Hi guys n gals from sunny Australia.

Just stumbled across all your hard work with the MR3420 V1 and V2.

There are a small band of TPLINK fans down under, however we have met a major stumbling block with the so called 3G/4G versions of the TPLINK MR series.

The problem is that the TPLINK drivers for the fast 4G modems do not work at the speed of the modem (100Mbs or higher).

The V2 limits the available network 4G speed dramatically.

Rather than a lot of words; if you are interested, read our V2 thread, which focus's on the speed problem.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2043588

We have developed an Open WRT solution for our 4G modems. One that works at full speed on the MR series.

Best place to start is the WIKI.

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/router_openwrt

In addition this version of Open WRT supports a windows based 'Modem GUI'. This wonderful 'add on' reports and controls lots of interesting modem information real time.



Developments are ongoing.

Please feel free to join our development thread here:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-repli...6176&p=68#r1356

There is no problem with any of the TPLINK router hardwares and we've seen 4G speeds up to 70Mbps using the 4G image on the very tiny 703n.

The primary problem is the PPP protocol that is routinely implemented by router suppliers (in this case TPLINK). TPLINK have indicated in correspondence that some modems are supported at full speed; but we haven't found any yet!

Fast 3G (HSPA+ DC etc) will also be speed limited by PPP.

For PPP, 25Mps is the maximum down speed and it is considerably less on the up side. The best that I have measured on the uplink is in the 2Mbps area. PPP is likely to be the cause of some of the speed issues you appear to be having? As far as I know, Open Wrt only uses PPP drivers at this time (except for our images).

All this information is available on the WIKI. Start there for what is hopefully a background description of the project and the key players. I'm simply a user.

One of the many challenges was to fit 'all this', into 4Mb.

Our programming wiz Dairyman managed this not inconsiderable feat, with space to spare.

So as we speak, we are light years ahead of the official TPLINK firmware in terms of speed/ throughput performance (and everything else for that matter).

Adding additional (unsupported) modems is basic process and Dairyman is keen to upgrade the images as required.

The current images are 100% tested, so safe to flash, with the normal provisos.

Hi,

Your welcome.

Just be aware that it has not been tested with many modems, so there may be a few problems.

But nothing that cannot be sorted quickly we hope.

If you have a problem, pop up in the 'development thread' and we should be able to sort it out.

Most of us are in Australia, but our key programmer Dairyman is Canadian, so time zones slow things down a bit.

Thanks for trying

Best to join Whirlpool and raise the matter re the Huawei E398 in the 4G Open WRT developers thread.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-repli...76&p=-1&#bottom

It's not very formal and just bumbles along until we get someone like you with a new challenge.

Just pop up and say something like"Hi from Malaysia. I cannot get my E398 to run with QMI etc ..."

Cheers

John k

This post has been edited by Wahroonga Farm: Feb 9 2013, 03:20 PM

Dropping in again to say that things have moved a little; with the good help of members here.

1. QoS versions are available to test.

2. Support for E353 (tested) and the E398 (4G - not tested) is added.

The WIKI for the project is HERE.

The latest image downloads are HERE.

Per the WIKI, it is currently under development, awaiting an official OpenWRT image.

Soon we hope.

This is the current list of working images



Cheers

John k

This post has been edited by Wahroonga Farm: Feb 12 2013, 05:41 PM

Hi,

On which firmware?

Cheers

I asked the same question

Here is the answer.

Me: What identifies that (use of PPP) from the system log?

Dairyman: The fact that it used AT Commands to connect to the network. The ATD *99 command is used for PPP only.

For QMI you'll see other stuff like ===Starting QMIhelp and various things QMI related.

For the Sierra it uses AT Commands but the key one is AT!SCACT which does the Direct IP thing.

So I can tell by looking what protocol is being used. Makes me look brilliant to the unwitting.
-----

So check your System log.

Is it successfully connecting to the network?

Yes it will.

The script is necessary to start the 'fast drivers'.

Your ISP/ 3G details (APN, user-name password) must go in the rc.local script (System -> Start Up), and not via the normal openwrt WAN interface.

By using the normal interface it will only use PPP and the information will be lost at restart etc.

The necessary 'how to' is HERE. Please follow it precisely for good results.

It is very stable.

Yes it is different, but this is the only way the additional driver information could be incorporated in the limited 4Mb of ram. As you can see there is still plenty of space with our package, for ongoing developments.

There's a table at the end of this document (pdf) that both explains and converts the 6,99 result.

This post has been edited by Wahroonga Farm: Feb 16 2013, 05:18 AM

Sorry, not currently in a reception area and my memory has failed me.

The wwan1 interface will look odd, but as long as it shows connection it's good.

Hi guys,

Our 4G fast OpenWRT version has been updated to include:

* more modems
* QoS
* ISP details are now entered via the routers modem GUI, rather than rc.local and the ISP DNS servers can be modified.

Details are HERE.

Make sure you use the new set-up procedure.

Note: There are currently two versions; QoS and non-QoS for each router. This was done due to concerns of RAM space. The QoS version makes almost no difference to RAM (still ~65% free), so please use the QoS version. The non-QoS will be removed at the next upgrade.

Cheers

John k

Thanks Maxcheam.

Feed-back much appreciated. You guys are crash test dummy's.

Cheers

John k

This post has been edited by Wahroonga Farm: Feb 18 2013, 11:23 AM

Possibly a poor/ intermittent 3G connection?

There is a new firmware release for our V1 OpenWRT image.

20/2/13 - A modem data page for capture of modem information. Include QoS package. Additional modems support. Fixed Custom DNS server order. Added the Script Version number to the Modem Connection page to identify the version. Include the 'relayed package' to support Client & Repeater mode.

Modem Gui is the icing on the cake with our version.

Details HERE.

Most certainly!

But it depends on the capabilities of the modem.

Control is achieved via Modem GUI; which works exclusively with our Openwrt version.

Read the Modem GUI Tutorial and the addendum on Custom commands.

It's best to have a play with it and then come back with any specific questions.

Sierra and Huawei modems have the best control.

Caution: If you set a band via Modem Gui; it will immediately send the appropriate AT command to the modem and that state will be set. So if you set '3G only', on a 3G/4G modem, then it won't receive 4G, even if it is removed and put in another device.

You can even select channels within a band (if they are known) via specific AT commands. This was one of the features that initially drove the project.

It's like using the usb modem with a connection manager and a PC ... but the router connection manager is more powerful.



SMS facilities for Modem Gui are coming soon.

PS Make sure that you disconnect and then exit.

Don't close with the red X as it leaves the modem in an unknown state.

PPS You may have to experiment with usb port numbers to find your modems connection port. Usually 1 or 2.

This post has been edited by Wahroonga Farm: Feb 23 2013, 05:57 AM

Hi,

The DNS is the Domain Name Server e.g As an example it converts www.google.com to 74.125.237.16.

Leave it blank ... and your sim card will automatically set appropriate DNS from your ISP on the router.

Some folk like to play with these things?

I'm not sure why.

V2 is coming.

Are 'mode' selections shown for the E398?

Modem Gui updates at about 10sec intervals, so as not to interfere with the router operations.

Order of Mode/ band selection:

Select 'mode' ... wait for choices, make selection ... select 'band' ... wait for choices, make selection.

At each step, Modem Gui must send an AT command to the modem and wait for a response.

Let us know if there is still a problem and I'll take the question to the designer.

This post has been edited by Wahroonga Farm: Feb 25 2013, 01:52 PM