I try to make the 4G module work and it does after enabling it with the uconsole-4g enable
the usb0 appear correct with ifconfig, got an IP etc
but after a quick short time I get disconnected
then usb0 is still present and same IP config but no connection whatso ever…
what could be the issue ?
I am running dex image bookworm
Try different APN settings from your 4G provider. I had to change from IPv6-related settings to IPv4 for stable connection with Orange Flex in Poland. Initially it was connecting/disconnecting several times per minute.
how do you do that ?
Well it depends on your mobile network provider. In my case initially I was using command
nmcli c add type gsm ifname ttyUSB2 con-name 4gnet apn internetipv6 gsm.username internetipv6 gsm.password internetipv6
and when faced connection stability issues I have replaced it with
nmcli c add type gsm ifname ttyUSB2 con-name 4gnet apn internet gsm.username internet gsm.password internet
Now the connection is stable. Speed is not so huge though, but I think it is related to GSM antenna placement.
In summary, probably your network settings are incorrect and you need to fix it. I suppose
How can get gsm.username and gsm.password of my SIM Card? Orange in Poland too
You can try using mine, it should be same for Orange Flex. I have googled for it over Internet
I’m having similar issues with my provider/APN. I’ve upgraded the firmware to 9011 and I’m fairly certain that everything is working as the flashing finished without errors and I get expected results on all AT commands, usb0 shows up etc…
But whenever I activate a mobile connection it immediately disconnects or I don’t get a working internet connection. I’m in the UK and I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions on which provider and APNs to use around here?
So far I’ve tried EE (APN: everywhere), Vodafone (APN: internet) and Smarty/Three (APN: mob.asm.net) and none of these give me a stable internet connection, although with all of them I can register on a mobile network and send/receive texts and calls. What am I missing?
Hey, it sounds like the module might be going into a power-saving mode or there’s an issue with the network configuration. Have you tried checking the power management settings for the USB device? You can also look at the logs with dmesg or journalctl right after it disconnects to see if there’s any error message. Sometimes, these modules have firmware updates that can help too.
Oh yes, that was one point I wasn’t thinking about - thanks! Also just saw in TLP that my usb is on autosuspend, so will change that.
But funnily enough I just wanted to post my modem manager logs when I connected it using a different APN for Three (the one that Smarty says I should not use, three.co.uk) and now I suddenly have a stable internet connection. So all good and looks like it’s just about the correct settings. Maybe this helps someone with similar issues. I can confirm that the 9011 firmware update for the module works well for me.
Hi @Xysma - I’m trying to get 4G working with three.co.uk as well. I’ve flashed the firmware to 9011 & can see usb0 with an IP address but cannot ping or resolve anything externally.
I’ve tried both ‘three.co.uk’ & ‘3internet’ as the APN (with no user or password) but having no joy whatsoever. Anything I might have missed?
Best Regards
Actually, I am a little confused - After flashing the 9011 FW I thought there was no need to create a connection detailing the access point name and APN with:
sudo nmcli c add type gsm ifname ttyUSB2 con-name 4gnet apn [yourapn] gsm.username [gsmusername] gsm.password [gsmpassword]
Apparently it should just auto connect?
if you are other module number ,eg :9011
you don’t need any following steps
just make sure the SIM card inserted correctlly,and use sudo ifconfig to see if there is a usb0
if there is a usb0,then all is set
normally you will have ipv4 and ipv6 address,now you can use 4G card to view internet
Is it better to update to the 9011 firmware? i’m on the 9001 and cant get a connection using t-mobile in the USA though so i don’t know if that’s an issue my connection starts but then disconnects within probably 30 seconds. how can i check logs to see what errors are being thrown up?
Yes, it’s really not straightforward setting this up.
It’s true that you no longer need to use nmcli as soon as you’ve upgraded to 9011 firmware. Normally a usb0 wireless connection should activate automatically as soon as you enable the 4G module. But in my case that connection only lasts for a ~15 seconds and then deactivates (happy to post logs if anyone wants to have a look).
What I did instead was to create a new mobile connection - I’m on Bookworm/KDE so that can be done in the Wifi settings. I enter 3 as the provider and “three.co.uk” as APN and that connects stably for me.
You can also use software for this, e.g. something like Modem Manager lets you create mobile connections and already automatically populates the correct values for me. Also the connection only works with ipv4, not ipv6.
Plus in case your module doesn’t assign the APN correctly they have some info here specifically for 9011 that I found helpful. You can check your current config with:
echo -en “AT+CGDCONT?\r\n” |sudo socat - /dev/ttyUSB2,crnl
Let me know if that helps.
I’m not sure if it’s better to upgrade to 9011. You have more options to tweak settings on nmcli, which you kind of lose with the upgrade.
Maybe try and get it to connect stably with 9001 first and then upgrade? if you’re having the same issue as some of us on this thread it might be a matter of finding the correct APN for your provider. Here in the UK two of the providers I tested weren’t compatible with uconsole at all unfortunately.
Modem logs are here: sudo journalctl -u NetworkManager
For the general status of your 4G module try: sudo service uconsole-4g-cm4 status
Thank you @Xysma for taking the time to reply. I had already ‘upgraded’ (…?) to 9011 but I will have a crack with KDE & Modem Manager (I had no joy with MM previously) and your other suggestions. Expect a flood of questions in the near future. Thanks again.
Thanks for the APN suggestion I got it to connect using the one for NON-LTE devices which I thought was odd but maybe it has to do with the frequency bands. Im not going to mess with any upgrades for now since it seems stable. I was even able to send and receive sms messages using ModemManager GUI. does anyone know of software that will do SMS and MMS and manage contacts etc?
glad it’s working now and yes that is odd with the non-lte APN. I haven’t really found any good software for SMS and MMS - the only one besides ModemManager GUI I tried is the GNOME Calls app but that doesn’t do either. if anyone in the community has suggestions I’d also love to hear them.
my personal experience i updated to 9011, then wrote some scripts
#! /bin/sh
uconsole-4g-cm4 enable
sleep 15s
sudo systemctl restart ModemManager
sleep 10s
mmcli -L
and
#! /bin/sh
uconsole-4g-cm4 disable
to start and stop the 4g as needed…
used menulibre to add some menu entries to run them…
popped in a t-mobile card… and added a broadband connection auto config t-mobile… and it all worked… gnome calls… texts… i read when you update firmware you could use a bt headset… havent got that to work with gnome-phone
is the actual app called gnome-phone? I can’t find that anywhere. I found one called gnome calls on flat hub. can you post a screenshot of the app so I can make sure I have the right thing when I find it? and does it do sms with a GUI?
yes, it is Gnome-calls … I use package manager, not that it matters… but it is there… its just for calls… texts go through modem manager as mentioned above… but how you interact is going to depend on what desktop you used… I am running the xfce image, I liked it better on my devterm and it is awesome on the uconsole… just have to add the bluetooth (bluemanz or whatever) yourself… and then the update breaks wifi so you have to do rasp-config to set the DHCP back to the default… and it comes back… but the important thing is using a sim that has a preset for setting up a broadband connection… the work is done for you in modem manager… and call in and notify the provider so they don’t cut it off after a few hours… t-mobile is the king of “our system says not compatible, but wahtever we will register it”
after you start the modem, it becomes available
