Multiple Plans Tested WG1608 WE826-T2

[JTravisty]

Hey guys. This is my first post, so go easy if this is too newbie. So, I have been able to get my hands on a WE826-T2 with an EP06-A modem. I also have access to 2 WG1608's, one with a EM12-G and the other with a EM160r-GL. I get my data from a local reseller who was willing to give me a few plans to test out with the new equipment to figure out if they will work or not (Generous guy, we've been friends for about 13 years.)

Anyway...
On all 3 devices, I found a build of OpenWRT that has the modem manager functionality built in. I tried GoldenOrb as well as the original chinese firmware, but landed on this one. Guy has a youtube channel if you want to check him out: LTE HomeNet.

Plans I'm testing out:
100GB verizon tracfone plan - APN: tracfone.vzwentp

100GB AT&T plan - APN: vpn.accessmylan.net or alternatively hotspot.accessmylan.net (comes up Asavie Technologies on speed tests)

350GB TMobile plan - APN: fast.t-mobile.com

SO some things that have me scratching my head:

1. With the WG1608's as well as the WE826-T2, T-mobile works without issue, here at my current location, TMobile doesn't do very well performance wise. Highest speeds I've seen sitting under a tower is about 40 mbps. (Yes, I've driven these things around)

2. I've noticed on all 3 devices, that when inserting the tracfone SIM, it will read under the interface section: modem is disabled, but the router will register the phone number as well as the ICCID. It gets stuck at connecting to provider too.

3. With the WE826-T2 and the WG1608 with EM-12G I set the APN to broadband and it worked, but setting it to vpn.accessmylan.net renders the "modem is disabled" message. No luck even with the broadband APN with the WG1608 with the EP160r-GL. The hotspot.accessmylan.net worked with the WE-826 but after a reboot, stopped working and would never reconnect. Ran speedtests, surfed the web, watched videos during that time.

4. The Tmobile plan still works even when the APN is set to the TracFone APN.

5. I haven't gotten into running any AT commands yet, but I've been doing some research considering you can brick a router being not so smart.

6. I have witnessed all of these plans work with the reseller's equipment, so if the modem is being blocked by a provider, could you spoof the IMEI to match a piece of that equipment and it work?

7. Is there any catch-all guide someone could point me in the direction of?

I appreciate all of your time and energy in answering any of these probably obvious questions.

Thanks,
JTravisty

[toddw]

What TTL did you set on these for IPv4 and IPv6, what DNS and time servers did you specify. Also, ATT's vpn.accessmylan.net may add latency and network management depending on the reseller configuration. It's a back haul service that gives them more network management.

[JTravisty]

TTL is set to 65. And I did not specify DNS or time servers. I apologize for the rookie vibe. If you tell me what I should mess around with, settings wise, I sure can do some forum searching. Basically biggest question is what would prevent a plan from working in these routers? The reseller has new equipment that looks to be openwrt based firmware with quectel modems. So I think these plans should theoretically work.

[toddw]

Sure, as follows:

DNS:
Modem --> Connection Profile --> Advanced (customer dns server 1: 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4), SAVE & APPLY
Network --> br-lan (use custom DNS servers, 8.8.8.8, click on plus sign, 8.8.4.4), SAVE & APPLY

TTL:
Network --> Firewall --> Custom TTL Settings (enabled, TTL value: 64), SAVE & APPLY
Network --> Firewall --> Custom Rules add the following under the first two already there:

ip6tables -t mangle -A POSTROUTING -o wwan0 -j HL --hl-set 64
ip6tables -t mangle -I PREROUTING -i wwan0 -j HL --hl-set 64

SAVE & APPLY

Time Servers:

System --> System (NTP server candidates, time.google.com, time1.google.com, etc), SAVE & APPLY

Unplug power, count to 12 and power it back up.

[JTravisty]

So unfortunately, no dice. Still all the same issues. I tried it on the Verizon Tracfone plan. Tried changing the TTL to 117 too just to see what would happen. What would be the next step of troubleshooting?

[toddw]

Is possible that vpn.accessmylan.net and hotspot.accessmylan.net are IMEI mapped, I would ask your provider if he needs the IMEI for them.

I would consider loading the latest version of rooter\goldenorb as you did prior. It includes a debug log feature that lets you see what is going on.

Verizon has an approved router list that they share once you have an NDA in place. Additionally, to really get a router working on their network, you have to setup a M2M profile with them under a business tax id. Takes them about a week to setup. They updated their pricing, 300GB a month is $200. EDIT: Or go with a SIM from Visable, they are more flexible - there are posts on it on this site.

Tmobile is probably your best bet, along with some antennas so you can maximize your throughput.

[JTravisty]

So question is, if I change the IMEI to an approved modem, will that fix the problem? And the plans for att are not imei specific. I got the hotspot.accessmylan.net to work, but only briefly. Any way I could hook up one of the approved devices and see the internal processes going on? Is there a program for that? The devices used that are approved by the reseller don't allow for the functionality of openwrt.

[toddw]

So you asked your provider they are using the accessmylan.net and if they are doing IMEI mapping, and the answer was no? This is information on the service:

https://att.accessmylan.com/att/
https://www.business.att.com/products/accessmylan.html

I know of two plan distributors use it to throttle data after a certain cap is hit. I was using one of them when I first moved out in the country and setup a RUT950 with them.

The debug functionality is built into rooter/wifix via the debug link under modem. I don't know what your provider is using, settings etc.

Question: Is your provider using Gten routers?

[JTravisty]

So based on what I could gather, the ICCID is how they track usage, not the IMEI. Secondly, I would have to verify about the "GTEN" devices. I know they call one device a "C4R400" and the other device a "RUT240". What information would be valuable to me from the debug logs?

[toddw]

The C4R400 is a 2nd gen 4g antenna shop router, at least that is the only company I know of using them. They have a reseller program as well, which is why you see their routers and plans floating around via other smaller companies. Their newer models look quite good. 4g antenna shop uses accessmylan.com to manage all their AT&T SIM's. The RUT240 is a CAT4, quectel I think, never ordered one.

The logs will tell you if the modem is registering on the network, that would be the first thing I would look for. And what APN's it has stored, you may have to clear them out. The logs show other issues, like if you have a USB controller issue with the modem.

[JTravisty]

Would anybody be willing to help me understand when I post the logs on here? I learn pretry quickly and I'm about 75 percent familiar with this subject.

[mtl26637]

I'm sure if you had specific questions about anything in the logs someone would jump in and help or try to explain. Just watching and reading the logs with various different setups and systems is a good way to learn what is happening. Just remove your IMEI/ICCID personal info and you should be okay to post I would assume. And yes the IMEI is mostly only used for initial 'authorization' whereas the ICCID (sim) is used to link to your personal account. GENERALLY speaking, your paid provider account to linked to your sim card (ICCID) and not the device (IMEI). You can take the active sim and put in any device and it should work (for the most part anyway). Some providers are picky about the IMEI however. It all really depends on how the sim card is provisioned.