How to Connect a Raspberry Pi to a Cell Network // OpenWrt, 3G 

Can you change the imei with this modem?

@@cybertrk Thanks for watching! Honestly, I am not sure if you. Your best bet is to refer to the AT Command reference. www.telit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Telit_LE920x4_LE910Cx_AT_Commands_Reference_Guide_r3.pdf It seems like many of the commands have documentation for returning IMEI values, so maybe one of those is to actually change IMEI as well. Lastly, I would be cautious doing this as well since it may cause cellular connectivity issues or other unforeseen issues.

@Cidade Perdida El Dorado thanks for watching El Dorado! Yes you can access the pi using Remote Desktop (like VNC) or other remote access tools. However, it will require some additional setup. That’s because more likely than not, your cellular provider won’t give you your own dedicated public IP, but rather a Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT) IP. Generally speaking, this IP address acts like a private IP, but it’s specific to ISPs (and usually cellular carriers). Because of that, all your outbound connections from the Pi will have no problem, but your inbound connections won’t make it. To get around that, you’ll have to set up a tunnel (or VPN) between your Pi, and a server you control (VPS or a server at home) that has a dedicated public IP. Then with that set up, you can Remote into the dedicated public IP you control, and gain access to the Pi. Or if you’re assigned a public IPv6 address that’s not CGNAT, then you can just use that IPv6 address to remote into the Pi directly.

@Cidade Perdida El Dorado makes sense! It’s cool when you have a reliable way to control the in remote locations. Getting around CGNAT will get you those inbound connections you’re seeking. Glad I can help and best of luck!

Backup home wan.. in case of power or isp outage. Thank you so much for this video.

Thanks for watching Steve! Sounds like a typical use case. Doesn't sound like a the Raspberry Pi's don't need a lot of bandwidth and simply sends smaller chunks of data over time and especially being in the mountains, I can only wonder how strong your cellular connection is for those devices. With simple web activities, it seems like 3G is enough. I'm looking forward to getting 4G working as well, and if I'm ambitious enough, trying out 5G! Now that would be a treat.

Thanks for watching @davepowers1829! If you already have an ethernet port on your cellular modem, you should be able to connect your rpi4 to the that ethernet port and get a WAN (cellular) internet connection no problem. It sounds like you have a solution from a networking company that sells router and modem type hardware, i.e. Negear, Linksys, etc, and not just the cellular modem itself, such as one you'd find in a phone. That cellular modem you have, with the ethernet port, should have software like DHCP, DNS, etc to be able to act as a standalone router, without WiFi or additional ethernet ports. To that point, you wouldnt need a raspberry pi to act as a router / modem. It would just be a client on the established network, unless you want to make it be your router, and perform more functionality like firewalling, and whatever else you can do with OpenWrt.

Glad to hear it! 😊 I still gotta get it working but I'm confident I can, based on the information I've found online so far.

Thanks for watching Gustavo! Sounds like a cellular Raspberry Pi is perfect for your situation! Thought definitely 4G would be much better than 3G 😊. While you wait for me to "figure out 4G" and make a video on that, I can refer you to another video that may be able to help. Granted, I did follow this video, and it didn't work for me, and I believe its because OpenWrt was having some issues using QMI with my Telit cellular modem, the one I used in this video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DRddwfZ_TBY.html Hopefully this helps and if not, I hope my 4G videos does!

Thanks for watching Speaks Truth! Appreciate the compliment. Great question, and a kinda easy answer. To make a cellular router using two active carriers, you'd simply add another USB cellular modem, antennas, etc with that carrier's SIM card. You can have them active at the same time. However, only one of them would be used as the "default" internet connection. So you'd have to do some configuration such as failover WAN (mwan3), to use the second WAN when the first WAN fails, or Multi Path TCP, to use both WANs at the same time, which has the benefit of increasing bandwidth. Just to note, this applies to any Layer 3 interface, not just cellular ones. These features are commonly used for multiple "internet" interfaces, including cellular ones. openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/multiwan/mwan3 openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/mptcp

You're welcome country boy! Thanks for watching. Good luck with your setup, and definitely if you can get 4G working on your USB dongle, with a 3G backup, that would be most ideal. I actually just released a video on 4G as I finally got that working. Not sure how difficult it will be with the carriers in Belize, but as long as you can use the newer protocols like QMI or MBIM, you should be able get it working. Feel free to watch my latest video below, and it should help. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-e4KlUKDai04.html Enjoy the weather in Belize!

Thanks for watching Gabriel! Glad you enjoyed it. Taking a look at USSD codes, I see what you are talking about now. However, to be quite honest, I haven't gotten that far or messed around with USSD codes directly against a cellular modem. I can only imagine there must be a way to interact with USSD codes directly against the modem. I'm not sure if there is any software for USSD codes, or if this is something you'd directly do with AT Commands. I'm sure you find it weird, just as I do, that your carrier is forcing you to buy data plans via USSD codes. So while I can't offer any personal guidance, doing a google search for USSD codes and AT commands, did yield me some possibly promising results. m2msupport.net/m2msupport/ussd-how-to-send-ussd-short-codes-with-at-command/ Hope this helps!

@@DevOdyssey thank you so very much, i will take a look at it and see if there is any way to get that going. Thank you again for the videos and for taking the time to answer.

@@gabrielalejandroverapinto1974 You're welcome! I feel like there's a good chance it will server your needs. Thanks for being a viewer! I'm happy to help in any way I can ☺

Thanks for watching Celso! This device can work with other cellular carriers, aka not just a sixfab connection. I actually made a video where I Verizon's network, on the same hardware. You can check it out below. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-e4KlUKDai04.html

@@DevOdyssey Tks you for the explanation, and to answer my question, best regards to you.

@@celsomaia You’re welcome! Glad I can help 😊

Thanks for watching Test Test! With regards to roaming, I am based in the US and was not traveling aborad when I made this video. The SIM card I was using was from Sixfab, where they have a partnership with different network carriers to use their networks / towers. To me, it seems like I was roaming because the nearest tower / network I was connecting to was not in an area that I had coverage for AT&T networks. Or it could be because I was using this Sixfab network that also includes other carriers like T-Mobile. I'm not 100% sure why I was roaming, it was something I just noticed when making the video, but didn't care too much since my primary goal was to at least get a network connection going.

@@DevOdyssey Thank you so much for explaining this! Thank you for your time with this project and with the subscribers comments

@@playsomething4029 You’re welcome! thanks for watching and the very kind compliment. It means a lot to hear how much my work and my engagement means with my audience, so I genuinely appreciated you taking the time to share your gratitude. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for being a fan!

Thanks for watching @chancerichardson9110! Yes this should work with a regular PC if you are using OpenWrt. The same steps should apply. However, if you are trying to still use Windows, then it likely should work, but the steps will be different. You'll need to find the right drivers for the cellular modem to work with Windows, and then after that, it should be a matter of plug and play, after, of course, you've made sure your modem is compatible with your carrier's network.

Thanks for watching @giacintoboccia9386! Thats a very good question. It very much could be less expensive, and probably would, but with less flexibility, and a really difficult form factor. I like using a HAT because then enclosing this in a case, with everything packaged together, is much easier than with a USB stick. In addition, with a USB stick, the modem is soldered into the whole unit. Meaning, if you want to upgrade modems, you have to get a whole new USB stick. With this setup, you can just buy a new modem and not a USB stick. This also helps with carrier changes. If you want to change a carrier that does not support your modem, you'll have to get a whole new USB stick. With this setup, you just buy the modem. So in that sense, its more flexible, and could be more cost effective in the long run. Though, I will say depending on the modem, it shouldn't be much different in price. The cost of a 4G modem (USB or Mini PCIe), would roughly be the same, its pretty inexpensive. Getting a 5G modem would pretty expensive, regardless if the form factor is USB or M.2.

Thanks for the compliment and for watching Andres! Honestly, I am not sure how to connect to GPS over OpenWrt, but its something I may be willing to explore in my free time. However, I bought this kit with sixfab, which has an automated installer that gets you connected to their cellular network, in addition to setting up the GPS as well, to my understanding. You can learn more on their website. docs.sixfab.com/docs/sixfab-core-getting-started

Thanks for watching LE. Looks like you are referring to 5:20 of the video. The two ethernet cables are for a LAN and WAN connection. The LAN ethernet cable allows me to connect to LuCI, and the WAN ethernet cable is for a connection to the internet, so I can download the necessary packages to run 3G in OpenWrt.

Thanks for watching mastercheif1989! So thats a bit difficult to answer, as the best answer is usually specific to a use case. Are you asking in particular what hardware and software? Generally, I recommend a Raspberry Pi 4B since it can do so much and compatible tons of software. How will they be talking to each other, like what protocols? If you are able to share more details, I can share my thoughts on it.

Thanks for watching Steven! You should be able to do this with a Pi 3 or Pi 2. So long as you have the right drivers, I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t work. Now you may reach some limitations in bandwidth, especially on a Pi 2, but you should be able to use what I showed in the video and get it working. Though if you stick with 3G, you’ll have your own bandwidth limitations there anyway. Between the two Pi models, I’d definitely recommend a Pi 3, as you can probably get 4G working on that as well. You can refer to my 4G LTE video I made as an example. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-e4KlUKDai04.html

@@DevOdyssey thanks. I'm considering it for a bachelor degree project. Great videos.

@@dualia-s74m You're welcome! Appreciate the compliment. Sounds like a great bachelor degree project, not too easy but not too difficult, with a lot of use cases. I'd say it was a real good learning experience for me, especially as I started getting into cellular networking, which is just a huge category on its own that I've just scraped the surface with in this video. Would really like to get into 5G as soon as I can budget for a 5G modem, since those don't run cheap.

Thanks for watching Miguel! I am not sure I understand what you are asking, but this is my interpretation. If you want to to connect to a cellular network with the cellular modem attached, and then get to the internet / cell network over WiFi (via the internal wireless card), then yes you can do that. If you are trying to use the cellular modem to cast a signal over 3G / 4G networks, then no, that is not possible. The cellular modems only act as a "receiver". Seems to me you'd like to set up your own long range wireless network. Is that the case? If so, you'd have to use technologies such as LoRaWAN that achieve that. They do make Pi HATs for LoRaWAN modules so you're in luck there. I don't know much about these devices, I've just read about them, but I hope to learn more and play around with different setups / deployments.

@@DevOdyssey Thanks for the response! What I want to do is to be able to connect my raspberry pi router to a wifi network so I can connect my devices to the raspberry, with the posibility to connect the raspberry pi to the internet using 3G/4G networks. In other words, I want to be able to choose between wifi and 3G/4G to connect my raspberry to the internet.

@@MrMiguetara Ah thanks for elaborating! Given what you just said, you should have no problem doing that. With the wireless chip built in, you can set it up in client mode so that it can connect to an existing WiFi network that has internet connectivity. As for the 3G/4G, you shouldn’t have to do anything different in this video. Both will work in parallel and you can set up/choose your internet between the WiFi or cell network, or use both. With your pi connected to an existing WiFi network, and if you have a separate device connected to the same WiFi network, then you should be able to connect to the Pi no problem. Just be sure you put in the right firewall rules on the Pi (in OpenWrt, or Raspberry Pi OS if the firewall is on) to allow inbound connections from your personal device to the Pi. So it’s definitely possible, just need a bit of tweaking / configuration.

Thanks for watching Albert! I'm not sure what you mean, I haven't ever seen a Raspberry Pi that costs $400 USD (unless you are referring to a different currency). The price has gone up, but you can get a base level Raspberry Pi 4 from $35 USD. You're welcome! The configuration should be similar for a 4G router, so this video will somewhat help. I'm working on getting 4G working, so hopefully I'm able to do that. The process will be similar, except you'll use the QMI protocol or MBIM protocol. Refer to OpenWrt's docs here on setting up 4G. openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/wwan/start openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/wwan/ltedongle

@@DevOdyssey it's because they are heavily overpriced here well it's actually like 200€ for a full bundle. Yeah I did kinda over exaggerate the price

@Albert7198 Well, you aren't wrong about that. Depending on the bundle you get, it can definitely get to be that expensive. I used a fully loaded Raspberry Pi 4B which costs close to $100 USD. Then as a bundle, it was around $150-160. Due to supply chain issues as well, the price has gone up too. So yes these Pi's can start to add up very quickly. While you did exaggerate, you weren't too far off. In my opinion, what really makes it expensive is if you are doing a new build, you're gonna need to buy the bundle anyway, because you'll need a power source, sd card, etc. Its nice you can buy them piece by piece, but until you've collected the other parts over time, a bundle is usually the way you will go and thats the most expensive route. However, given all the different things you can do with a Raspberry Pi, versus other hardware, it makes it a good selling point to have, even if the cost has increased. But if you know you need a router, and it can run OpenWrt, that can be a cheaper option. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for watching @clipblocks! Theoretically, yes, as you are assigned a phone number that the modem gets from the cellular carrier. However, its not set up to do calling, so as its configured in this video, it wouldn't work. Additional configuration would be required to get it working, which should mostly be software configuration, but I'm not completely sure. Definitely would be best to switch away from OpenWrt to another Operating System more suited for using it to make phone calls. Below is a hackaday article I read with instructables that you can use to get a Raspberry Pi to make phone calls. hackaday.com/2022/10/10/a-raspberry-pi-phone-for-the-modern-era/

Hi Salmi, thanks for watching! Since you're trying to get 4G, and you commented on my other video as well with 4G on my Raspberry Pi, we can talk about this setup there.

Thank you and thanks for watching Rafael!

Thanks for watching K Kels! It is too bad 3G is being shut off, especially going quickly in the US. I imagine other countries will follow suit. Until then, this is good for low bandwidth deployments that don't need all that speed. However, I finally broke through and was able to get 4G working on my Raspberry Pi 4B just the other day, so I'll be making a video on that shortly. 4G LTE should stick around for awhile. I'll probably do a 5G video too, if I can figure it out, and once I can afford a 5G modem as they're pretty expensive, as you can see from this sixfab kit they just released. sixfab.com/product/raspberry-pi-5g-development-kit-5g-hat/

Hi cherbun7th, I'm not sure what you're referring to, are you saying an RPi is too big of a device as a cellular router?

Thanks for watching Martin! These antennas win 0 points for aesthetics haha, I will have to agree with you. Definitely not meant for low profile applications, where the often won’t be seen. The bottom actually has an adhesive tape as well so you can stick it to whatever you want, for a more permanent deployment. While they can be good for just one and done deployments, I’d certainly not recommend them if you will be carrying around this Pi a travel router of sorts.

Haha, didn’t know who he was until you shared his name 😂