What Modem/Router?

[Cool Ranch]

Recently did a trial with t-mobile since verizon is very congested in our area b13. T-mobile connected to 5g surprisingly and band 71 which during peak hours was 25-30mbs at midnight it was 50mb down and 1mb up.

Don't have access to tmobile home internet sadly.

Looking at trying out pcforpeople or calyx institute which modem/router and antenna would I need? I want to lock to band 71 + maybe even with a good antenna get band 2 from the tower. I'd need to mimic a link zone 2 modem since I know both of them prefer sprint towers over t-mobile.

[Didneywhorl]

Easy low cost setup:

Router: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/routers/lte-rou ... fi-router/
Modem: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/modems/sierra-w ... ced-modem/

Better Router: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/routers/lte-routers/wg3526-p/

[Didneywhorl]

Kept focus on a B71 modem.

If you want a higher end modem, I can go there too

[Cool Ranch]

Kept focus on a B71 modem.

If you want a higher end modem, I can go there too

That's fine considering I was getting 5g with tmobile my biggest concern is would i be able to use a sim from pcforpeople/calyx without getting disabled.

[Didneywhorl]

I do. I just got the new 5G hotspot too, but I like to swap SIMs about all the time.

[Cool Ranch]

Link me to everything I'd need for 5G because I want the best I can get + antennas hopefully to connect to carrier aggregation .

Thank you so much <3

[toddw]

I'm a heavy B71/N71 user here. I use a Quectel RM502Q. I'm in a rural area, and have it hooked up to boltons which are hard to align, but also tested it with yagi's and panels with similar results. I have it in a H71 router that I got on The Wireless Haven.

Its in 4 & 5G NSA mode, which means it's combining 5G and 4G LTE at the same time.

Mine is peaking at 141mbps at night, and during the day is typically 30-50mbps due to tower load. If you are going to a 5G modem, get the 3526 that Didneywhorl linked as you don't want the ethernet backplane to limit you to 100mbs.

One other note, I did test the new 28db Bolton Long Ranger, and it was about a couple db better than the previous model across the board. For Band 2, 4 and 66 it was 10db better than the yagis or panels I had. The horn also does not require positioning on this model, its fixed.

YMMV....

[Didneywhorl]

Easiest setup....

Router: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/routers/lte-rou ... 8ghz-wifi/ (This is not the version everyone has issues with lately)

Modem: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/modems/quectel- ... lar-modem/

Power supply upgrade: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/power-adapter/1 ... 2-1mm-tip/
(Recommend, as the new 5G modems are hungry!)

Super power supply upgrade option: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/power-adapter/1 ... 2-1mm-tip/
(Cause why not )

Antennas: 4x https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/antennas/4g-lte ... l-antenna/

Cables: Depends on the length you need: https://thewirelesshaven.com/product-category/cab ... -loss-400/
Get 4.

thewirelesshaven.com can custom order cables for you as well.

[Didneywhorl]

Link me to everything I'd need for 5G because I want the best I can get + antennas hopefully to connect to carrier aggregation .

Thank you so much <3

Answer above

[Cool Ranch]

I'm a heavy B71/N71 user here. I use a Quectel RM502Q. I'm in a rural area, and have it hooked up to boltons which are hard to align, but also tested it with yagi's and panels with similar results. I have it in a H71 router that I got on The Wireless Haven.

Its in 4 & 5G NSA mode, which means it's combining 5G and 4G LTE at the same time.

Mine is peaking at 141mbps at night, and during the day is typically 30-50mbps due to tower load. If you are going to a 5G modem, get the 3526 that Didneywhorl linked as you don't want the ethernet backplane to limit you to 100mbs.

One other note, I did test the new 28db Bolton Long Ranger, and it was about a couple db better than the previous model across the board. For Band 2, 4 and 66 it was 10db better than the yagis or panels I had. The horn also does not require positioning on this model, its fixed.

YMMV....

How many Bolton antennas do you use/other antennas?

[Didneywhorl]

FYI. The Wireless Haven will be stocking these parabolic grids very very soon.

As far as hiw many to use, I always recommend matched pairs (2 for 2x2 mimo modems, and 4 for 4x4 mimo modems) unless you understand your modem exactly and the nuances to unmatched antennas aa they pertain to your specific hardware.

[toddw]

2 boltons, 4 The Wireless Haven yagis tuned for B71.

[daniel.hulse]

Easiest setup....

Router: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/routers/lte-rou ... 8ghz-wifi/ (This is not the version everyone has issues with lately)

Modem: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/modems/quectel- ... lar-modem/

Power supply upgrade: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/power-adapter/1 ... 2-1mm-tip/
(Recommend, as the new 5G modems are hungry!)

Super power supply upgrade option: https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/power-adapter/1 ... 2-1mm-tip/
(Cause why not )

Antennas: 4x https://thewirelesshaven.com/shop/antennas/4g-lte ... l-antenna/

Cables: Depends on the length you need: https://thewirelesshaven.com/product-category/cab ... -loss-400/
Get 4.

thewirelesshaven.com can custom order cables for you as well.

I got this set-up all installed, thanks for the suggestions. Is there a tutorial on settings for the WeFix WG1608 router? I'm using the sim out of one of the new Calyx 5g hotspots and my modem says installed, but it won't connect. I'm sure it's just some little setting I need to change, but the AT commands are different from my old LTE system and I can't figure out why it won't connect. Thanks in advance.

[Didneywhorl]

For the WG1608, the firmware setup is the same as all the other WiFiX routers, WG3526-P, etc. Aside from the obvious router differences.

for the 5G Clayx SIMs, I am currently working on a fix for this. IF you beat me to it let us all know.

Here is the problem, that you can confirm with tests directly on your 5G hotspot:

The new Calyx SIMs are IPV6 only. The SIM will not receive an IPV4 address from the carrier.

So, you have to convert all traffic on the router, to the modem, to IPV6. I have a router pinging outside ipv6 addresses and DNS lookups work, but I cannot get it to pass traffic to devices. I think I've messed up my firewall, or not set it up just right yet. Very close to getting it figured out, but not yet done.

[daniel.hulse]

For the WG1608, the firmware setup is the same as all the other WiFiX routers, WG3526-P, etc. Aside from the obvious router differences.

for the 5G Clayx SIMs, I am currently working on a fix for this. IF you beat me to it let us all know.

Here is the problem, that you can confirm with tests directly on your 5G hotspot:

The new Calyx SIMs are IPV6 only. The SIM will not receive an IPV4 address from the carrier.

So, you have to convert all traffic on the router, to the modem, to IPV6. I have a router pinging outside ipv6 addresses and DNS lookups work, but I cannot get it to pass traffic to devices. I think I've messed up my firewall, or not set it up just right yet. Very close to getting it figured out, but not yet done.

Thanks for the info. It's too bad that one of the firmware makers doesn't have a patch that just routes everything to IPV6, which is what i assume the MiFi M2000 does intrinsically.

Is it just in 5g mode that IPV4 is locked. I wonder if you used the the 5G SIM with an MC7455 on LTE if it would still only allow IPV6? Keep me posted if you figure it out. Thanks!

[Didneywhorl]

I think the carrier side applies the IPV6 only as a metric of locking the device IMEI registered to the SIM. So effectively all devices used will have an ipv6 IP only.

I'll test it out though.

[daniel.hulse]

Any update/fix yet?

[Didneywhorl]

Not yet. I have a friend looking into the traffic from the router to see any anomalies. Hopefully its something stupid easy to fix that I'm just not seeing.

[daniel.hulse]

Not yet. I have a friend looking into the traffic from the router to see any anomalies. Hopefully its something stupid easy to fix that I'm just not seeing.

Hi Didney,

Did you ever come up with anything on this. I have just had the router sitting in the box for months and been using the calyx 5g hotspot because I never could get it to work. I'm wondering if there is some other router option to consider that will allow the calyx 5g sim to work and can accept external antenna? Thanks in advance.

[Didneywhorl]

Not yet. I have a friend looking into the traffic from the router to see any anomalies. Hopefully its something stupid easy to fix that I'm just not seeing.

Hi Didney,

Did you ever come up with anything on this. I have just had the router sitting in the box for months and been using the calyx 5g hotspot because I never could get it to work. I'm wondering if there is some other router option to consider that will allow the calyx 5g sim to work and can accept external antenna? Thanks in advance.

Oh man! I missed updating this post!

Did you get your router from LTEFIX / The Wireless Haven? Their routers firmware works with the Calyx 5G SIMs. I've tested all of them on mine. It's great! FINALLY!

[daniel.hulse]

Yup, got it from them. I guess i'll be updating the firmware this weekend. Is there a specific version I need, or just whatever is most recent? Thanks!

[daniel.hulse]

Not yet. I have a friend looking into the traffic from the router to see any anomalies. Hopefully its something stupid easy to fix that I'm just not seeing.

Hi Didney,

Did you ever come up with anything on this. I have just had the router sitting in the box for months and been using the calyx 5g hotspot because I never could get it to work. I'm wondering if there is some other router option to consider that will allow the calyx 5g sim to work and can accept external antenna? Thanks in advance.

Oh man! I missed updating this post!

Did you get your router from LTEFIX / The Wireless Haven? Their routers firmware works with the Calyx 5G SIMs. I've tested all of them on mine. It's great! FINALLY!

I updated the firmware and still can't connect....frustrating.

[Didneywhorl]

Which firmware on the router are you using, specifically?

Which modem? I didn't see that tidbit above.

Did you modify your modem Identity? That is a must.

[daniel.hulse]

Which firmware on the router are you using, specifically?

Which modem? I didn't see that tidbit above.

Did you modify your modem Identity? That is a must.

I didn't realize I had to change the modem identity.

I have:
WG1608D-M 5G Ready Cellular Gigabit Router with Dual Band (2.4GHz-5.8GHz) WiFi
Quectel RM502Q-AE 5G Cellular Modem
WiFiX-WG1608-GO2021-09-13

How to I change the modem identity?

[Didneywhorl]

To see your currently set imei, use command

Code: Select all

AT+EGMR=0,7

Look up the command on google to make sure you're using it correctly.

[Didneywhorl]

Unfortunately T-mobile has done some odd things that seems to require the Quectel modems to need identity changes to work on the Calyx SIMs. The Sierras don't seem to have this issue. It shouldn't matter, since the plan is a hotspot plan. But it does. For now.

[daniel.hulse]

To see your currently set imei, use command

Code: Select all

AT+EGMR=0,7

Look up the command on google to make sure you're using it correctly.

Dumb question, but once i look up the current imei, what do I change it to?

[Didneywhorl]

The device registered to the SIM account should be the one identified using it.

[daniel.hulse]

The device registered to the SIM account should be the one identified using it.

So I managed to change the imei to match the hotspot, but still no joy. Is there a Sierra 5g modem that might work better?