3G router/uplink

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Giang

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Feb 18, 2012, 5:03:06 AM2/18/12
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A new cellular network (Movitel) headed by a company from Vietnam has started and will officially launch in April in Mozambique.  They are building the first major fiber optic network in this country to link all of their antennas, which the majority of these will or has been equipped with 3G antennas.

The there a good 3G wireless router or system that I can use to integrate them with the MP?  They promised to sell 3G USB modems soon.  Thanks for all of the feedback.


Sjur Eivind Usken

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Feb 18, 2012, 5:39:27 AM2/18/12
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as long as it is supported by OpenWRT and the device has USB port, this should be pretty ease.


I would go for a dongle with external antenna and get a proper external antenna for best possible speeds..

cheers
sjur

Michel Daggelinckx

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Feb 18, 2012, 5:07:31 AM2/18/12
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huawei has some routers that support use of 3G usb modems

Michel


Op 18/02/2012 11:03, Giang schreef:

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T Gillett

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Feb 18, 2012, 3:55:55 PM2/18/12
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Hi

There are a range of economical TP-Link routers that provide a usb port for the purpose of using 3G modem dongles including the MR3020N and WR703N devices that we are using for the VT SECN work. These are very small usb powered devices.

No doubt there are suitable devices from other manufacturers as well, but these are the ones we have had direct experience with.

We plan to add 3G support into a future SECN release as a simple way of providing WAN uplink as you suggest.

A couple of things to keep in mind however.

First is to check just which type of dongle your telco is going to provide. While most are fairly standard these days, there are some areas where the telco uses a different system and the 'standard' 3G dongles will not work. Once you know just which type of dongle will be available, check for support in OpenWrt.

Second, check the amount of flash memory available in the router you are considering and try to get 8Mb at least. The units I mentioned above only have 4Mb and so we use additional usb memory to store additional packages. While this works ok, it is a simpler set up if there is sufficient flash built in to the device.

The OpenWrt hardware compatibility list will show you devices that will run ok and the amount of memory and interfaces provided.

Lastly, if you choose a router with an appropriate Atheros chipset you should be able to run the SECN software which will give you direct integration with the VT mesh ie your router will be another node on the mesh.

From the OpenWrt hardware list, the TP Link WR842ND looks interesting from this perspective. It has 8Mb flash, 32Mb ram and a usb port although the factory firmware does not seem to provide 3G support. These sell for $50

Other possibilities are WR1043ND WR2543ND.

Regards
Terry

Wayne Abroue

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Feb 18, 2012, 11:18:36 PM2/18/12
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On Sat, Feb 18, 2012 at 12:39 PM, Sjur Eivind Usken <sj...@usken.no> wrote:

> I would go for a dongle with external antenna and get a proper external
> antenna for best possible speeds..
>
> cheers
> sjur
>

> --

I want to emphasise what Sjur has said re the external antenna issue.
In cities one normally does not have this problem, however in semi
rural settings, the problem of signal strength is hugely problematic.


I have found realistically if you are not withing 1 km of the high
site, the bandwidth and latency drops off steeply.

Finding Routers using a external 3G antenna are not too common, but
they are available.
Second prize, put a 703 in a outdoor enclosure above your roof, if the
3G works with it.
Third prize, Any 3G router, in a enclosure above the roof.

Wayne

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