Cheap Ethernet mobile modem

Does such a thing exist? A cheap 4G modem I can use with a router to create a test network. Needs to be Ethernet.

I think this is the sort of thing I was looking for. On the high side of cheap but they exist nonetheless.
https://www.box.co.uk/LB2120-100UKS-Netgear-LB2120-4...

That’s a router. If it’s got erhernet port(s) it’s a router.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

If it’s got erhernet port(s) it’s a router.

I've got an Openreach ECI modem which has an Ethernet port. Is that a router?

Anyways, need has passed so I didn't do proper research. That one may or may not have worked for me whatever it is.

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

If it’s got erhernet port(s) it’s a router.

I've got an Openreach ECI modem which has an Ethernet port. Is that a router?

Anyways, need has passed so I didn't do proper research. That one may or may not have worked for me whatever it is.

Touché. To be explicitly clear in reference to your question, 😉 mobile network NTE consumer gear that connects via USB would be considered a modem. Every other type that has Ethernet port is really a router.

Edit: a “modem” equivalent with an Ethernet port is to search for LTE routers that support pass-through / bridge mode of operation…some the Huawei, Netgear, Zyxel, Teltonika or even MikroTik LTE boxes will do this. Some IOT specific devices support bridge mode operation.

Edited by Pheasant (Wed 02-Mar-22 10:45:42)

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Touché. To be explicitly clear in reference to your question, 😉 mobile network NTE consumer gear that connects via USB would be considered a modem. Every other type that has Ethernet port is really a router.

Ha, is it a router if its doing NAT, and not a router if its bridging? (even if the mobile network is doing CGNAT anyway).

Very much semantics.

Shall we just call it a box 😎🤣

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

If it’s got erhernet port(s) it’s a router.

I've got an Openreach ECI modem which has an Ethernet port. Is that a router?

Anyways, need has passed so I didn't do proper research. That one may or may not have worked for me whatever it is.

Quite possibly, the Huawei ones were certainly capable of routing it's just the openreach config didn't have that feature enabled.

Regarding the OP's question maybe the GL-INET routers as they're often running a variant of openwrt so you may be able to bridge the cellular to the ethernet (Although as I don't have one I can't confirm for sure)

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

If it’s got erhernet port(s) it’s a router.

I've got an Openreach ECI modem which has an Ethernet port. Is that a router?

Actually, yes. Defaulted to bridge mode. As was the Openreach Huawei "modem". Some of us experimented with the latter as a normal modem/router once the unlocked firmware came along.

In reply to a post by pluralist:

Actually, yes. Defaulted to bridge mode. As was the Openreach Huawei "modem". Some of us experimented with the latter as a normal modem/router once the unlocked firmware came along.

And some of us converted Zyxel routers into modems.

The terminology is not what it was in the dial up days. 😃

Including myself, to feed my ASUS RT-N66U.

In reply to a post by pluralist:

Actually, yes. Defaulted to bridge mode. As was the Openreach Huawei "modem". Some of us experimented with the latter as a normal modem/router once the unlocked firmware came along.

OK, if I obtain a Huawei "EchoLife HG612 3B" and unlock that can it still be a modem much the same as an ECI but I get to see some stats? I seem to be reading it can also do PPPoE so more than just a bridge modem?

I know its not 4G and going off me original topic but its all part of the same project!

Yes. The unlocked version still defaults to bridge mode but allows the stats. Though IIRC one of the attenuation and power lines duplicates and loses the other in the GUI. Always use the command line to get the stats, which are correct.

Also IIRC no included WAP.

This fits the bill, but it's only Cat4 LTE - may not be a problem if you just need a test setup

https://teltonika-networks.com/product/trb140/

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

Does such a thing exist? A cheap 4G modem I can use with a router to create a test network. Needs to be Ethernet.

If you have money, both have Ethernet ports, but I would assume they do NAT, and unlikely to do a 'bridge' or 'half bridge' mode. This is because the majority of mobile networks don't offer a public IP. (EE in the UK sometimes do on IPv6, and some of Three's connections are).

Netgear M1 (4G) - £287
https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-MR1100-100EUS-Night...

Netgear M2 (5G) - £717
https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-MR1100-100EUS-Night...