I am using for a couple of years a 4G usb dongle Huawei 3372s in a few installations and i am looking for an upgrade. I would like to ask if someone has to propose any good 5G usb dongle.
Have you seen any, at all..?
Seen one, but it was $200.
i have not seen any to be honest.
$200 is way too much.
It all depends on the port you are going to plug the dongle in. If it is a USB 2 port I personally would not bother upgrading since there probably won't be any real speed increase.
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Most of my routers have USB 3.0
You could use M.2 or PCIe card with adapter. Dongles aren't big in the market any more and always had rather low performance because the 500mA power available from a USB-A port really isn't enough for a proper cell modem.
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I would wait a bit more to see what the market will bring for usb 5G dongles. Thanks a lot for your replies
There are very few 5G USB Dongle in market,u can try this https://www.aliexpress.com/i/1005004729120930.html but its pretty costly $394 for now.
you must go for 5G Phone with Usb3.0 support if u want cheap and fast solution and plug this USB cable in a Router and enable USB Tethering ...
The other USB 5G modem in existence is Peplink MAX Adapter 5G, but it is also too expensive: 649 USD.
There is also Alfa Networks AUCM5G, but nobody has it in stock.
I have just received a notification that a cheaper 5G USB modem became available:
They have only 15 pieces in stock left, and I have already ordered one.
Quectel RM500U-CN + adapter could be a cheaper option.
Unfortunately they just mentioned that this model is discontinued.
Unfortunately, I have to withdraw the recommendation for Alfa Network AUCM5G-T700. It does not work for me, even under Windows 11, even though it is marketed as a global 5G adapter. EDIT: the device I received was defective, as confirmed by the seller. Please disregard the negative review.
Regarding the use of this adapter with OpenWrt, please be aware that it is an MBIM-only adapter that does not even have a port for AT commands. OpenWrt 22.03.x does not have LUCI support for MBIM connections, but you can install luci-proto-mbim ipk from a snapshot and configure everything there.
Config generated by LuCI:
config interface 'alfa'
option proto 'mbim'
option device '/dev/cdc-wdm0'
option pdptype 'ipv4v6'
option auth 'both'
option username 'dito'
option password 'dito'
option apn 'internet.dito.ph'
Unsuccessful connection log:
netifd: Interface 'alfa' is setting up now
netifd: alfa (6932): mbim[6932] Reading capabilities
netifd: alfa (6932): devicetype: 0001 - embedded
netifd: alfa (6932): cellularclass: 0001
netifd: alfa (6932): voiceclass: 0001 - no-voice
netifd: alfa (6932): simclass: 0002
netifd: alfa (6932): dataclass: 8000007F
netifd: alfa (6932): smscaps: 0003
netifd: alfa (6932): controlcaps: 0003
netifd: alfa (6932): maxsessions: 0002
netifd: alfa (6932): deviceid: 351**********55
netifd: alfa (6932): firmwareinfo: MD.XS.03.04, 2022/08/17 11:34
netifd: alfa (6932): hardwareinfo: XS5G03
netifd: alfa (6932): mbim[6932] Checking pin
netifd: alfa (6932): Pin Unlocked
netifd: alfa (6932): mbim[6932] Checking subscriber
netifd: alfa (6932): readystate: 0001 - initialized
netifd: alfa (6932): simiccid: 896***************81
netifd: alfa (6932): subscriberid: 51566********58
netifd: alfa (6932): number: 63********63
netifd: alfa (6932): mbim[6932] Register with network
netifd: alfa (6932): nwerror: 0000 - unknown
netifd: alfa (6932): registerstate: 0001 - deregistered
netifd: alfa (6932): registermode: 0001 - automatic
netifd: alfa (6932): availabledataclasses: 0000 - (null)
netifd: alfa (6932): currentcellularclass: 0001 - gsm
netifd: alfa (6932): provider_id: (null)
netifd: alfa (6932): provider_name: (null)
netifd: alfa (6932): roamingtext: (null)
netifd: alfa (6932): mbim[6932] Subscriber registration failed (code 1)
netifd: alfa (6932): sessionid: 0
netifd: alfa (6932): activationstate: 0000 - unknown
netifd: alfa (6932): voicecallstate: 0000 - none
netifd: alfa (6932): nwerror: 0000 - unknown
netifd: alfa (6932): iptype: 0000 - default
root: mbim bringup failed, retry in 15s
The error (registration failed) is the same with all three mobile operators available here. In Windows 11, the error is "No Service". It does scan for the operators correctly, and shows the name of the operator whose SIM card is inserted above the "No Service" message, but offers to switch to eSIM.
On desktop Linux, it crashes Modem Manager with an invalid (too short) MBIM message.
Could you please post the output of cat /sys/kernel/debug/usb/devices from either OpenWrt or your desktop Linux?
Sure! Here it is, but with the serial numbers censored out.
Search for "USB DATA CARD"
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The port is there, you just need a driver. Since this modem is not known to the current driver(s) you need to add it manually:
echo "0e8d 7129" > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id
Please share the Windows driver pack for this modem if you have one.
I don't have a Windows driver pack, as nothing came with the modem and nothing is offered for download by Alfa Network. In Windows, there are indeed 8 unknown USB serial ports.
Adding the USB ID to the option driver under Linux also creates 8 serial ports. /dev/ttyUSB4 responds to AT commands. Do you want me to try anything in particular?
ATI
XS5G03
XSQUARE.XS5G03.MD.XS.03.04
OK
Thank you. I would try to manually setup a connection on either OpenWrt or desktop Linux using MBIM command line tools, without using ModemManager.
I have already tried. I cannot get it to register in the network. It transitions from searching to deregistered.
Are you sure you need authentication with that APN? Do you have other alternative APNs you could try? Maybe the modem fails to register because it can't get the initial bearer up? Now that you have AT commands you could look at AT+CGDCONT? and maybe configure context 1 with some valid APN. Preferably without auth. Assuming the modem will use that for the initial bearer. Which we don't know
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Bad question. APN and authentication come into play after network registration, and this is what fails for me. In other words, the APN and PAP/CHAP credentials have never been sent to the modem, because earlier commands (namely, waiting for it to be registered in the network) fail.