One week ago I bought E3372 LTE modem to upgrade my old 3G modem. But the old connection configuration based on wvdial not works with a new modem (new one use huawei_cdc_ncm profile, model VID:12d1 PID:14fe before modeswitch). After reading tons of forums, I not found any proper, clear way to create automatic LTE connection with my E3372 modem. Then I read Modem-manage and Network-Manger manuals and use Network-manager to create LTE connection.
I need GSM connection in my summer home to security monitoring, temperature measurements, radiosondes tracking etc. The old modem works from 4 years, but 3G signal is weak, so connection speed is not enough and have large latency. In my tests the LTE connection in this place is better of course. The summer house is 3 hours away from my home. So I need reliable connection to remote access it all the year. During 4 years I have only one serious failure based on hardware (voltage regulator had parameters drift and voltage drop from 5V to only 4.1V, not enough for GSM modem to establish stable connection), so I lost usable connection for 3 months (winter/spring).
Configuration is tested on Armbian Ubuntu (ARMc7l), but it will work on any other Linux with Network-manager and Modem-manager packages, I hope.
Installation requested packages
root@paradyzium:~# apt install usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data
root@paradyzium:~# apt install modemmanager
Software versions used:
usb-modeswitch 2.5.2
usb-modeswitch-data 20191128-3
mmcli 1.12.8
nmcli 1.22.10
kernel Linux 5.10.21-sunxi #21.02.3 SMP Mon Mar 8 00:28:04 UTC 2021 armv7l GNU/Linux
Armbian 21.02.3 Focal
Modem identification and state with Modem-manager
root@paradyzium:~# mmcli -L
/org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0 [huawei] E3372
root@paradyzium:~# mmcli -m 0
--------------------------------
General | dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0
| device id: b6c26e9cbbd1ab99545211cd765ff8154103a5ee
--------------------------------
Hardware | manufacturer: huawei
| model: E3372
| firmware revision: 21.327.62.00.55
| supported: gsm-umts
| current: gsm-umts
| equipment id: 86xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
--------------------------------
System | device: /sys/devices/platform/soc/1c1b000.usb/usb3/3-1
| drivers: huawei_cdc_ncm, option1
| plugin: Huawei
| primary port: ttyUSB0
| ports: wwx001e101f0000(net), ttyUSB0(at), ttyUSB1(at)
--------------------------------
Status | unlock retries: sim-pin(3),sim-puk(10),sim-pin2(3),sim-puk2(10)
| state: connected
| power state: on
| access tech: lte
| signal quality: 64% (recent)
Let’s make connection
Manual way (optional, to test modem, every time if you want to connect) .
Create script (change PIN and APN to proper values):
echo '#!/bin/bash
mmcli -m 0 --simple-connect="pin=1234,apn=internet"
sleep 2
dhclient -v wwx001e101f0000
'
> connect_lte.sh
chmod a+x connect_lte.sh
run ./connect_lte.sh to establish connection.
Run mmcli -m 0 –reset to reset modem and disconnect.
Automatic way
Configure Network-manager to automatically connect to GMS network when modem is connected. It is one line command! Change PIN, APN, username and password to proper values.
root@paradyzium:~# nmcli c add type gsm ifname "*" con-name OrangeLTE apn internet connection.autoconnect yes gsm.username internet gsm.password internet gsm.pin 1234
To show connection status use command:
root@paradyzium:~# nmcli c
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
Home_network01 4d6abcff-7404-3077-9c6b-b91720a3b27d wifi wlan0
OrangeLTE 441fef1d-034a-327e-8cd7-deadbeef96a3 gsm ttyUSB0
Wi-Fi-testing 512e445b-4a00-3cf3-bf60-2badb1bf6fce wifi --
Wired connection 1 990227e8-6075-480e-86ac-131a32666c03 ethernet --
Active connections are bolded.
Results
Thanks to LTE technology and cdc_ncm profile modem speed is significally better that old one. I tested it with iperf3:
root@paradyzium:~# iperf3 -c ch.iperf.014.fr -p 18815
Connecting to host ch.iperf.014.fr, port 18815
[ 5] local 10.70.87.170 port 37426 connected to 45.91.92.191 port 18815
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr Cwnd
[ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 3.02 MBytes 25.4 Mbits/sec 0 455 KBytes
[ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 2.56 MBytes 21.5 Mbits/sec 0 572 KBytes
[ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 2.38 MBytes 20.0 Mbits/sec 0 687 KBytes
[ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 2.75 MBytes 23.1 Mbits/sec 0 794 KBytes
[ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 2.20 MBytes 18.4 Mbits/sec 0 906 KBytes
[ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 2.38 MBytes 20.0 Mbits/sec 0 1015 KBytes
[ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 2.50 MBytes 20.9 Mbits/sec 0 1.09 MBytes
[ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 1.25 MBytes 10.5 Mbits/sec 0 1.20 MBytes
[ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 2.48 MBytes 20.8 Mbits/sec 0 1.31 MBytes
[ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 2.50 MBytes 21.0 Mbits/sec 0 1.42 MBytes
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 24.0 MBytes 20.2 Mbits/sec 0 sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.62 sec 22.7 MBytes 18.0 Mbits/sec receiver
Connection speed is about 20Mbits/s with new modem and about 350-150kbit/s with the old 3G modem.
