SIM8380G-M2

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Sat Dec 09, 2023 4:17 pm

So, I found this site while looking at modems as an option to replace the KVD21 option. I've been pondering this since getting signed up for the past couple of years. I finally dug into it again after seeing 5G modems coming down in price when looking for something else.

Anyway, the modem should be here in a couple of days and other pieces of the puzzle as well since these things aren't a standard size to be slapped into existing setups in most cases.

I ordered a slew parts though to cover my bases depending on how I decide or need to use the modem at any given time.

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/H832780c7b04 ... db6640.jpg
pigtails to attach antennas to... ordered a couple of different lengths for different options

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/S4bd19f2590a ... a04f6y.jpg
a way to aggregate outputs from multiple ports on the modem

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/S36a4e03320e ... 1ead57.jpg
SMA/RPSMA converters depending on the antennas I have on hand / come with other parts

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/Sf902b151951 ... 98d77d.jpg
PCIE card for putting the modem inside my server setup

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/Sa868e25b900 ... 9dfa0s.png
Modem specs

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/S9ecb2be8b66 ... 6502dG.jpg
portable USB3 option

https://ae03.alicdn.com/kf/Seb63170bb39 ... e952eu.jpg
USB/C coupler for not needing to get a A cable for optimal placement away from other gadgets for better signal.

All in thanks to AE sales ~$275 shipped.

I started out though with a potential solution closer to $100 but then ran into issues with not being in inventory and trying several sellers when it comes to some items on AE or shipping from CN directly there's a ton of listings and no inventory or so they say after you put in an order. I've run into this in past though with laptop panels so, not a surprise. Though putting in the research for different brands and options can be tedious after thinking you have the right option already.

I found some cheap options like Quectel selling for $50 but then looking through their site for info / files / FW it seemed a bit of a PITA to deal with them. There's also the issue with the antenna connectors they're using for mmwave being a funky connector.

Fibocom looked like a decent option as well but, inventory seems to be an illusion as well.

Simcom though seems to be in stock and shipping. Doesn't seem to have the weird connectors on the modem. Docs are easy to come by for info if you register for an account, There's not much discussion about FW files though as they're likely going to be OTA deployments depending on the sim you insert and connect with.

Anyway... the idea is to get beyond the CPE confinements and unleash things a bit more. See what the true potential of the TMHI sim is on decent equipment vs the generic modem inside the KVD. Though it looks like FG360-NA us what's inside which should outperform the ETH ports / WIFI built into it by a longshot. The 8380G though has a X65 which should hit close to 10G in terms of speeds with the right site connection.

The next step though is probably ditch TMHI since it's $50/mo + $5 more now with a CC payment and grab a TM Magenta SIM off a group buy site for $40/mo and unleash the full bandwidth I see on my phone which is 500/70 vs the TMHI ~150/40 but lately it's been closer to 100DL. Part of it is being too close to the antennas outside of my bedroom window as if I take the GW outside and away from the building I can get close to phone speeds. Putting the connection on a dongle though will make working with it easier than the disassembled CPE. I can integrate the connection easier between the server and laptop via USB as needed. Switching from the TMHI only sim will allow using it in the phone as well and cut another bill per month from the equation. I have the # as google voice so only need data 99% of the time anyway to make calls.

Post by **Didneywhorl** » Mon Dec 11, 2023 10:24 am

a way to aggregate outputs from multiple ports on the modem

(Image not copied for space

This will fry your modem, don't use the Y-cables. It will short the ports together as it has no multiplexing circuits to protect this from happening.

These are fun projects. Let us know how it goes.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Mon Dec 11, 2023 10:39 am

That's a good tip. Something I pondered to consolidate things as I've done it with WIFI setups in the past. RF is a funny creature though.

I just grabbed them since they're cheap and I might come up with something in the future with WIFI where aggregating things might be the easy option. i used some Y cables in my car to convert from the OEM MMI setup to an Android head unit when they killed off Google Maps / 3G modem. They work well for keeping the factory wiring in place and associated functions w/o replacing them with the new screen.

I just wish AE shipments were a bit quicker as they tend to have a week lag while processing before hitting the US and then they hand off to DHL which adds some more delay before they hand off to USPS. With this in mind it doesn't make sense to pay for expedited shipping as it would be a complete waste with how they handle the logistics. I ordered most of the stuff in separate orders and the aggregated them into a single package before leaving CN which has me thinking of how to get back my money on the additional shipping charges from AE.

Hopefully everything shows up tomorrow and I can cobble this together and start testing a working solution so I can cancel the TMHI and get a Magenta SIM instead to unlock the bandwidth I see on my phone which is ~5X faster. I hooked up a couple of antennas that i was hosting WIFI off a client card awhile back and they offer enough interference to boost the speeds a bit since I'm literally under the cell site antennas outside my window. Kind of frustrating situation of literally being too close to get a good signal vs being say across the street or even driveway and being able to get the same speeds as my phone. It just seems like there's a combo of things reducing the speeds between the sim / apn and distance from the antennas outside.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Wed Dec 13, 2023 6:25 am

So, DHL dropped everything at my PO location 2 days ago and USPS decided they wanted to give the package a tour of the city for a couple of days for no reason but, showing that everything should be delivered today finally. It amazes me how inefficient USPS can be sometimes. Adding time and fuel for what should have been a 1 mile drop off to an extended tour of at least another 45 miles around town. SMH and USPS wonders why they need more funding? Maybe the wasted fuel of toting around packages instead of delivering them?

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Wed Dec 13, 2023 10:24 pm

OK, got all the pieces and put together everything needed so far and made some changes to how it's supposed to vs how it works better from a physical standpoint of the parts. The USB adapter is very DIY compared to what I thought it was going to be in the listing but, not too bad.

I played around with it for a few hours running commands and digging up info along the way while searching the PDF of all of the commands. I swapped some settings based on the TMHI box outputs like the APN / IPV4V6 and verified it's getting the 192.0.0.1 IP I've seen in traces in he past but need to dig a bit into the v6 side of it to see if that's a thing or not since the GW shows IPV6 being used but doesn't output the IP. Found one message here mentioning to use NSA and potentially disable SA.

Was going to play with it a bit more using my laptop (windows) vs having it hooked up to the server that acts as the router just to confirm things a bit simpler than messing with my config and rebooting to apply changes. There are some messages that pop up in the logs mentioning not able to apply AT commands on boot and sometimes it renames from wwan0 to something different which means I need to change configs and reboot again but then it switches back. Kind of a PITA since there's a network timeout when the link doesn't come up that delays making further changes.

As to the modem itself it is indeed all MHF4 connections for the antennas even thought he photos made me a bit apprehensive. I took the pigtails though and put them into the PCIE brackets for antennas I took off some prior cards just to stabilize them a bit. Still thinking about how I'm going to lock things down once it's working.

Like anything off the beaten path though it's a bit of a curve.

Post by **Didneywhorl** » Thu Dec 14, 2023 10:42 am

Unless you have a paid static public IP4 address, I would ignore the IPs assigned by the carrier. Tmobile has a few different IP pools, some decommissioned military IPs, some generic IP pools, some just show as the 192.0.0.2 type. All useless for end user uses.

If you have a static IP, that becomes a different game, including with a different manually set APN.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Thu Dec 14, 2023 11:41 am

Well, I hooked up the adapter to the laptop w/ Windows on it and it's working great with higher speeds ~250/50 vs the KVD box which has been sitting around 100/40 lately. So, I've got it configured right it's just a matter of fixing Linux aka router to use both v4/v6 and get it working as intended.

Code: Select all

Mobile Broadband adapter Cellular:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2607:fb91:2c9a:9bef::b7fd
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2607:fb91:2c9a:9bef::b7fe
   Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2607:fb91:2c9a:9bef::d5ff
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.0.0.2
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.224
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 2607:fb91:2c9a:9bef::40ad
                                       fe80::6931:11
                                       192.0.0.1

I suspect it's going to be tinkering with how v6 is interpreted by the server. I had it completely disabled for VPN leak prevention but need to dig into things a bit as it gets a bit complicated by different conf files that need to get touched.

Post by **Didneywhorl** » Thu Dec 14, 2023 12:42 pm

tbh I leave IPV4 off and let it tunnel IPV4 traffic over IPV6 via XLAT/CLAT exchanges done on the modem and carrier side. Automagical.

Since the carriers paradoxically CGNAT the IP6 here in the US, it's kind of pointless, other than interest and fun.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Thu Dec 14, 2023 3:20 pm

Well, Linux sees and works using network manager from live USB boot and add apn in NM. Trying to get it working with nmcli now since the GUI through rdp keeps kicking the apn add when saving for some reason. SMH

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Thu Dec 14, 2023 5:11 pm

Up and working using nmcli and since the apn is configured in the modem itself no need to add the apn in the OS. Really didn't want to use NM though and will probably find a way to make it work without it later on.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Fri Dec 15, 2023 1:55 pm

Placed an order on circledin.com to join a plan for a new sim and packed up the kvd21 for return if TMO even wants it back since they just upgraded to the new sage boxes which presumably have better modems inside.

It's $53/mo with unlimited data and 50GB of tether if needed. This should unlock higher speeds being that it's a phone sim and hoping it's a r16+ which would also unlock mmwave abilities. Once it's up and running I can hopefully pull back to a cheaper plan within the same circle and cut costs even further. The circle has the option of a tablet for $20/mo but, that might get flagged and throttled. Have to wait things out though since the account holder needs to approve adding me and then the SIM ships. Then I should be able to look deeper into plan options or reassess options once I reconfigure the modem and test to make sure it's not using hotspot data.

Regardless though for $3/mo more than tmhi it's a good deal for now.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 9:17 am

Did a speed test this morning and hit 400/40 after leaving the modem in the same spot overnight.

Anywho... got an odd problem with NordVPN dropping DNS connectivity after ~5 minutes which wasn't an issue when using Ethernet to the KVD box. I don't think using USB though should be an issue but, maybe it is as it's an additional layer to deal with in terms of networking.

If I leave the VPN disconnected then things are fine and no issues with the connectivity. There's no messages that I've been able to catch in syslog though when the DNS stops working to clients attached to the network. IIRC the server itself is still working though when clients drop in terms of DNS. Thinking back a couple of years though there was an issue with Nord dropping TLS unless using OVPN profiles but, this doesn't mesh with that same issue.

Really this vpn issue is the last gremlin to deal with as everything else seems to be 100%. Between configuring the APN on the modem itself and setting up the connection with nmcli to autoconnect upon seeing the modem it takes ~30 seconds to establish the connection and be online which is considerably better than waiting on the KVD to fully boot.

I disabled V6 just to KISS it and not dive into v6 firewalling too deep while testing. Seems NVPN doesn't like v6 anyway either even though it has the option to turn on V6. I think the KVD saying V6 is just a herring as well since with it disabled it doesn't seem to be an issue on the server side and the modem has both stacks enabled in the APN as I configured both to be enabled based off the KVD. Just some more testing to be done though to figure out the VPN/DNS issue and then converting from TMHI to TM SIM to consolidate things into a single bill and save some money.

Code: Select all

2023-12-16T07:49:22.287141-06:00 server kernel: [47775.890029] usb 5-7: new high-speed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
2023-12-16T07:49:22.543083-06:00 server kernel: [47776.149010] usb 5-7: New USB device found, idVendor=1e0e, idProduct=9001, bcdDevice= 5.04
2023-12-16T07:49:22.543093-06:00 server kernel: [47776.149016] usb 5-7: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
2023-12-16T07:49:22.543093-06:00 server kernel: [47776.149019] usb 5-7: Product: SDXLEMUR-SD-MTP _SN:1BEADB9D
2023-12-16T07:49:22.543093-06:00 server kernel: [47776.149021] usb 5-7: Manufacturer: SIMCOM
2023-12-16T07:49:22.543094-06:00 server kernel: [47776.149022] usb 5-7: SerialNumber: 0123456789ABCDEF
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651085-06:00 server kernel: [47776.255735] option 5-7:1.0: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651096-06:00 server kernel: [47776.255866] usb 5-7: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651097-06:00 server kernel: [47776.256278] option 5-7:1.1: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651098-06:00 server kernel: [47776.256343] usb 5-7: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB1
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651098-06:00 server kernel: [47776.256748] option 5-7:1.2: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651098-06:00 server kernel: [47776.256814] usb 5-7: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB2
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651099-06:00 server kernel: [47776.257219] option 5-7:1.3: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651099-06:00 server kernel: [47776.257275] usb 5-7: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB3
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651100-06:00 server kernel: [47776.257670] option 5-7:1.4: GSM modem (1-port) converter detected
2023-12-16T07:49:22.651100-06:00 server kernel: [47776.257725] usb 5-7: GSM modem (1-port) converter now attached to ttyUSB4
2023-12-16T07:49:22.667062-06:00 server kernel: [47776.270095] qmi_wwan 5-7:1.5: cdc-wdm1: USB WDM device
2023-12-16T07:49:22.667067-06:00 server kernel: [47776.270169] wwan wwan0: port wwan0qmi0 attached
2023-12-16T07:49:22.667067-06:00 server kernel: [47776.273129] qmi_wwan 5-7:1.5 wwan0: register 'qmi_wwan' at usb-0000:63:00.0-7, WWAN/QMI device, ae:ea:f9:ee:a3:6b
2023-12-16T07:49:22.668215-06:00 server mtp-probe: checking bus 5, device 3: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/0000:46:00.0/0000:47:0c.0/0000:63:00.0/usb5/5-7"
2023-12-16T07:49:22.683475-06:00 server mtp-probe: bus: 5, device: 3 was not an MTP device
2023-12-16T07:49:22.727401-06:00 server mtp-probe: checking bus 5, device 3: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/0000:46:00.0/0000:47:0c.0/0000:63:00.0/usb5/5-7"
2023-12-16T07:49:22.727460-06:00 server mtp-probe: bus: 5, device: 3 was not an MTP device
2023-12-16T07:49:22.727802-06:00 server systemd[2352]: Started dbus-:1.5-org.xfce.Xfconf@76.service.
2023-12-16T07:49:43.882270-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [device /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/0000:46:00.0/0000:47:0c.0/0000:63:00.0/usb5/5-7] creating modem with plugin 'simtech' and '7' ports
2023-12-16T07:49:43.882402-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <warn>  [plugin/simtech] could not grab port ttyUSB2: Cannot add port 'tty/ttyUSB2', unhandled port type
2023-12-16T07:49:43.882447-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <warn>  [plugin/simtech] could not grab port ttyUSB3: Cannot add port 'tty/ttyUSB3', unhandled port type
2023-12-16T07:49:43.882471-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [base-manager] modem for device '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/0000:46:00.0/0000:47:0c.0/0000:63:00.0/usb5/5-7' successfully created
2023-12-16T07:49:47.366982-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <warn>  [modem5/sim5] couldn't load list of emergency numbers: No AT port available to run command
2023-12-16T07:49:47.462779-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <warn>  [modem5/sim5] couldn't load GID2: Couldn't read data from UIM: QMI protocol error (16): 'NotProvisioned'
2023-12-16T07:49:47.561851-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <warn>  [modem5] couldn't load UE mode of operation for EPS: No AT port available to run command
2023-12-16T07:49:48.038802-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <warn>  [modem5] couldn't load supported assistance data types: LOC service: general failure
2023-12-16T07:49:48.102850-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] state changed (unknown -> disabled)
2023-12-16T07:49:48.104081-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734588.1039] manager: (cdc-wdm1): new Broadband device (/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/37)
2023-12-16T07:49:48.104162-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734588.1040] device (cdc-wdm1): state change: unmanaged -> unavailable (reason 'managed', sys-iface-state: 'external')
2023-12-16T07:49:48.104200-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734588.1041] device (cdc-wdm1): modem state 'enabling'
2023-12-16T07:49:48.104304-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734588.1042] device (cdc-wdm1): state change: unavailable -> disconnected (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
2023-12-16T07:49:48.104380-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734588.1043] policy: auto-activating connection 'gsm-cdc-wdm1' (6642314e-ffd8-4d1e-91ce-af1d2b787c09)
2023-12-16T07:49:48.104544-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734588.1045] device (cdc-wdm1): Activation: starting connection 'gsm-cdc-wdm1' (6642314e-ffd8-4d1e-91ce-af1d2b787c09)
2023-12-16T07:49:48.104581-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734588.1045] device (cdc-wdm1): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
2023-12-16T07:49:48.104960-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] state changed (disabled -> enabling)
2023-12-16T07:49:48.105504-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] simple connect started...
2023-12-16T07:49:48.105526-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] simple connect state (4/10): wait to get fully enabled
2023-12-16T07:49:48.166814-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] power state updated: on
2023-12-16T07:49:48.552987-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] 3GPP registration state changed (unknown -> idle)
2023-12-16T07:49:49.030790-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] state changed (enabling -> enabled)
2023-12-16T07:49:49.030859-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] simple connect state (5/10): wait after enabled
2023-12-16T07:49:49.064804-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] 3GPP registration state changed (idle -> registering)
2023-12-16T07:49:49.126708-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] 3GPP registration state changed (registering -> home)
2023-12-16T07:49:49.126844-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] state changed (enabled -> registered)
2023-12-16T07:49:49.130912-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] simple connect state (6/10): register
2023-12-16T07:49:49.130959-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] simple connect state (7/10): wait to get packet service state attached
2023-12-16T07:49:49.130987-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] simple connect state (8/10): bearer
2023-12-16T07:49:49.131026-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] simple connect state (9/10): connect
2023-12-16T07:49:49.131077-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] state changed (registered -> connecting)
2023-12-16T07:49:49.640021-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5] QMI IPv4 Settings:
2023-12-16T07:49:49.640107-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]     address: 192.0.0.2/27
2023-12-16T07:49:49.640152-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]     gateway: 192.0.0.1
2023-12-16T07:49:49.640184-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]     DNS #1: 192.0.0.1
2023-12-16T07:49:49.640213-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]     DNS #2: failed (Field 'Secondary IPv4 DNS Address' was not found in the message)
2023-12-16T07:49:49.640242-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]        MTU: 1472
2023-12-16T07:49:50.119856-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5] QMI IPv6 Settings:
2023-12-16T07:49:50.119970-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]     address: 2607:fb91:2cbe:c033/64
2023-12-16T07:49:50.120014-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]     gateway: 2607:fb91:19f0/64
2023-12-16T07:49:50.120046-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]     DNS #1: fd00:976a::9
2023-12-16T07:49:50.120078-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]     DNS #2: fd00:976a::10
2023-12-16T07:49:50.120107-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5]        MTU: 1500
2023-12-16T07:49:50.214849-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5/bearer5] reloading stats is supported by the device
2023-12-16T07:49:50.214954-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] state changed (connecting -> connected)
2023-12-16T07:49:50.215065-06:00 server ModemManager[1137]: <info>  [modem5] simple connect state (10/10): all done
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216462-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2163] device (cdc-wdm1): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216523-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2164] device (cdc-wdm1): state change: config -> ip-config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216636-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]: IPv4 static configuration:
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216667-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]:   address 192.0.0.2/27 brd* 192.0.0.31 lft forever pref forever lifetime 47801-0[0,0] src wwan
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216697-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]:   gateway 192.0.0.1
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216730-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]:   DNS 192.0.0.1
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216758-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]:   MTU 1472
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216777-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]: IPv6 base configuration:
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216808-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]:   address 2607:fb91:c033/64 lft forever pref forever lifetime 47801-0[0,0] src unknown (slaac disabled)
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216834-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]:   gateway 2607:fb91:19f0
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216856-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]:   DNS fd00:976a::9
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216882-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2166] modem-broadband[cdc-wdm1]:   DNS fd00:976a::10
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216902-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2167] policy: set 'gsm-cdc-wdm1' (wwan0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS
2023-12-16T07:49:50.216923-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2168] policy: set 'gsm-cdc-wdm1' (wwan0) as default for IPv6 routing and DNS
2023-12-16T07:49:50.217243-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <warn>  [1702734590.2172] platform-linux: do-add-ip6-address[37: 2607:fb91:2cbe:cb96:904f:891c:12c8:c033]: failure 95 (Operation not supported)
2023-12-16T07:49:50.217384-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2173] device (cdc-wdm1): state change: ip-config -> ip-check (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
2023-12-16T07:49:50.251629-06:00 server systemd[1]: Starting NetworkManager-dispatcher.service - Network Manager Script Dispatcher Service...
2023-12-16T07:49:50.254728-06:00 server systemd[1]: Started NetworkManager-dispatcher.service - Network Manager Script Dispatcher Service.
2023-12-16T07:49:50.254893-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2548] device (cdc-wdm1): state change: ip-check -> secondaries (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
2023-12-16T07:49:50.254956-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2549] device (cdc-wdm1): state change: secondaries -> activated (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
2023-12-16T07:49:50.255151-06:00 server NetworkManager[1187]: <info>  [1702734590.2551] device (cdc-wdm1): Activation: successful, device activated.
^C

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 2:34 pm

So, to save time and money I had CI change the plan to Magenta Max because it's $5 cheaper and still offers unlimited 5G + 40GB of HS data. I also had them just activate it using my phone w/ eSIM to avoid the charge for shippng as I can just drop into a store once the account is setup and probably talk them into one for free.

$40/mo - plan
$8/mo - CI fee
$48 / mo - total

Now, to see if CI or TMO doesn't charge the autopay fee of $5/mo for using a CC. Not sure who's in charge of collecting the monthly fee whether it's direct by TMO or by CI through their portal. In either instance it's still cheaper than keeping the KVD and adding priority data + 40GB of HS data for in the car. Although in the car I have an Android display that has a SIM slot... Kind of a PITA to get to though. It does have a couple of USB cables though to plug stuff into it. I'm not sure if either of them would do DATA though through the modem. Something else to play with once service is setup though.

Not a bad deal if you can deal with sim swapping between different devices. The car also has the ability to share data through the HU IIRC. Pretty sure it's LTE as well since I know for sure it's not 5G. I think there's an app that I need to DL to it to set the TTL so it doesn't zap HS data pool... PDA something?

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 8:52 pm

I think I figured out the VPN issue. Seems for some reason it's not adding the routes when connecting. I think the app is looking for traditional nic interfaces to bind them to and the metric for the wwan is 700 when a wired connection is 0 or 1. Might have to script a lower metric assigned to the wwan routes to get it to engage properly.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Mon Dec 18, 2023 9:45 pm

Finally got the eSIM worked on on the phone for the new plan. Speeds on the phone are almost 500mbps DL / 65mbps UL which is about 100mbps+ DL and about double UL. Just need to head to the store and pick up a pSIM to use in the modem and make sure it works as a phone by putting the phone IMEI onto it instead of the TMHI one and set the TTL on the server to make sure it's not using HS data.

I suppose since the billing period ends tomorrow I'll figure out who does what on that side and how it's coded for the best rewards as right now my current CC gives 5% on mobile but, I don't think CI codes as mobile. Looks like the TMO account is billed directly to the account holder though from preliminary investigating. So, this points to CI handling the monthly charges directly.

I know this wouldn't work for most but, it's a cheap way to get the most out of a phone plan between devices. Sure, popping the sim in/out as needed is an extra step most wouldn't take to save $20-30/mo but, why pay for 2 plans? Not to mention the CI savings alone is a good start compared to a single line being $80/mo. I do still have the option to renew my phone under Mint's BOGO offer right now which would net me 6 months of UNL data for $90 or $15/mo. I still have another month to go before sim switching becomes the norm. Still have to play with the car though and see how the modem acts when connected to the USB port on the display to see if it will go online w/o much fuss. I suspect the issue there could be using HS data as the TTL might be an issue to configure but, the plan I'm on has 40GB/mo which is 4X more than the Mint plan has on it.

Just thinking out loud and rambling a bit.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Tue Dec 19, 2023 12:48 pm

Hit 650 DL this morning w/ the phone. Off to TMO to get a pSIM though for the modem and convert it over.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Tue Dec 19, 2023 6:03 pm

After pulling teeth and hitting several locations I now have a SIM in hand for $10. If the TMHI billing period had more time it would have been easier to just order them off Amazon w/ Prime for under $5/ea.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FRR5M5Z

The SIM they handed me (R15) after putting up a bit of a PO'd customer act regarding it being a shared account and not having access... Also hit the local stores like Apple / Best Buy / WM / Target... Turns out no one has SIM cards anymore these days it seems. Well, tons of PP ones but, nothing from the big 3 it seems.

Now, just have to wait on CI to swap from E to P and then reconfigure the modem. Oh, and I mentioned dropping TMHI to the rep and the fact that I opened it and put better antennas to get better speeds he came back with they can't take it back and there would be a bill. I left it at that and didn't give any customer info nor the box at that point. I'll call them instead and see what the account managers say if they want it back or not. There's several threads floating around though saying they won't even want it back and/or they'll e-mail shipping labels. I have a couple more days left on the term to decide and maybe it'll just end up on ebay as a pre-cracked modem with pigtails included for sale.

Post by **Didneywhorl** » Wed Dec 20, 2023 10:21 am

Excellent record of your journey. Thank you for posting these details.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Wed Dec 20, 2023 1:38 pm

Got the psim activated and now to reconfigure the modem and ditch the tmhi fees.

I guess this deserves a bit of a "don't try this at home" disclaimer unless you have some patience to deal with multiple parties to get things provisioned and sorted. If you have more time and a plan it's not so bad to deal with and you have the framework here now.

Corcledin.com = cheap data phone sim
SIM = order then on Amazon or have them ship one for $8
5G - you'll likely need an IMEI that is listed as 5G such as your secondary one on your phone since it's a phone sim
IMEI - put it on the modem and configure the apn if needed
Ttl - some say 65 or higher to mask the additional hop to prevent using hotspot data

Enjoy better speeds for less $ without needing to get your own 4+ lines to get the discounted rates.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Wed Dec 20, 2023 3:26 pm

Tried to change the APN on the modem and it was being difficult so did a factory reset on it and it came online w/o further configuration. Testing now to see if I need to bother with the TTL since it's showing just normal phone use on the TMO dashboard at the moment. Then again there seems to be a lag in updating the data use. Might not update until the system cycles over night though.

I was testing the sim / modem using the laptop and Windows is a bit odd in how it does things. It complained I disabled WIFI when trying to get the modem active which prompted the reset / default method instead. Once it came back online it connected to the modem and was online.

CI / TMO are odd as well. That extra layer between me and TMO is definitely different. I get SMS updates whenever there's an account change and I'm not sure if it's the stuff I'm doing or the account owner or CI.

Next up though I need to see if I can get a refund on the activation fee as signing up directly BYOD doesn't charge an activation fee. So, that could be a $35 rebate towards the whole setup cost. I would say the SIM cost is a bit of a wash though at this point.

There's just a few unknowns that should come to light though in the next couple of days.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Thu Dec 21, 2023 6:16 pm

Well, tried to return the KVD locally and they wouldn't take it because they wouldn't spend time to put it back together or refurb it and also wanted me to call in to cancel vs just doing it in store. Grabbed my toys and left the sandbox because I knew better than to battle them in person.

Got home and went on FB instead to message them online instead of wasting time with the phone calls and hold times. Took a few mins to accomplish but, got the billing stopped at least. Looked at a bill though and seems the charges were through the end of the month and just due 12/22. Wondering if they will prorate things or not. Something that should shake out in the billing system overnight I suppose.

Doing it online will get me a shipping label to send it back instead of dropping at a store which is fine. Now, the whole process will get interesting when they get it back and want to charge for the gateway being disassembled for antennas being swapped. All of the pieces are there it's just not fitting together like it came at the moment and I got bored with trying to piece it back together and just put it back in the box.

The T&C's though state it's up to $370 for the POS that it is and they sell on ebay all day long for $40 or less. If they put up a fight I'll just offer to send them another one for $40 and be done with it.

As to the phone SIM/plan it's still showing phone use w/o the TTL being applied in the packet path. I think there might be something to do with how the modem is attached via USB instead of internal to the server via the PCIE card I got. Right now it shows up as a WWAN but, I think when it gets internalized into a PC / router is when the TTL would change and trigger HS data instead of phone data. The other thought is people using an IMEI that gets flagged other than a phone or is a dedicated modem listing. It's hard to know sometimes when reading some of the stuff that has been posted in the past.

This might get interesting when they get the package from UPS. I've seen stories though of people sending them back and TMO losing track of where they are and negotiating settlements on "non-returns". I'm happier with my little spider adapter modem though.

Now, I just need to spend some time playing with the positioning of the antennas for optimal daily use. Just the right amount of interference can make a huge difference in speeds. Maybe play with some of the other antennas I have on hand to see if I can boost things a bit more. I've just been a bit too busy running around town chasing down SIM cards or trying to offload the TMHI box to spend focused time on the modem setup / location / testing. Have to dig through the PDF again and figure out which ports are low/mid/high for the antennas and tweak things a bit. As it sits right now though it's doing better than the KVD but, not quite as good as the phone. Then again it all depends on time of day as well. Middle of the night seems to be the highest BW being delivered of course w/ less users hitting the site or transitioning to / from it.

Kind of considering further testing with the VPN routes issue or just leave it for some other time as it's only really used for one purpose. I can activate it on up to 8 devices under the same login but, the phone likes to throttle it to about 100mbps for some reason and using it on the server as a network wide option for the past few years has been nice but not really critical for anything. My IPTABLES are secure for preventing leaks anyway.

I guess I can go back to hacking together my WIFI 7 AP based on a M2 module that uses Qualcomm. Just a few pieces left to that as well. For $40 for the card it's worth a little bit of effort instead of forking over $500+ for something off the shelf. There seems to be some small tweaks still needed in the "driver" for Linux to unlock things and be able to put it into AP mode instead of client only mode. I'm hoping to see an updated Windows driver as well since it's still on the initial release from June and not quite refined yet either. Problem being they've been mostly sold with the MOBO vs open market deployments and QCA hasn't put much time into it yet from the looks of it.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Thu Dec 21, 2023 6:26 pm

So, TMO messaged me with the NRF for the box would be $220. Which is in writing at this point if they decide to be a PITA about this. I can probably get them to push that down a bit more with some pleading. They'll get it back either way though it's just how they handle what they get back and if they refurb it back to sellable condition with a couple of new pieces. To put it back to original issue condition shouldn't cost too much in terms of parts and labor for someone that does this multiple times per day. I just don't have the patience for it at this point and it's been 18 months since I deconstructed it to play with the antennas.

Post by **Didneywhorl** » Fri Dec 22, 2023 7:29 am

I put mine back together by just stuffing it all in the case, lol. It looks fine on the outside, and powers on, but otherwise it's a brick.

Haven't tried sending it back yet, though.

Which WiFi 7 card do you have?

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Fri Dec 22, 2023 9:11 am

QCNCM865

I picked up a couple of them on AE for under $40/ea and they're the "client" option of the two Qualcomm has released so far but, most times you can activate them in AP mode fairly easy.

Kvalo on git does most of the driver work for Linux though and there have been some updates and threads about flipping the switch for BE AP mode. The updates haven't been pushed to the kernel though which means compiling a kernel with them selected. There's the AP chipset though 9274? that's more expensive to get but, already works. The price difference though is at least 10x more though. It's just a waiting game right now to see what happens. All of the output indicates that the cheaper option supports AP mode though so....

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Sat Jan 06, 2024 9:33 am

So, I've had some "drop outs" where the modem shows activity but, the rest of the network doesn't do anything. Tested different cables / ports / etc. and finally caught something in the logs pointing to the "modemmanager" which goes back to not wanting to use any of the GUI based junk that tends to have issues. The other thing is I tend to upgrade the kernel weekly to patch things up in a timely manner.... this might be the source of MM not working consistently as well since sometimes they bork things in the updates as was the issue awhile back with my quad port 5GE NIC for a period of time.

Code: Select all

sudo systemctl restart ModemManager.service

Running this seems to reinitiate the connection within the OS and reapply the IP info within it w/o needing to reboot the modem itself.

Code: Select all

mmcli -m 0

Found this one again while looking for something else but, this shows a good high level output of the modem / options / etc.

Code: Select all

sudo qmicli --device=/dev/cdc-wdm1 --device-open-proxy --wda-get-data-format

This one is interesting as it's showing no aggregation setup for UL/DL

Code: Select all

  Uplink data aggregation protocol: 'disabled'
Downlink data aggregation protocol: 'disabled'

I guess the event that prompted some further tinkering was switching from my 3FT cable to 10FT cable might have been an issue but, it looks more like the OS MM module being more of the issue here. The aggregation output though does bother me as when looking at the status in the modem it does show LTE online but 5G is just kind of sitting there. If I only go 5G the speed is ~150 but, keeping both enabled can hit ~300 for DL.

Code: Select all

AT+CPSI?
+CPSI: LTE,Online,310-260,0x7D04,*******,367,EUTRAN-BAND2,750,3,3,-155,-865,-50
+CPSI: NR5G_NSA,156,NR5G_BAND41,0,-780,-110,16,0,7

2/41 tends to work better than 66/41 but, I'm wondering why 5G isn't showing "online" to indicate it's connected though just the output alone indicated it's connected and available for additional bandwidth.

I also played around with disabling SA / NSA or leaving both options available to see if there's a difference in speed. Disabling SA keeps the higher speed, disabling NSA slows things down a bit, leaving both options available has the modem select the NSA option which is what the CPE would normally do as well.

Living at a cell site location though poses some interesting situations though as there's multiple RF signals configured just outside my windows from all sides which for testing purposes means moving the modem around the house presents different stats and potentially connecting to different antennas / bands just by moving 10-20ft in any direction or adding interference by blocking modem antennas w/ shielding.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Wed Jan 10, 2024 3:32 pm

Interesting little piece of mail showed up today. TMO sent the bill to collections even though they still haven't sent the prorated final bill for the cancellation which was 12/21. Just one more thing to deal with in cleaning up things post mortem.

So far the voice line is doing well though with quite a bit of usage.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Mon Jan 22, 2024 11:07 pm

Went and took care of the bill w/o returning the KVD and the prorate was ~$45. No NRF on the bill for the KVD non-return even a month after cancel. TMO is a bit odd considering the bill sent to collections but no charge yet for the GW. First full month of hammering the new modem resulted in ~1TB of data being used and classified as phone data and not HS bucket which is always a good thing. Now to see what they do with the KVD.

Flipside though did a speed test on the phone w/ Mint and hit 692*82 and noticed when testing side by side Mint / TMO from the phone that Mint had a higher UL limit of 100 vs TMO ~70. MVNO plans shouldn't hit higher speeds than branded based on the QOS policies. It has me scratching my head a bit.

Thinking about taking the modem on the road with the laptop and doing some speed tests to confirm some things. I suspect the lack of speed indoors is the same issue as the KVD with the cell site location and all. I suspect taking it across the parking lot will yield the same results hitting ~600+ speeds. Mind you the phone results are jus by going on the balcony maybe 10 feet from where the modem is sitting. 1 difference is the glass and it might be wave forming inside the house to the windrow where the cell antennas are located. I've also seen a slight difference when it connects to band 2 vs 41 and also managed to lock it to 5G SA but that only gets 70/20 speeds w/o LTE bonded to the 5G. I swapped the IMEI though to SIM 1 to match the phone to see if the backend unlocks better performance since SIM 2 show up online as a SS GS3 which is old as dirt and didn't even have LTE IIRC. it could just be an arbitrary placeholder in account management though and have no impact on the provisioning but, it's worth a shot. I could always mess with them though and use the KVD IMEI.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Thu Jan 25, 2024 4:26 pm

TMO must be working on the site or need to since LTE 66 seems to be bogged down for speed. I've been chasing this all day trying to figure out why things have been slow. I bounced the modem from NSA to SA a few times to switch the LTE band while testing the speeds and found 2/41 performing much better than 66/41 but seems like SA 41 is a bit slow today as well. Swapped the SIM to the phone and got decent enough speeds just to confirm the speeds weren't being throttled or something silly. Not the best speeds but, enough to rule out anything from the network side.

Saw an inbound envelope from TMO as well and it's the bill I just went and paid finally showing up. SMH So, it looks like they added a $7 late fee or some crap which I couldn't know about when I went to pay it because well, the account was canceled and couldn't login to see details before heading to the store. Seems like there's a lot of obfuscation going on here when it comes to billing.

Just waiting for the other shoe to drop from the KVD not being sent back. TMO is the gift that keeps on giving and I didn't realize this as I've been doing MVNO for so long now rater than direct subscriptions. I can see why people don't want to mess with their phone plans these days. Some interesting insight though over on BBB RE TMO billing as well. People getting talked into promos and then not collecting the rebates monthly that were promised or canceling lines and still being billed.... Glad this line is under a group plan and I don't have to deal with them directly after this TMHI thing gets put to bed.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Tue Jan 30, 2024 9:36 am

First bill / invoice from CI hit and it looks even better than when first digging into the option.

$30.50/mo is even better than what I was anticipating based on the info at sign up. Kind of makes me want to pester them regarding the fees / price paid at sign up. Then again I changed things around a few times during the process and would need to dig through all of the different emails to figure out the true costs. i think I'll just leave it be and not poke the bear unless it changes next month.

To sum it up this plan normally would be $85/mo ($90 w/ a CC payment vs bank/debit) so, that's roughly $60/mo being saved off the retail cost or 66%

What's funny here though is when I login to TMO the bill shows it being $32.... Maybe it's not showing all of the discounts being applied or CI added some more discounts or who the heck knows. Billing is always a fun time to figure out like your taxes.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Thu Feb 08, 2024 5:14 pm

Found a more direct route to getting 2/41 band set than toggling SA/NSA and hoping for the modem to grab the right combo.

Code: Select all

AT+CSYSSEL="lte_band",2
AT+CSYSSEL="nsa_nr5g_band",41

It also survives modem reboots.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Thu Feb 15, 2024 6:56 pm

- got a final bill for $0.00 for TMHI even w/o returning the KVD still
- got a notification for the $8/mo CI surcharge which if things play out brings the all in to $38/mo which should be confirmed in a few days with the new billing cycle
- things have stabilized by pushing 2/41 instead of allowing it to pick bands on its own / 200/40 typical and higher in off peak hours closer to 300/50 or higher
- got some mixed use on the SIM this month but sitting at about 650GB of use for the month w/ less tests being run
- waiting on any potential residual billing to pop up as providers tend to be a PITA when it come to billing, Have to keep an eye out for any straggler items being pushed to collections like that prior bill. Even a sub $50 bill can have a big impact on the credit side
- contemplating putting the modem inside the PC and see if it unlocks any performance improvements
- turned on IPv6 to see if it had any impact since the phone has it enabled and gets 3X the speed but, nothing appreciable was noticed and the VPN software for some reason drops all v6 addressing when engaged even w/ v6 enabled in the VPN SW

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Tue Feb 27, 2024 8:52 am

So, I got another invoice and it's $30.50 just like above. So, that kind of settles the billing hypothesis.

$30.50/mo
$8.00/mo
------------
$38.50/mo - all in

Not sure why they're billing the "service fee" separately but, it's still $10/mo cheaper than the upfront suggested price of $40 + $8.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 7:02 pm

Been down a bit of a rabbit hole recently trying to pin down why things changed.

Normally things have been working just fine up until about a week ago. I'll be doing my normal routine and then the internet drops. OK, look in the logs and nothing is apparent. Reboot the modem and it's back online. After a few days of this nonsense though I started to dig into things a but more to figure out WTF is the cause.

Things will run fine until I engage....
Nord
Torr
DuckieTV

Or just wait for some anomaly to hit and go offline.

So, I took the apps / VPN and localized them onto the laptop and still get drops from the modem and go offline. It's a bit odd to say the least because...
I can still connect to the modem serial and run commands / view status and the server shows it connected but one way traffic
I can reboot the modem through the serial and things come back online after its handshake completes in about a minute

So, I was flipping through the PDF manual and had a PCIE adapter sitting here and thought WTF let's try this card out and mount the modem inside the server. I found a command in the manual to put it into PCIEMODE.... don't do this

So, that led me down a bit of another rabbit hole trying to figure out how to put it back to USB mode...
There's 4 different modes you can put these things into and there's absolutely no explanation as to which do what in the manual or anywhere online.

AT+CUSBCFG=9001 - WWAN
AT+CUSBCFG=9003,0
AT+CUSBCFG=9011 - NDIS Ethernet
AT+CUSBCFG=901E,0

I went with the manual default of 9011 and ended up somewhere I didn't want to be and that's how I found that mode is for Ethernet. 9001 is normal USB mode which has been working for months now up until this fiasco of drop outs.

So, you just have to putty into it on comX and run "AT+CUSBCFG=usbid,1e0e,9001" to change it back to USB mode if you F it up. When it was in another mode the USB ID changed to "05c6" which threw a wrench into figuring out the command issue besides SecureCRT not offering up the COM port that was needing to be used but instead offering the DIAG port when it was in 901F mode. No idea WTF 901F mode is as it's not documented anywhere either. However, a clue in device manager shows the mention of Android.... Yes, these things apparently respond to ADB commands as well.

Either this was a blessing or just pure luck... I tore apart the adapter and put it in the PCIE card but that didn't work and was complaining about the USB cable to the header being bad but, I think it was actually because it was in the other mode but haven't put it back onto the PCIE card again to test yet but seriously considering it with this persistent gremlin.

The blessing of ripping apart the adapters and reconfiguring the antennas is I got lazy and put the 4 antennas onto the USB adapter using the jumper cables and skipped the pigtails franken setup I had posted above using all 8 ports. Just have the normal 5G ports hooked up to the antennas and my speeds consistently ~doubled~ 300/80... They weren't bad before but, middle of the day speeds tended to be 50%.

When you're stuck and need to backdoor things...
sudo su
modprobe option
echo 1e0e 9011 > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id

This will bring up a port for connecting to the modem if you don't have WindoZe to deal with it.

As part of this investigation though I put the MM/NM into debug mode and captured some stuff but nothing pointing to the gremlin but still intriguing vs the GUI

[modem0] RSSI (LTE): -48 dBm
[modem0] RSRP (5G): -75 dBm
[modem0] SNR (5G): 21 dB
[modem0] RSRQ (5G): -11 dB
[modem0] RSSI: -48 dBm --> 100%
[modem0] signal quality updated (100)

I think part of the issue for the VPN side is the metric assigned by the network apps is too high for the mechanisms to properly push the packets in the right direction like they auto sense w/ Ethernet / connected interfaces.

default via 192.0.0.1 dev wwan0 proto static metric 1050
192.0.0.0/27 dev wwan0 proto kernel scope link src 192.0.0.2 metric 1050
192.168.0.0/24 dev br0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.0.1

I tried playing with the metric but there's something reconfiguring it while I'm changing it or some process because I'll change it, delete the existing and refresh the command and it comes back with the new/existing routes for some reason. I did go ahead and blow up the machine and reconfigure it from scratch to rule out any issues and one improvement from this debacle was the WIFI card came up for WIFI7 and should now be configurable with hostapd for AP use once things are stable again.

If I can't get it stable then I'm probably ordering some new adapters to use with the modem on the off chance it's the issue. I'll give the PCIE card another shot since it's sitting here already and see if the mode switch rules out the cable issue or not.

I'm thinking these 2 adapters though should be useful for production/backup use though and well $70 is better than chasing my tail trying to nail this issue down if it's HW related.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256804081478087.html -- this would be for general home use
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256805148634436.html -- this would be on the go use to offer a bit of protection to the wires / modem

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:58 pm

Went ahead and ordered some stuff..
Picked up the 2 items above and a couple of USB3 cables for the PCIE adapter since the one that shipped with it is posing issues when installed causing the modem to not come online and recycle. Also grabbed a FM350-GL for under $50 just to test a theory and have a backup option if the SIM one is actually on the way out.

I don't think the modem is the issue since it responds to commands and does a good job at speeds.

I think the little USB adapter though might be the issue but, with the PCIE option not working it's hard to rule out hence the mini shopping spree to test some things.

Also, ran some more tests while being locked to SA and got some more interesting results.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Sun Apr 21, 2024 12:06 am

So, I started thinking about when this issue started and the kernel update prior to it. I had just done an update prior and a couple since it started. The issue came up though when on 6.9.rc1. rc2/3 didn't install due to an odd dependency that's for another line of linux. So, I rolled back to 6.8.7 that just released and didn't have the dependency issues that the others did. It's pretty stable but, still has some issues like not liking the VPN or some apps triggering the routing to drop.

I tested the modem / dongle though with Windows on the laptop for a few DL's and it worked fine. So, there's something in linux that changed at some point that has spawned a gremlin when it comes to traffic stability. Got the pieces still coming from CN though as backups and options for the future. It will be interesting to see if a different passive adapter will clear the issue compared to the little USB dongle. The dongle IIRC has some driver needs for itself when I use it with Windows or maybe it was to get the modem itself working.

With WWAN being on the way out due to WIFI being available everywhere it seems like the code monkeys have stalled out on developing newer drivers / firmware for modems. I can only imagine what issues are under the hood for some of them being that they're now about 5 years old since the last updates.

It's a bit difficult to track down the stuff needed to make this sort of thing work these days. I did start thinking about a laptop though that has the option to put a modem inside and stumbled across a HP 865 G10 that has the room inside and a sim slot on the side. Not really a fan though of HP over the years as they just feel a bit cheap. The other consideration for a laptop switch is getting away from Intel and switching to AMD again. I switched to AMD on the server side last Aug and just waiting for more options on the laptop side.

Anyway... parts cleared customs from CN and are on the way. Should probably show up mid to late next week unless they get shuffled around by USPS like some prior packages have thus resulting in a couple day delay.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Mon Apr 22, 2024 11:32 am

6.8.7 was pretty stable.

6.9.rc5 showed a race change for cdc-wdm which hopefully means it's stable unlike rc1/4 were not

AE shipment landed yesterday and should be processing through customs today and delivery maybe Wed. Depends on what happens when DHL hands off to USPS locally.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 10:57 am

rc5 has been stable and DHL has the packages.

Seems I jumped the gun while troubleshooting on ordering more parts but, it's still going to be nice to have options. With having 2 modems now I have the ability to mount one inside the server with the PCIE adapter and leave it inside w/o messing with the fragile MHF connectors when moving things around.

The plan is to put the Simcom inside the server as it's more expensive to replace if lost while carrying it around but, then again it comes down to performance between the two w/ Fibocom potentially doing CA. It seems like the Simcom has the ability but, there's some sequence that needs to be done to enable it as the output shows it being disabled.

Code: Select all

  Uplink data aggregation protocol: 'disabled'
Downlink data aggregation protocol: 'disabled'

https://www.everythingrf.com/compare-ce ... 1_fm350_gl

http://219.143.15.28:3088/esurfing/tim/ ... 759345.pdf

I guess the intrigue is the mention of MIMO on the Fibocom and well, it being under $50 makes for a good backup if tinkering.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Wed Apr 24, 2024 7:31 pm

Well, got a bill a couple weeks ago for the KVD and went to dispute it in a store to see if they would budge if saying UPS lost it. Nope.

Well they added another jab before sending it to collections by adding another late fee to the total. Went to the store again to see if they could do anything and they were useless and couldn't do anything with the account as it was locked to them. Said I couldn't make a payment and to contact the agency instead. Told them in the past with the other final bill I was able to make a payment. Dropped it and went out to the car and made a "guest" payment online for the amount due and am finally done with dealing with TMO directly (hopefully) as they keep breaking out like a case of herpes.

Anyway... DHL seems to be dragging their feet on transferring the packages to USPS which is counter intuitive to how they have been in the past with other deliveries. Maybe tomorrow as it's been over 24 hours sitting at the airport now. The kernel switches have been stable though for over 48 hours now which rules out a HW issue with the modem / dongle. I want to test the new HW though and logistics is getting annoying as both DHL/USPS will find a way to make it take longer for the devices to show up just through stupidity. Kind of agitated by AE bundling items together into the same package and yet charging shipping for individual items. Maybe something would show up sooner if they didn't repackage them into a single box like Amazon? *shrug*

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Thu Apr 25, 2024 7:07 pm

Stuff showed up and has been tested.

Slab adapter isn't working - at least w/ the FC card
PCIE adapter now works with Fibocom but, flaps with SIMcom
The enclosure works though it's a PITA to put together due to the confined space it messes with the pigtail wires when putting it back together and the aux port on the front for some reason isn't big enough to fit the pigtail through.

Fibocom is a PITA in PCIE mode and can't figure out which damned port to console into it on in either OS
- speeds are dismal w/o being able to get into the modem and check the settings to confirm 5G and which mode
- testing got maybe 50/50

Enclosure is testing out though at 200+/~100 which is a higher UL than I've seen thusfar but, need to play around with the settings again to see if I can boost the DL speeds back up to 400+

Need to tinker with the slab adapter but, seeing as thought he simcom is the only one that works with it potentially putting that off for now unless there's a reason to pull apart the enclosure and deal with the antenna wires

Might have to find a way to get the Fibocom to work with the laptop somehow to diagnose it a bit more. The USB ports showed up but, W11 was dumb and wouldn't install a driver for them nor did my driver program find anything. I did find an Acer package though that did have the drivers and installed them. Just need to spend some time messing with it.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Fri Apr 26, 2024 11:26 am

Interesting....

The Fibocom works well as a backup but, it's SLOW
In MBIM mode / PCIE mode the modem seems to be using hotspot data and when doing a traceroute it shows the hops across TMO's network vs the IPv6 generic 192.0.0.1 in USB mode w the SIMcom

The HS data brought back to mind the TTL 65 workaround
/etc/sysctl.conf
net.ipv4.ip_default_ttl = 65

Since the Fibocom is slow I moved back to the USB enclosures and will be testing them further now that I know what's going on with the different modems / adapters

There's supposed to be a way to convert the FC over to USB but, the stupid thing isn't taking the command like it's locked or something. I found the AT interface though in the dmesg output -- /dev/wwan0at0

The small enclosure poses issues with the antennas though. The case is so tight it leaves very little room to get the antennas / cables into place when putting it together and either pops off the cables from the modem or in my case it snapped 1 MHF4 connector off the cable. Since I have pigtails already from the start it's no huge deal but, it's something to consider if you order one. Working with it though it seems the easiest is to pull the antenna side off and slide the board out that end and attach the antennas w/o messing with the other end. Of course this leaves you with 3/4 of the antennas which may reduce speeds.

If, I can get the TTL bypass to work properly I'll put the SIM inside on the card and see if it performs better in MBIM mode. Perk of MBIM is the VPN works and I can cloak traffic again properly vs trying to do some SSL hijinks.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Sun Apr 28, 2024 9:11 am

Played around with putting the SC card inside on the PCIE card and couldn't get a stable card initialization in either mode USB/PCIE
Something weird with that card working in only certain scenarios even with the new cables

Slab is working fine with the SC card and the same software issues trigger the drop in routes which is a Linux thing at this point as it works fine with the SW when directly connected to Windows // W running through the network will trigger the same drops

I've tossed the enclosure aside since it's a PITA between the cabling and needing to put an adapter on the nano sim to make it work on the old full size sim insertion and it's not providing anything special to the equation.

Noticed that the VPN in non-routing is pushing traffic like a proxy as the program sees it and uses it as an exit point but, I can't measure the traffic when it's in that mode and it's not 100% avoiding the traffic drop situation either like a wired or MBIIM mode would. Also, the MBIM mode on the SC card didn't really work as noted above so, I didn't get to test the avoidance with the ttl / MBIM at the higher speed.

I can't really think of anything else to test at this point other than waiting on updates from Linux to see if things smooth out again with the way I had things setup for the past couple of years. There's just some gremlin regression somewhere that got released around the end of last month that I can't pin down.

Post by **Tech_Junky** » Wed May 01, 2024 9:57 am

Been digging deeper into the rabbit hole and noticed something when trying to pin this "drop" down. The FW rules aren't getting traffic hits where I would expect them to. I swapped rules around and moved the WWAN rules up to ensure the counts were being triggered and for some reason it appears to be putting the traffic on the BR0 or sending it somewhere else.

Plying with the NMCLI profile has uncovered some things as well. But, I think the main culprit is IPTABLES since the modem isn't actually going offline it's just the traffic stops working as expected but, when it's hooked up to Window it just works.

Normally for the past several months the rules have been quite generic and a total of ~15 lines. Mostly permitting LAN/LAN automatically and tracking WAN stuff with cstate. I've been a bit more specific to try to narrow down where the traffic is going as it works fine until I open particular apps it seems and then it gets confused and stops working.

Playing with the metric for the connection doesn't seem to make much of a difference in the flow of packets as it auto sets for 700 and I changed it to 0 to take priority. This to me would come into play with the VPN but, if things aren't working 100% w/o the VPN then there's a deeper issue. Possibly the VPN setup was masking an underlying issue by forcing all traffic to take its path. Then of course I made a change to X Y or Z and reconfigured it.

Funny thing is say it's a TOR.... some of them startup and DL 100% w/o having to reset the modem to get the traffic back and others requires several restarts. If the program I use to monitor TV releases starts up and tries to do an update it might trigger a drop and most of the time it doesn't. I've noticed if I make some changes to the TOR process and strip the trackers / DHT search only and do a single file at a time it tends to work more consistently per file.

What bothers me though besides the drops is not seeing the traffic hitting the rules as expected. The WAN rules should increment with each packet / ping yet they aren't. The other thing bothering me is the aggregation option which I suspect would boost speeds to the same as the phone. Of course then there's also the FC card being so slow and unmanageable.

Really this shouldn't be happening since the modem in USB mode provides a WAN of 192.0.0.2 which isn't RFC1918 which means it should fall into hitting different rules. It's not classified in manual mode as a BR device either since it ha to use NM/MM to bring up the profile and activate the modem. When it was an external connection that plugged into a port on the NIC I could avoid NM completely and things worked well. Maybe it's time to rethink things a bit and consider another OS option. I know if I wait it out though things tend to get resolved with updates as they tend to find botched things and fix them quickly.

SMH