Can I Use A Third Party Router To Connect to Spark LTE/4G ?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Can I Use A Third Party Router To Connect to Spark LTE/4G ?

isgq

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#258596 11-Oct-2019 19:04

Hi guys,

I am from Australia and need your help. I look after the IT for a company that has a head office in Australia and a remote office in New Zealand. We have purchased a new router (Cisco ISR1100 series) that has an LTE/4g interface and am trying to get it configured remotely.

The customer has put the Spark 4g sim into the Cisco router & I have set up a profile using 'Internet' as the APN and it seems to connect and get a NAT IP 100.x.x.x - but won't get access to the Internet at all. I asked the customer to put the sim in their mobile and it connects to the Internet with no issue and gets a proper public IP address 115.189.x.x. I called Spark support and they advise me that they don't support third party routers and the only compatible device is the Huawei b618. I find this hard to believe as I would expect as long as I have the correct details it would connect, unless there is some additional security they have on their network that locks it down to a MAC address.

Has anyone had any success in setting up a third party router/modem to connect to Spark's 4g network? If so can you provide me any guidance?

If its not possible, do you know if it will work on another provider like Vodafone?

Thanks in advance

Josh

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'That VDSL Cat'
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#2335757 11-Oct-2019 19:14

the fixed wireless network is restricted to the huawei modems we sell currently.

You may use a normal 4G sim however. (Just not the unlimited one)

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

jeffreyh

54 posts

Master Geek
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#2335762 11-Oct-2019 19:36

Hi
We use 1111 and have found some that have an acl on the cell interface that blocks access.

Apart from the interface stuff does the routing look ok?

shanes

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#2335763 11-Oct-2019 19:37

Is direct.telecom.co.nz still a valid APN?

gajan

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#2335766 11-Oct-2019 19:52

I assume as you are using the internet APN your using one of our standard SIMs (not one supplied with our WBB product). As such it should work with that APN.

We don’t officially support the configuration on such routers though so it’s going to need a bit of troubleshooting / trialling to get it going. The fact that your getting an IP address sounds promising (and that address range is correct for that APN).

- check routing (need default route to dialer interface).
- check your ip nat config is setup right.

- can you ping say 8.8.8.8 from the router itself ?

My comments and remarks are not necessarily of my employer.

isgq

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Wannabe Geek
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#2335772 11-Oct-2019 20:09

gajan: I assume as you are using the internet APN your using one of our standard SIMs (not one supplied with our WBB product). As such it should work with that APN.

We don’t officially support the configuration on such routers though so it’s going to need a bit of troubleshooting / trialling to get it going. The fact that your getting an IP address sounds promising (and that address range is correct for that APN).

- check routing (need default route to dialer interface).
- check your ip nat config is setup right.

- can you ping say 8.8.8.8 from the router itself ?

Thanks for the reply. Yes I have checked the NAT & Routing but it cant seem to get any internet access at all. I am not sure what the first hop is because the route is setup like this "ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 Cellular0/2/0"
If I try to ping 8.8.8.8 I get no reply. If I do a trace-route it doesn't get past the router, all replies time out.

I spent quite some time checking over the NAT, ACL & Routes and they all seem fine. We have the same router & setup for other sites in Australia and they work OK. I was thinking that I may be in a 'jailed' or locked down network that has no Internet access. I have seen this before on pre-paid services when you run out of credit, but its not the case here.

I even setup the PC to go through the router & also use the Spirit DNS servers to see if it would perhaps redirect me to a captcha portal, but nothing loads at all.. The interesting thing I noticed is when the customer put the SIM in their phone it connected to the internet and got a different IP range 115.189 as opposed to a 100.x range. It is possible that she was connected to some other network, but she did say she disconnected the Wifi and put the sim in. Looking up the IP that she gave me it is registered to Spirit mobile.. So not sure why she would get a different range unless it was connected somehow differently..

One thing I did find online is that it specifies to use the APN as 'Internet' with the authentication as Chap, with a blank username & password. The problem is on this Cisco router I can't set a blank username and also select Chap. I tried a dummy username & also set the authentication to none. Both of these options it gets an IP in the 100.x range but no internet access at all..

K8Toledo

1018 posts

Uber Geek
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#2335775 11-Oct-2019 20:27

isgq:

gajan: I assume as you are using the internet APN your using one of our standard SIMs (not one supplied with our WBB product). As such it should work with that APN.

We don’t officially support the configuration on such routers though so it’s going to need a bit of troubleshooting / trialling to get it going. The fact that your getting an IP address sounds promising (and that address range is correct for that APN).

- check routing (need default route to dialer interface).
- check your ip nat config is setup right.

- can you ping say 8.8.8.8 from the router itself ?

Thanks for the reply. Yes I have checked the NAT & Routing but it cant seem to get any internet access at all. I am not sure what the first hop is because the route is setup like this "ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 Cellular0/2/0"
If I try to ping 8.8.8.8 I get no reply. If I do a trace-route it doesn't get past the router, all replies time out.

I spent quite some time checking over the NAT, ACL & Routes and they all seem fine. We have the same router & setup for other sites in Australia and they work OK. I was thinking that I may be in a 'jailed' or locked down network that has no Internet access. I have seen this before on pre-paid services when you run out of credit, but its not the case here.

I even setup the PC to go through the router & also use the Spirit DNS servers to see if it would perhaps redirect me to a captcha portal, but nothing loads at all.. The interesting thing I noticed is when the customer put the SIM in their phone it connected to the internet and got a different IP range 115.189 as opposed to a 100.x range. It is possible that she was connected to some other network, but she did say she disconnected the Wifi and put the sim in. Looking up the IP that she gave me it is registered to Spirit mobile.. So not sure why she would get a different range unless it was connected somehow differently..

One thing I did find online is that it specifies to use the APN as 'Internet' with the authentication as Chap, with a blank username & password. The problem is on this Cisco router I can't set a blank username and also select Chap. I tried a dummy username & also set the authentication to none. Both of these options it gets an IP in the 100.x range but no internet access at all..

As @hio77 said, a Spark SIM from your local dairy or prepaid Skinny phone will work just fine.

Did same thing for an elderly client last week, she uses 2GB data p/m. We canned her $60 Spark WBB plan and bought a prepaid SIM with 3GB data on it..

Edit @isgq - is there any credit on the new SIM Card? That's what I'd check first.

New World

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jeffreyh

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Master Geek
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#2335777 11-Oct-2019 20:36

If you run "sh cellular 0/2/0 all" that will amongst other things show the network provider and band you are connected to which will confirm its connected to the spark network.

We use a private apn so its a little different we set the profile and authentication is based on the cell number and radius setup.

K8Toledo

1018 posts

Uber Geek
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#2335778 11-Oct-2019 20:43

Fwiw you don't even need a router for 4G internet. If this is one employee with a laptop & the lappie has a sim slot, you can bypass the router altogether.

isgq

6 posts

Wannabe Geek
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#2337257 15-Oct-2019 11:25

I have confirmed that we are using a 'Normal mobile broadband- which is compatible with cellular devices' not a 4g wireless broadband.

I have also outputted a copy of our show cellular 0/2/0 all (some of identifying information has been removed)

#show cellular 0/2/0 all
Hardware Information
====================
Modem Firmware Version = SWI9X30C_02.24.05.06
Device Model ID = EM7430
International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) = 53005xxxxxxxxx
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) = 3558xxxxxxxx
Integrated Circuit Card ID (ICCID) = 8964050xxxxxxxx
Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services
Digital Network-Number (MSISDN) = 64272xxxxx
Factory Serial Number (FSN) = LR9284xxxxxxxx
Modem Status = Modem Online
Current Modem Temperature = 26 deg C
PRI SKU ID = 1102682, PRI version = 002.026_000, Carrier = GENERIC
OEM PRI version = 000.009

Profile Information
====================

Profile 1 = ACTIVE* **
--------
PDP Type = IPv4
PDP address = 100.65.200.xxx
Access Point Name (APN) = Internet
Authentication = None
Primary DNS address = 122.56.237.1
Secondary DNS address = 210.55.111.1

* - Default profile
** - LTE attach profile

Configured default profile for active SIM 0 is profile 1.

Data Connection Information
===========================
Profile 1, Packet Session Status = ACTIVE
Cellular0/2/0:
Data Packets Transmitted = 2476 , Received = 700
Data Transmitted = 176134 bytes, Received = 44800 bytes
IP address = 100.65.200.171
Primary DNS address = 122.56.237.1
Secondary DNS address = 210.55.111.1
Profile 2, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 3, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 4, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 5, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 6, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 7, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 8, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 9, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 10, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 11, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 12, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 13, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 14, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 15, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE
Profile 16, Packet Session Status = INACTIVE

Network Information
===================
Current System Time = Mon Oct 14 19:47:58 2019
Current Service Status = Normal
Current Service = Packet switched
Current Roaming Status = Home
Network Selection Mode = Automatic
Network = Spark NZ
Mobile Country Code (MCC) = 530
Mobile Network Code (MNC) = 5
Packet switch domain(PS) state = Attached
LTE Carrier Aggregation state = Deconfigured
Registration state(EMM) = Registered
EMM Sub State = No Cell
Tracking Area Code (TAC) = 18131
Cell ID = 322939
Negotiated network MTU is 1500

Radio Information
=================
Radio power mode = online
LTE Rx Channel Number = 65535
LTE Tx Channel Number = 65535
LTE Band = 54
LTE Bandwidth = Unknown
Current RSSI = -93 dBm
Current RSRP = -126 dBm
Current RSRQ = -14 dB
Current SNR = -1.1 dB
Physical Cell Id = 0
Radio Access Technology(RAT) Preference = AUTO
Radio Access Technology(RAT) Selected = LTE

Modem Security Information
==========================
Active SIM = 0
SIM switchover attempts = 0
Card Holder Verification (CHV1) = Disabled
SIM Status = OK
SIM User Operation Required = None
Number of CHV1 Retries remaining = 3

Cellular Firmware List
==========================
Idx Carrier FwVersion PriVersion Status
1 DOCOMO 02.24.05.06 001.007_000 Inactive
2 GENERIC 02.24.05.06 002.026_000 Active
3 KDDI 02.24.05.06 001.005_000 Inactive
4 Softbank 02.24.05.06 001.006_000 Inactive
5 TELSTRA 02.24.05.06 002.026_000 Inactive

Firmware Activation mode = AUTO

AVMS FOTA Information
=====================
AVMS FOTA is not enabled

GPS Information
==========================
GPS Feature = enabled
GPS Mode Configured = not configured
GPS Status = NMEA Disabled

SMS Information
===============
Incoming Message Information
----------------------------
SMS stored in modem = 0
SMS archived since booting up = 0
Total SMS deleted since booting up = 0
Storage records allocated = 25
Storage records used = 0
Number of callbacks triggered by SMS = 0
Number of successful archive since booting up = 0
Number of failed archive since booting up = 0

Outgoing Message Information
----------------------------
Total SMS sent successfully = 0
Total SMS send failure = 0
Number of outgoing SMS pending = 0
Number of successful archive since booting up = 0
Number of failed archive since booting up = 0
Last Outgoing SMS Status = SUCCESS
Copy-to-SIM Status = 0x0
Send-to-Network Status = 0x0
Report-Outgoing-Message-Number:
Reference Number = 0
Result Code = 0x0
Diag Code = 0x0 0x0 0x0 0x0 0x0

SMS Archive URL =

Modem Crashdump Information
===========================
Modem crashdump logging = off
#

I have double checked my NAT & Route config & still can't get any internet access.
If I try to ping any device on the internet e.g 8.8.8.8 it times out with no response.

One thing I am not sure on is if I need a chat script like this chat-script lte "" "AT!CALL" TIMEOUT 60 "OK" As I could not find any reference for any NZ ISP, I have tried with and without it.

Is anyone able to provide any further guidance? I am happy to share the config of the router.

jeffreyh

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Master Geek
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#2337425 15-Oct-2019 14:13

Hi
Ive not seen lte band 54 used and the rssi is not so good. Out of interest can you ping the dns ips?

Have you tried one of the other apns like direct to see if that works for you

I will check the config we use but fairly sure we don't use a dailer string just set the profile to use.

hio77

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#2337429 15-Oct-2019 14:19

jeffreyh: Hi
Ive not seen lte band 54 used and the rssi is not so good. Out of interest can you ping the dns ips?

Have you tried one of the other apns like direct to see if that works for you

I will check the config we use but fairly sure we don't use a dailer string just set the profile to use.

54 isnt a band per the specs..

also the frequencies seem to be set to max int which i'd suspect indicates it's not actually connecting.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

isgq

6 posts

Wannabe Geek
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#2337435 15-Oct-2019 14:33

jeffreyh: Hi
Ive not seen lte band 54 used and the rssi is not so good. Out of interest can you ping the dns ips?

Have you tried one of the other apns like direct to see if that works for you

I will check the config we use but fairly sure we don't use a dailer string just set the profile to use.

No I can't ping the DNS servers. I am not sure of what the other APNs are, I found some old telecom ones but they didnt work. I will try direct, to see if that works.

Josh

isgq

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Wannabe Geek
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#2337441 15-Oct-2019 14:38

hio77:

jeffreyh: Hi
Ive not seen lte band 54 used and the rssi is not so good. Out of interest can you ping the dns ips?

Have you tried one of the other apns like direct to see if that works for you

I will check the config we use but fairly sure we don't use a dailer string just set the profile to use.

54 isnt a band per the specs..

also the frequencies seem to be set to max int which i'd suspect indicates it's not actually connecting.

That is interesting. I checked one of my other routers in Aus and it connects on band 7.

Do you know what band it should be using for Spark?

hio77

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#2337460 15-Oct-2019 15:06

isgq:

hio77:

jeffreyh: Hi
Ive not seen lte band 54 used and the rssi is not so good. Out of interest can you ping the dns ips?

Have you tried one of the other apns like direct to see if that works for you

I will check the config we use but fairly sure we don't use a dailer string just set the profile to use.

54 isnt a band per the specs..

also the frequencies seem to be set to max int which i'd suspect indicates it's not actually connecting.

That is interesting. I checked one of my other routers in Aus and it connects on band 7.

Do you know what band it should be using for Spark?

40/7/3/1/28.

Or for UTMS Band 5.

Which you should be using is ideally auto... It would depend on how far you are from the tower, What networks are on that tower etc.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

jeffreyh

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Master Geek
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#2337507 15-Oct-2019 16:35

Hi
Ok so I will run up a base config we would use as I said we use a private apn and some object tracking as ours is also used as backup.

You can substitute the bits where relevant but it should point you in the right direction for the connection stuff

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