Has anyone heard of a FOLKSY LLC 3RN13 modem?

[P9GUM4S9]

I ordered a WE826-T2 router from Walmart. https://www.walmart.com/ip/X10-4G-LTE-O ... /607866923 . It is supposed to come with a qualcom LTE chip. I opened up the router and found a FOLKSY LLC 3RN13 modem. . So, do I have a qualcom modem or what is it? Thank you.

[Dazed-and-Confused]

Same thing happened to my via eBay. I got a refund because it wasn't what I ordered. What made matters worse was one antenna connector was missing and the antenna cable was glued onto the board instead. And it wasn't even neatly done, just a huge blob of snot. I think they were trying to disguise the facts.

I replaced the modem card (Folksy) with an MC7455. Which is now working very well.

I don't believe the Folksy is supported and in OpenWRT it was reported as an Alcatel or something like that.. I still have the Folksy, they'd also cut off parts of the card which are used to attach it in place at the corners and that was also glued onto the board.

A complete disaster. I'd return if I were you.

[Didneywhorl]

Someone made a deal with the debil and got into Walmart with the absolute cheapest thing they could source! Wow. Never heard of "Folksy"

[Jo33K]

I have bought the same we826-t2.
The folksy module uses indeed a qualcomm mdm9215 chip.

IMG_20200622_164818.jpg

My guess it is a bucherd Amazon fire HD 8.9" cat4 lte module: http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Amazon-Kindle-Fire-HD-89-4G-Module-p-98798.html
No luck getting it to work so far.
It is recognized as usb a&t with vendor ID 1bbb and product ID 0192. VID would make it an Alcatel model, no info on it either.

[P9GUM4S9]

Thank you for the deep dive. I still cannot get it to recognize my sim card. It costs only 74 dollars so I may tinker with it a bit more.

[Barefoot Mike]

I've got two of those same routers with that same modem. Walmart.com 3rd-party "marketplace" seller. One looked like it was probably new, the other obviously used. Anyway....

The new one doesn't work properly. With no SIM installed, everything seems OK, the modem is identified and can be communicated with (will populate Modem Info page). With SIM installed (yes, I powered off to do it), the leftmost blue LED remains on, and the modem seems to have disappeared. Make, model, IMEI, etc is blank on status summary, and modem info page gives a file not found error.

The used one, OTOH, seems to work just fine, tho the LTE is only about half the speed I get with my little MiFi (which doesn't even have external antennas).

Anyone have any ideas what might be causing the one unit to recognize the modem without a SIM, but upon inserting a SIM (any SIM, including the one that works in the other unit - I tried several, both provisioned and not from different carriers)the modem disappears?

I did look carefully that the SIM slot contacts weren't damaged, and that the modem is correctly installed in its slot.

[LoveMeSomeCALTE]

Anyone have any ideas what might be causing the one unit to recognize the modem without a SIM, but upon inserting a SIM (any SIM, including the one that works in the other unit - I tried several, both provisioned and not from different carriers)the modem disappears?

I would be happy to test one out for you.

My theory is that the SIM on being inserted is recognized by the modem which changes its interface mode, which then causes it to "disappear".

USB events and message logs would hold clues if you wanted to figure this out yourself.

[Barefoot Mike]

My theory is that the SIM on being inserted is recognized by the modem which changes its interface mode, which then causes it to "disappear".

USB events and message logs would hold clues if you wanted to figure this out yourself.

That's a possible theory. Then again, if I remove SIM (and power cycle) the modem reappears. Also, same behavior with every SIM. And the other seemingly identical unit works properly(same firmware and version, and I even downloaded settings from working one and uploaded to non-working one).

I suppose I could narrow it down to modem or router issue by swapping modems between the two units.

What sort of event(s) should I be looking for in the logs?

[LoveMeSomeCALTE]

That's a possible theory. Then again, if I remove SIM (and power cycle) the modem reappears. Also, same behavior with every SIM.

Right. When you remove SIM without necessarily power cycling BTW - that WAN interface no longer makes sense and the modem springs back to command mode so you can easily send it commands.

This is a misconfiguration issue and I have messed about a few modems.
The fix is simple - flash the modem with the stock firmware.

Which is a blocker in this case as you probably don't have the stock firmware

And the other seemingly identical unit works properly(same firmware and version, and I even downloaded settings from working one and uploaded to non-working one).

My theory is there's a configuration difference between the two.

I am unfamiliar with this modem - do you have a datasheet?

I suppose I could narrow it down to modem or router issue by swapping modems between the two units.

Good idea.

What sort of event(s) should I be looking for in the logs?

Without a datasheet to tell me what modes it supports, it would be hard to say but on a limb I would say general USB events with a filter on the VID:PID tuple. It might also be valuable to even dig into the kernel activity logs for the time duration.

Unless this modem has some interesting features or functionality that sets it apart, it would be simpler to put it into the parts bin and get one that's more widely supported.

[IluminatedMic]

Hi All

I purchased the exact same Router WE826-T2 2 months ago from Singapore

and I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to Get

the Modem to Recognise the Sim Card

It Just Reports NO SIM in the [ORIGINAL] LEDE version Reboot 17.01

From The Original Software

I have Installed openWRT 19.07.3 = The Latest Version

ROOTer Latest Version

and 10 days ago WifiX Latest Version

But in all cases the Problem is STILL there

In WifiX it ONLY shows up as Alcatel MobileBroadband No numbers

In Miscellaneous it shows as Modem Present / not connected

in Modem Debug it shows as Can't open device /dev/ttyUSB.

I hope that LoveMeSomeCALTE can shine a light onto the Problem for all of us

Here is the Link Requested for The Folksy Data Sheet

https://fccid.io/CO2-2105/User-Manual/I ... al-1784812

for the Alcatel / FOLKSY LLC 3RN13 modem

[LoveMeSomeCALTE]

IluminatedMic, the link to the datasheet was very helpful.

I might be reading it wrong but it seems like a very poor fit for North America/US.

As Far As I See, it supports only two bands

Band 4 (AWS-1700)
Band 17 (700)

In North America/US - Bands 4 (AWS-1700) serves T-MOBILE, 17 (700) serves AT&T but this is just one band of 5+ that T-MOBILE, AT&T supports so even if you did have coverage with this modem, it could be extremely poor quality.

I would not recommend this modem and a cheap $35 Quectel mPCI upgrade to this modem would instantly increase the value you get out of this setup.

I am open to further input and corrections.

[LoveMeSomeCALTE]

Looking at the walmart listing, I see they claim FDD-LTE:B1/B2/B4/B5/B8/B17 4G coverage.

That does not agree with my reading of the datasheet. I would like to stand corrected

[BillA]

Looking at the walmart listing, I see they claim FDD-LTE:B1/B2/B4/B5/B8/B17 4G coverage.

That does not agree with my reading of the datasheet. I would like to stand corrected

The modem's data sheet is accurate, the Walmart listing is not. They can put whatever the heck they want in the listing, most folks don't know better anyway.

[Barefoot Mike]

I should probably just return it. No point keeping it just for the router - I can get the same router without modem for $35-40 on Aliexpress or Banggood.

Walmart claims it will take returns from "marketplace" sellers - time to test that. I think Walmart's policing of third-party sellers in non-existent. Worse than Amazon and eBay combined.

[LoveMeSomeCALTE]

I am sorry you had to go through this. Please report the listing as this is not right.

Bill thank you for confirming my suspicion. I hope more people find this thread and don't end up wasting their time (a critical resource) and money.

Mike, if you can please, order a Quectel (I recommend the EP06-A to you) and any used, modern (< 5 years) GoldenOrb supported router w/ USB2 (not USB3 only) port ($5 - $20 depending on the seller. Locally I get Tplink Archers for ~$10), or even the $35-40 Aliexpress specials, you will be set for the next few months as you research, learn and order better hardware.

There are a lot more experienced and learned on this board than I but this is my short term recommendation for those value oriented folks, hesitant to drop $200+ right away, finding this thread.

[IluminatedMic]

I have fixed the NO SIM Problem

By Swopping The Alcatel / FOLKSY LLC 3RN13 modem

for a SierraWireless Modem

But now I have a NEW Problem which I hope some of you guys may know the answer

I have 4 Sim Cards I am Using to test with

The New Modem can see all ( 4 ) But can only connect with ( 2 ) of them

The other ( 2 ) are seen only

Unfortunately One of the Sim Cards That will NOT connect is the one I want to Use

The apn , username , password are correct

Using this AT command

/dev/ttyUSB2 AT+COPS=0

Result is

AT+COPS=0
+CME ERROR: SIM failure

Using this uqmi command

uqmi -d /dev/cdc-wdm0 --get-serving-system

Result is

{
"registration": "registering_denied",
"plmn_mcc": 234,
"plmn_mnc": 10,
"plmn_description": "",
"roaming": false
}

I would really like some technical help as I cannot find anything on the net

Please ask if you need more information from me

[Didneywhorl]

Which service? Some services require TTL tweaks, some dont like the non approved devices.