how the link is considered idle. The commands needed (one will need to do a :ppp detach before entering these and a :ppp attach afterwards) are:

 {Administrator}=>ppp ifconfig intf=mobilebroadband demanddial=enabled

That enables "dial" on demand.

 {Administrator}=>ppp ifconfig intf=mobilebroadband doddelay=120 idletime=300 idletrigger=RxTx

where doddelay (in seconds) sets the time delay before packets will bring up the link, idletime (in seconds) sets the time that link can be idle for before being torn down, and idletrigger defines whether link idleness is determined by Rx, Tx, or RxTx packets.

Other pages regarding this router:

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