UMTS USB Dongle not working in the United States

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

I use a Linksys WRT3200ACM in combination with a ZTE MF668A HSPA+ USB Stick Modem to connect WAN to the internet. This works fine in Europe (Austria) with all mobile network providers I tried so far.

When I bring over the router to the U.S. and putting in a U.S. SIM card (Lyca Mobie), the WAN interface will not connect.

This is the log output:

---
Thu Aug 15 00:43:04 2024 user.notice mwan3-hotplug[13464]: mwan3 hotplug on wan_mobile not called because interface disabled
Thu Aug 15 00:43:04 2024 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1]: DHCPREQUEST(br-wifi) 10.1.0.182 70:89:76:13:ef:6f
Thu Aug 15 00:43:04 2024 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1]: DHCPACK(br-wifi) 10.1.0.182 70:89:76:13:ef:6f Staubsauger
Thu Aug 15 00:43:05 2024 daemon.notice pppd[13615]: pppd 2.4.9 started by root, uid 0
Thu Aug 15 00:43:05 2024 daemon.notice pppd[13615]: Removed stale lock on ttyUSB1 (pid 12721)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: abort on (BUSY)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: abort on (NO CARRIER)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: abort on (ERROR)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: report (CONNECT)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: timeout set to 10 seconds
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: send (AT&F^M)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: expect (OK)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: AT&F^M^M
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: OK
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]:  -- got it
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: send (ATE1^M)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: expect (OK)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: ^M
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: ATE1^M^M
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: OK
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]:  -- got it
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: send (AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP",""^M)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: timeout set to 30 seconds
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: expect (OK)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: ^M
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP",""^M^M
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: OK
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]:  -- got it
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: send (ATD*99***1#^M)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: expect (CONNECT)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: ^M
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: ATD*99***1#^M^M
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: CONNECT
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]:  -- got it
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 local2.info chat[13616]: send ( ^M)
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 daemon.info pppd[13615]: Serial connection established.
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 kern.info kernel: [  342.482188] 3g-wan_mobile: renamed from ppp0
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 daemon.info pppd[13615]: Renamed interface ppp0 to 3g-wan_mobile
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 daemon.info pppd[13615]: Using interface 3g-wan_mobile
Thu Aug 15 00:43:07 2024 daemon.notice pppd[13615]: Connect: 3g-wan_mobile <--> /dev/ttyUSB1
---

But the WAN is still not connacted:

Screenshot 2024-08-14 183942
Screenshot 2024-08-14 183942934×103 6.16 KB

This is my WAN configuration:

config interface 'wan_mobile'
	option proto '3g'
	option device '/dev/ttyUSB1'
	option ipv6 'auto'
	option metric '33'

What could I try to get the WAN connected? I already tried to set an APN (fast.t-mobile.com, data.lycamobile.com).

Any advice is welcome!

2

This is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) of TMobi$e in the US.

Apologies, that won't work in the United States - see:

(I noticed they still have one 3G phone for sale, but it's 4G and 5G capable.)

EDIT:

T-Mobile shut down Sprint's networks on 31 March 2022 and shutdown their main networks on 1 July 2022

~From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G#Decline_and_decommissions

(Also note, US carriers also tend to lock-down devices by model - gleaned from the IMEI anyway.)

2 Likes
3

Thank you for pointing out. It obviously is a dead end :slight_smile:

1 Like
4

All 3G has been taken off the air in the USA. You will need a 4G or 5G modem for any carrier.

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5

Even here, providers have started to switch off 3G - happened to me with Magenta a few weeks ago. 2G still works, but that's not really an option. I upgraded to a used ZTE MF287 Pro with built-in 4G.

1 Like