Have an existing ZTE MC7010 (router & antenna in one).
Don't think it supports OpenWrt, so looking to replace it with compatible hardware.
My MC7010 does NOT support wifi, so I have a separate AP for that. Hence, any router hardware WITH wifi support will be wasted.
Preferably EU sourced, since US some distance away. Do have DE Amazon (& other stores) in the area.
Bridge the ZTE, put an Openwrt capable device behind it ?
So, your answer confused me. Should I be bridging the 5G router bc OpenWrt does not support 5g routers, so I need to use a bog-standard device behind it?
Or does OpenWrt require a wifi enabled device (AP)?
What kind of device is OpenWrt intended for? I know the name indicates a "wireless router", which is how most routers come.
So stock openwrt is not geared up for mobile modems for LTE 5G. While one surely could roll one's own, one might as well start from one of the specialised OpenWrt based distributions like:
https://www.ofmodemsandmen.com/
Caveat, I never tried this firmware, but were I in your shoes that is where I would start my research...
And then I would keep cake-autorate in the back of my mind in case latency is important...
if you really want a 5g router supported by Openwrt you will have to see the following list:
https://openwrt.org/toh/views/toh_lte_modem_supported
I am sure (even if I don't have it) that among those on the list one in 5G is:
Appreciate the info, Gentlemen.
Will have a look at all options.... interesting possibilities....
It does, but there aren't many supported 5G devices out there
The 7101 is one of the cheaper ones (sometimes < 300€).
You don't need, but if you're going to buy something new, why not keep the 5G part as it is, it'd be cheaper, and you'll have more options.
Even if you'd get something with at least one multi gig port, to keep up with the ZTE.
This approach sounds the most logical.
OK, so it occurs to me that I should try OpenWrt on a Raspberry Pi.... Behind my ZTE 5g antenna, bridged through to the Pi.
I don't need wifi, since I have a separate AP anyway. I like to have a powerful cpu, & I already have 2x Gb (PoE) switches.
I haven't done this sort of setup before.... I've read that the Pi image for OpenWrt has a preset IP of 192.168.1.1. My current subnet is "0.1", so I can easily connect a PC to the Pi & work on it that way (by changing PC IP to same subnet).
I do have a question on the Pi image though.... It seems to me that after writing the image to the Pi SD, that I SHOULD be able to mount the SD card somewhere, & edit any relevant config files to change settings sufficiently, instead of trying to connect to it on LAN. I will try mounting SD anyway.....
Re bridging the 5g antenna/router, how is that implemented with IPs? Does the bridged 5g device retain the WAN IP, but NAT/DHCP occurs on OpenWrt? Does the 5g ZTE get a private IP, or just have the WAN IP? (otherwise ZTE is not reachable when its not connected to isp)
Tnx all in anticipation...
yes you can
the WAN side IP gets "forwarded" to the device behind the 5g device, where the NATing should take place.
for my modem, one LAN port gets the WAN side IP forwarded, the others stay the same - NATed.
this is however device specific.
You guys are always fast responders, appreciate the update.
I realised that, per the Pi OpenWrt notes, since the Pi only has ONE Eth port, it needs a 2nd via a USB/ETH adapter.
https://openwrt.org/toh/raspberry_pi_foundation/raspberry_pi#raspberry_pi
I guess a ROUTER does need to connect 2 separate networks, so TWO ETH interfaces would be required.
The Pi spec includes a switch. Currently my 5g ZTE is connected directly into a PoE switch. Its PoE powered. I have 2 (interconnected) switches catering to all devices.
Should OpenWrt function correctly if I cable both WAN & LAN cables into SAME switch as ZTE modem & possibly other devices, or should the bridged modem & OpenWrt router (WAN port) be on a separate logical cabling segment. ie separated switch from the NATted network?.
( So PoE ZTE & OpenWrt WAN port on their own private switch. Then OpenWrt LAN port on the general switch(es) for NATted network? )
I was just gonna plug all devices WAN/LAN/whatever into (non separated) available switch port, which would mean both WAN & LAN traffic on ONE logical network. Theoretically the two routers may have to be communicating via MAC address (rather than IP address) for this to work. Not sure, never had a dual-router setup, so this is interesting for me.
Somewhat unenthused about using a USB based interface on an infrastructure device, even if the USB speed is sufficient.
My final question today is :
Is there any reason from a OpenWrt perspective to have a preference for the better Pi5 hardware? Seems to me, there is no real benefit, except for faster cpu. However Pi5 requires a SNAPSHOT version of OpenWrt..... ie not stable yet. I would have to wait for a final release of Pi5 OpenWrt. There is no way I'm installing snapshot version of firmware onto an infrastructure device.
With a managed switch, you can put the modem and the LAN on separate VLANs then trunk them into the Pi's single port. The Pi would take in wan on one network and route it out to lan on another network using the same cable. This can be expanded to include guest networks etc. by adding more VLANs. The overall concept is called router-on-a-stick or one-armed router.
If your switch is unmanaged you'll need two ports on the Pi and also some way to power up the modem while it is on the separate network.
So, using a managed switch, w a WAN-side VLAN & LAN-side VLAN, I can allocate the ONE Pi ETH cable to BOTH VLANs, so that WAN traffic & LAN traffic are carried on the same cable?
Would that not stress the the Pi's eth port traffic out?... Although even w 5g, WAN speed is LESS than 1Gb.
So, basically you're confirming... I would need to have a separated WAN-side (unmanaged) switch if I was to connect both routers via a switch.
Or, thirdly.... power the modem via PoE injector & plug modem ETH cable directly into the WAN port of the Pi, then the Pi LAN port into the (unmanaged) switch for LAN traffic.
For the time being, I may be able to just separate my 2 switches (I do have plenty port capacity). Have 1 unmanaged switch serving the 2 routers (WAN side), have 2nd unmanaged switch serving LAN side.
Yes in that situation you should limit the wan and/or LAN vlan to at most 500/500 Mbps (with appropriate overhead settings)... each packet will now traverse the same ethernet cable twice and hence will eat both ingress and egress capacity and worst case you can only transfer gross 500/500 continuously...