Help - need a 4G modem (modem only, with bridge mode).

Hi. I need a 4G modem to connect to my Asus router. Needs bridge mode, external antenna connection, and to be able to specify and lock onto chosen bands. No router/wife needed.

Any ideas? Each one I read up about ends up having issues.

Budget up to £200.

Thanks.

Edited by deleted (Wed 16-Jun-21 16:56:20)

I think there is almost no market for such a device. The technically high end products such as the Netgear M1 which have modern 4G modems inside are expensive. Older products, such as USB modems are horrendous in 2021. Being able to lock onto bands is a very advanced feature. You may be better with a rooted Qualcomm powered phone, tethered via USB, if you want to override what the network operators are designing.

MikroTik wAP ac LTE6 kit.

The unit itself can go outside, but if you still want external antennas then you can buy the pigtails and install the connectors yourself:

https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/UM/wAP+ac+kit...

You can bridge the LTE connection straight through to a physical interface or a VLAN to maintain management access to the device

https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Interface/LTE#...

In reply to a post by jpm:

MikroTik wAP ac LTE6 kit.

Category 6 LTE ?? Circa 2014 era technology.
When a £300 OnePlus Nord will give you Category 18 LTE and even 5G compatibility.

The modem market is seriously lacking.

I'm sorry but I can't add to the others comments around the 4G requirements.

No router/wife needed.

But I might be able to put you in touch with a divorce lawyer for the second part of your requirement

I thought he hadn't got SatNav, and needed a map-reader. (Also see his nick).

Edited by pluralist (Thu 17-Jun-21 11:42:33)

What about a Netgear LB2120 ? - not the latest technology & not sure if it can lock to specific bands.

Does the OnePlus Nord come with a honking big antenna to get a signal when in a remote location? Can it be powered over the ethernet cable and will it survive being outside 365 days a year?

Nope thought not. If you need a MikroTik LTE6 Kit then Cat18 and 5G are highly likely to be utterly useless to you anyway.

In reply to a post by jabuzzard:

Nope thought not. If you need a MikroTik LTE6 Kit then Cat18 and 5G are highly likely to be utterly useless to you anyway.

Forget 5G, but being able to connect to multiple frequencies at once (5x CA) can be useful in rural locations when reception changes with weather and moisture in greenery etc.

People seem to assume LTE is UMTS, and does not change. If everyone in a rural area using LTE moved from Cat 6 to Cat 18 capable devices they would ALL see an improvement in speed. Without any transmitter work. Qualcomm has demonstrated this.

I think it is an assumption that the OP is rural, when we have no information. They may just want fast reliable speeds in a city where the fixed line broadband is long line FTTC or ADSL.

I find it depressing that the likes of MikroTik have not upgraded their products with newer chips, the antennas will be identical as the freqs were defined years ago. Qualcomm, HiSilicon and MediaTek don't make Cat 6 only LTE chips any longer. So what are they using?? Anyone taken the cover off?

The OP asks for band locking which is an advanced function that is easy with a Qualcomm powered Android using software such as NSG. The OnePlus devices are easily rooted to enable access to the Qualcomm modem for such functions.

I doubt you can run Qualcomm QPST against a MikroTik ?

Pluralist has shown the difference between a Cat 6 and Cat 18 device in his .sig
And the OP has not replied.

Edited by jchamier (Thu 17-Jun-21 20:26:47)

I agree it's bad that higher end routers (e.g. ones that have mounting options, PoE, bridging modes etc.) are limited to pretty basic LTE modems...but what can you do about it? It is what it is unfortunately. Even Cisco's new ISR routers only have CAT6 as an installed option, CAT18 is a pluggable module option and it's nearly a grand.

In reply to a post by autopilot:

Hi. I need a 4G modem to connect to my Asus router. Needs bridge mode, external antenna connection, and to be able to specify and lock onto chosen bands. No router/wife needed.

Any ideas? Each one I read up about ends up having issues.

Budget up to £200.

Thanks.

Just throwing this out there for the wolf pack to tear apart 😂 (just an idea, budget would be strained/broken)

1. Nano-ITX chassis with available m.2 PCIe expansion slot, running something like pfSense or OPNSense on it.

2. Sierra Wireless, AirPrime EM7690 Cat-20 embedded module (around £226+VAT) or push the boat out with an EM9191(worldwide 5G and LTE bands )

I like, build your own. The Sierra Wireless cards I’ve used in the past were pretty configurable.

I assume for Cisco and similar just have very little demand for these modules. Home users need this sort of setup and aren’t Cisco’s target market.

Edited by jchamier (Thu 17-Jun-21 21:17:02)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

I like, build your own. The Sierra Wireless cards I’ve used in the past were pretty configurable.

Compatible with Qualcomm QPST too

Or simply plug a decent phone into the USB port of a good router like my (now old) Asus RT-N66U and use that. Then decided with only two other devices neither of which would be used for broadband use I may as well just tether. Making my phone available for normal use at the same time instead of being upstairs plugged into the router.

That was what I did originally, and the only reason I got the B311 was to provide 24/7 cloud access for the security cameras I bought later. The speeds it gives are sufficient for the purpose and my much more recent smart TV, plus my iPad and laptop.

I don't do gaming.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

I find it depressing that the likes of MikroTik have not upgraded their products with newer chips, the antennas will be identical as the freqs were defined years ago. Qualcomm, HiSilicon and MediaTek don't make Cat 6 only LTE chips any longer. So what are they using?? Anyone taken the cover off?

They use a miniPCIe card and given that MikroTik and the like are not in the business of manufacturing such cards they are where they are. You can buy a SXT-R if you want which comes san any modem and source something yourself. There are very few LTE-18 miniPCIe cards to purchase and they are very expensive.

Basically the market is not there. So while a phone might be cheap they are not designed to be used 24x7 as an internet connection and would likely die is short order if used as such.

I would note that people needing a separate 4G/5G modem is very low to begin with so basically market forces are why we are where we are. Further these are realistically stop gap solutions till a bit of glass fibre arrives at your doorstep and manufactures have to take that into account when looking at product life cycles.

Sadly not, confirmed by Netgear.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I have found that both the 4/5G modem market is incredibly lacking, as is the DSL one. It’s annoying that so many decent routers exist but you can’t find many decent modems to pair with it, it’s bizarre.

At the consumer level 95%-98% of users would rather have one box than two. No market for separate modems.

You might find some high end expensive ones, for rack mounting. Cisco and the like.

In reply to a post by autopilot:

Sadly not, confirmed by Netgear.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I have found that both the 4/5G modem market is incredibly lacking, as is the DSL one. It’s annoying that so many decent routers exist but you can’t find many decent modems to pair with it, it’s bizarre.

The wireless modem market these days really is either;
a) discrete devices for the commercial/industrial M2M (machine to machine) which doesn't require enormous bandwidths, beyond what is readily available or
b) embedded market the for laptop/embedded machines using discrete mini PCIe or m.2 PCIe wireless cards of the type I posted above.

Not quite in budget and probably difficult to get hold of currently as everywhere appears to be out of stock, but the Draytek 2862Ln, 2620Ln or the 2865Lac would do most of what you're after.

They do have WiFi but it's effectively disabled when in bridge mode. [actually, if you make use of VLANs, you could still use the WiFi if you wanted]

I have a 2862Ln in the loft, powered by PoE (using a 12v PoE splitter) being used as 2nd WAN for my main router downstairs.

Have you looked at the Zyxel products? still over budget but less than Cisco!

e.g.

https://www.zyxel.com/uk/en/products_services/4G-LTE...

Standard-compliant: 3GPP UE DL Category 18, UL Category 13
Supports LTE bands: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B20/B28/38/40/41
Supports DL transmission mode TM1/2/3/4/6/7/8/9

They have also introduced a 5G version

John