No, you don't need QMAP unless you want to do multiple APNs or test max speed. But the latter comes with a buffer bloat price, so it's not a configuration I'd recommend for normal usage.
Carrier aggregation is done be the modem and is fully automatic
Back to the original topic.
I am looking for a board to put a 5G modem on.
Requirements:
M.2 B-Key with USB3
(M.2 witjh Sata is no use here...)
Sim Card slot.
An interesting one is this:
Ten64. https://www.crowdsupply.com/traverse-technologies/ten64
A bit overkill probably, but looks like it might be a nice hacking/development/tinkering platform. I have ordered one....
I have no answers for you, just a couple more factors to make the search even more difficult: power and cooling.
4G and 5G modems are extremely power hungry when aggregating bands/channels. The Sierra Wireless EM9190 specs says up to 2280 mA for sub-6 EN-DC operation. The mmWave numbers are still TBD. A major problem is that you need to pull that current from the 3.3V pins of the m.2 slot. Whether that is possible or not depends on the 3.3V regulator on the board. A feature which is rarely documented. You'll probably have to figure it out based on pictures.
You can probably operate a 5G modem well below those extreme limits. But having enough umpfhh for extreme current peaks is important for the stability. The modems will reset to protect themselves against brownouts.
Proper cooling is easier to add. Still something to consider if you buy a complete system with casing. You shouldn't put a 5G modem in a small closed case without any sort of cooling.
That is one of the reasons I ordered that Ten64 box. The people who build that have tested several 5G modems in it, and they can confirm that the SIM8200EA-M2 works just fine in it. And the box has a fan in it.
Right now I am actually testing with an external USB3 enclosure, and yes I need to power it separately to get it to work.
The Ten64 box is a cool design as for the 10G SFP+, the M.2 slot, lot of RAM and virtualization support. Might be perfect to host a web server home or a firewall. But as for a WIFI AP, I don't quite see the interest as a cheap OpenWRT AP can reach 866bit/s without a breeze and it is separate hardware so more complicated to hack. Quite expensive for $650.
It is not cheap. But this is going to be a development box. I hope that in half a year or so cheaper boards with POE and an M.2 slot will become available.
The Ten64 board is also rather advance, in that it routes both USB 3.1 and PCIe to the M.2 B-Key slot. Will be interesting to see what happens when I insert a modem in that.
Hi Qiawabor,
how is your compiling doing? r u succeed?
I'm currently stuck on the integration the sim8200 driver into 21.02.0-rc3. could you give some tip? on how to compile the qim_wwan_sim8200.c ?
I'm new to owrt compiling. thanks,
John
glad to share with u.
According to the official document 《SIM8200 Series_Linux_USB_User Guide_V1.00.pdf》，I compiled the system image successfully，here is the package contail：《SIM8200 Series_Linux_USB_User Guide_V1.00.pdf》、image、drivers、simcom-cm、and my notes,hope can help you
Thanks Bill,
I already have the doc. but I don't know how to compile the driver into owrt. since the doc is for linux distros.
section 2.1.1, since we can find { USB_DEVICE(ALINK_VENDOR_ID, IMCOM_PRODUCT_SIM7100E),
.driver_info = RSVD(5) | RSVD(6) }, so I think we need to skip this section direct to 2.2 right?
And in section 2.2,
Step1:
cd
Step 2: Build the driver.
sudo make -C /lib/modules/uname -r/build M=pwd/drivers/usb/serial obj-m=option.o modules
Step 3: Load the driver and reboot.
sudo cp drivers/usb/serial/option.ko /lib/modules/uname -r/kernel/drivers/usb/serial
sudo depmod
which is the kernel path of openwrt?
is this one right? /home/johndoe/openwrt/build_dir/target-aarch64_cortex-a72_musl/linux-bcm27xx_bcm2711/linux-5.4.124
And for step 3, could you please help to identify the exact path of openwrt?
thanks,
John
emmm
the kernel is under:
target-aarch64_cortex-a72_musl/linux-bcm27xx_bcm2711/linux-5.4.124
option.c is under drivers/usb/serial
qmi_wwan.c is under drivers/net/usb
and i just follow the 《SIM8200 Series_Linux_USB_User Guide_V1.00.pdf》 to modify option.c and rename qmi_wwan_simcom.c to qmi_wwan.c and to replace the qmi_wwan.c in linux kernel
ok, thanks I see.
but when I did that, mine doesn't work. I think this is because I'm using the latest 21.02.0 rc3. which version did you use? 18.x?
my release is openwrt 19.07
thanks Bill, and just let you know, I finally made it. I use the rc3 firmware, didn't change anything ,use original qmi_wan driver, and it worked. just don't use the dialup program comes from simcom, use opewnrt default connection. create a new interface, WAN, the protocal select qmi_cell. input the right apn, then it works.
Glad to share with you and i will try your method right now!!!
I am using SIM8200-M2 HAT for 5G. But the speed I am getting is 34Mbps for downlink and 32Mbps for uplink. But when I checked the same sim I am using in the sim8200-m2 module in a 5G mobile device, the speed is about 800Mbps. Does anyone know why I am getting less speed? I am using the module with Jetson nano