pretty much works out of the box (installing packages and config is fine)
speed is not really an issue, I value stability over performance
I know there are recommendations on the forum, but I've tried two sticks so far, both 'worked' , one mysteriously died, the other flakes out and requires a power cycle after a month or so. I could script a power-cycle of the stick but vastly prefer a 'stable-by-design' solution.
A link to the product page on amazon.de would be much appreciated,
Thanks!
Based on your location, there might a provider that offers this usb dongle for a reasonable price.
The dongle comes in 2 versions, software applied.
The s version is simply a usb modem without routing capabilites. You have to find your provider's settings to make a ppp, not that really hard. That means if you have a sim card that offers a public IP, then you are exposed to the public internet and you need a good firewall. There is a downturn on the speed. It gets to a max of down/up 50/10Mbps.
The h version acts like a usb router that does a NAT for you. it means that you get a local IP eg 192.168.1.1 as default gateway. No need for firewall or ppp configuration. You are getting the full speed of the modem, based on your location and provider's limits.
Everything is a matter of configuration for both of the versions. I would not recommend the change from on version to another, by opening the dongle and messing with it.
thanks @atux_null for the suggestion.
The 3372s is hard to find though - it's all 3372h. Moreover, I think my current stick is actually a whitelabel 3372 , (but I won't be able to check the actual HW for a while). At least on my model, changing from one mode to the other doesn't require messing with the hardware: the usbmodeswitch utility allows to swith it back to modem mode... but that configuration also isn't stable.
Running it as a pure dongle/modem is much preferred, there's already an openwrt box running with a spare USB port. (FWIW I'm not aware of any LTE not being behind CG-NAT, an LTE connection with a public IP would great)
let's see if any other suggestions pop up, but thanks again for the pointer to the 3372s
For beefier higher performance device consider the B818-263. It allows you to plug in an an analogue phone to use minutes from SIM and is Cat19.
Has been rock solid for me for business and personal use. There is a Polish forum with hundreds of users and positive reports detailing connections into the hundreds of megabits/s. I personally get fantastic LTE stats using only indoor antenna.
thanks @Lynx , thanks for the suggestion. it's a tad pricey (and somewhat overkill). I have a HUAWEI 5G CPE Pro which i'm trying to free up ... talk about overkill
I'll go with @atux_null 's suggestion and see if a reflash from h to s leads to a more stable solution.