How To Set Up 4g Lte Wifi Modem

I've purchased a USB dongle interim every bit a WiFI & 4G cellular router with a generic name "4G LTE WiFi Modem" and listed as "4G LTE WiFi Hotspot Wireless Router USB Dongle 150Mbps Modem Stick Sim Card" on the online store (Lazada) I bought it from.

4G LTE WiFi Modem unboxing

Information technology'southward a 3-in-1 device that works as a 4G USB dongle connected to a PC or laptop, a 4G USB WiFi cellular router/hotspot, and a USB flash drive when adding a MicroSD carte du jour.

Specifications

4G performance is express to 150Mbps DL, 50Mbps UL, while WiFi only supports up to 72 Mbps using 802.11n two.4GHz WiFi. That's perfectly fine for my use instance, every bit the plan is to use it as a standalone WiFi hotspot with an unlimited 10 Mbps SIM card, and in locations with low population densities so 5GHz WiFi is not a must.

The USB dongle ships with a user manual in English mainly explaining how to install the driver when connecting it to a Windows 10 computer. Something we'll not need hither.

The bottom cover has credential data for the WiFi admission bespeak (SSID: 4G-UFI-Xx, password: 1234567890) and the web interface used for configuration( username: admin, password: admin).

The MAC address prefix (381C23) reveals the manufacturer should be Hilan Technology CO.,LTD, a company based in Shenzhen, Mainland china.

4G LTE WIFI modem teardown

Let'south open the device to bank check out the pattern and main components. Nosotros just need to remove 3 screws before popping up the 2 plastic shells.

There's a sticky metallic sheet on top that should act as a shield. We can remove information technology to reveal all components, besides the Qualcomm RTR8605 RF Transceiver.

It'due south a Qualcomm design, but the markings for the chief are all but gone. The memory chip should be SK Hynix H8ACS0PE0MBR-46M.

The other side of the board comes will plenty of passive components, the SIM card and MicroSD card sockets, and Qualcomm PM8028 for the power section of the circuit.

I also inserted the USB dongle into my PC:

[ 22083.509357 ] usb 1 - 2.3 : new total - speed USB device number 6 using xhci _hcd [ 22083.729433 ] usb 1 - two.3 : not running at acme speed ; connect to a high speed hub [ 22083.747433 ] usb 1 - 2.3 : New USB device plant , idVendor = 05c6 , idProduct = f000 , bcdDevice = 0.00 [ 22083.747444 ] usb ane - 2.three : New USB device strings : Mfr = 3 , Product = 2 , SerialNumber = four [ 22083.747448 ] usb 1 - 2.3 : Production : Qualcomm CDMA Technologies MSM [ 22083.747451 ] usb one - ii.3 : Manufacturer : Qualcomm , Incorporated [ 22083.747454 ] usb ane - 2.three : SerialNumber : 1234567890ABCDEF [ 22083.852761 ] usb - storage 1 - two.3 : 1.0 : USB Mass Storage device detected [ 22083.852952 ] scsi host2 : usb - storage 1 - 2.3 : 1.0 [ 22083.853064 ] usbcore : registered new interface driver usb - storage [ 22083.857433 ] usbcore : registered new interface commuter uas [ 22084.867261 ] scsi 2 : 0 : 0 : 0 : CD - ROM 4G MMC Storage 2.31 PQ : 0 ANSI : 2 [ 22084.870217 ] sr 2 : 0 : 0 : 0 : [ sr0 ] scsi - i drive [ 22084.870223 ] cdrom : Uniform CD - ROM driver Revision : three.20 [ 22084.893926 ] sr 2 : 0 : 0 : 0 : Attached scsi CD - ROM sr0 [ 22084.894049 ] sr 2 : 0 : 0 : 0 : Attached scsi generic sg2 type 5

We can see the Vendor ID is 05C6, the product ID is F000. In that location are some references on the OpenWrt website, about people getting a 4G USB dongle working with an OpenWrt router, non running OpenWrt directly on information technology. Withal, at to the lowest degree one of those posts mentions it's based on a Qualcomm MDM9200 platform.

Using the 4G LTE WIFI Modem as a standalone mobile hotspot

Let'south endeavor information technology out. I've inserted a nanoSIM carte du jour through a SIM card adapter…

and connected the device directly to a 5V USB power adapter.

I could non get an Internet connection the first time, just WiFi, as the SIM menu was not detected. Removing it and re-inserting it did the play tricks, and later on connecting to the 4G UFI_XXX SSID, I immediately got Internet access, no configuration required at all.

That'southward awesome. But let's check out the web interface going to HTTP://192.168.100.1…

Not quite a modem responsive design spider web interface, and it's a pain to employ on mobile, so let'due south switch to a desktop spider web browser instead.

Copyright "2014 Qualcomm". This thing may run an quondam firmware from a Qualcomm SDK, and they did not modify annihilation. Don't look much security from the dongle, and information technology may be easy to hack. Let's login.
There are five main items with Home, 4G Settings, Wi-Fi Settings, Station, and Help Data. The Home section shows the list of clients and data statistics.

Ameliorate modify the admin countersign before checking out the 4G settings…Now that'southward really odd because I'chiliad based in Thailand and connect with a DTAC SIM carte, while here it shows the network as existence "China Unicom (3gnet)". The dongle will probably automatically acquire the right network name and APN, but not update it in the settings.

As one should expect, the interface will allow united states to change the Network Name (SSID), besides as the countersign. After changing both, clicking Apply and Reset, it would still reconnect to the old SSID, but removing and reinserting the dongle work, and I could use the new credentials.

The reasons I decided to become this 4G USB dongle and WiFI hotspot are that information technology's small and cheap (around $14 shipped), and I was not satisfied with the operation stability of using my Android phone as a WiFi hotspot, and installing my SIM card into a PinePhone to use it equally a mobile hotspot proved to provide good operation when information technology works, simply 4G would disconnect regularly requiring a reboot, or several to get a connection.

As already mentioned, I have a 10 Mbps data programme, so I would have assumed the 4G USB WiFi dongle to reach 9 to 10 Mbps, but information technology'due south a disappointment.

Moving the USB dongle in the aforementioned room seems to improve things a flake, just again brusk of expectations.

I'g at present at habitation where I mostly utilise Fiber-to-the-Habitation (300/100Mpbs), but I'd commonly get around 9-ten Mbps with Speedtest using my Android phone in another house where I don't have broadband Internet. And so for comparison, let's install the SIM card into the phone, gear up it up every bit a hotspot, and run Speedtest from my reckoner again.

The results are better, although the upload speed is under 4 Mbps. Note that results vary quite a lot between runs.

[Update: August 26, 2022. I've at present moved to another location with a improve cellular indicate. 96% instead of 57% every bit shown on Pinephone, and ran Speedtest again with the "4G LTE WiFi modem" router with the same SIM menu, and results are pretty proficient.

It's maxing out the speed of the SIM card. And then information technology looks similar information technology's just the dongle does not handle a relatively weak cellular bespeak well, at least compared to a phone, but when the signal is strong it performs equally expected.]

Determination

The good things most the "4G LTE WiFi Modem" USB adapter are that it's basically plug-and-play, and when the cellular betoken is good, information technology works as expected, and is just as expert as a phone. Its low cost is as well a plus merely note that it runs an outdated OS and performance is underwhelming when the cellular signal is not that strong, compared to running the hotspot in a phone at the aforementioned location. The same device is sold on Aliexpress for $11.99 with a fair amount of reviews, most of which are positive. Only it looks similar people are using it as a USB modem rather than a WiFi hotspot.

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a office-time endeavor, earlier quitting his job as a software applied science manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews total time afterward in 2022.

Source: https://www.cnx-software.com/2021/08/21/review-of-4g-lte-wifi-modem-hotspot/

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