[LTE] - Quectel EM06 & IP Passthrough support?

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

Hello

I only wanted to ask if the Quectel EM06 LTE modem are fully supported (AT commands, LTE monitor,…) by RouterOS 6 or v7 and if it also support IP Passthrough?

(I know there is support for the EP06 but I haven’t found any info about the EM06 although it’s exactly the same electronic on board it’s only a M.2 instead of MiniPCIe format)

Thank you

2

Hi @Acryli,

I came here to ask the same question. I do have an EP06-E (firmware rev. EP06ELAR03A07M4G) running successfully for several days under RouterOS 7.1beta2 in a MikroTik LHG R dish and router.

I used these links to get the EP06 LTE working, although in the log I have: ppp-out1, initializing, resetting link, =could not acquire serial port, disconnected. Repeat… I also don’t have EP06 carrier aggregation (Bands 3 & 20 on UK Three network ) working although I’ve seen CA working with this combo on the same tower with a Huawei B525.
https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Cellular_Quectel_modems_01
http://forum.mikrotik.com/t/quectel-ep06-e-and-wap-r-ac-rbwapgr-5hacd2hnd/131724/9

I haven’t attempted this yet:
https://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Interface/LTE#Passthrough_Example
mainly as I’m not sure if it’s intended for the Quectel modems and I don’t want to break my setup as I’m still learning.

You might want to change the title of your thread to include EP06 instead as it might get a bit more attention.

Let’s hope there are some more replies to this thread.

Steve

3

I just used this guide on Youtube linked below to replace the supplied modem in the LHG LTE6 Kit with a Quectel EP06-E. Firmware is EP06ELAR03A07M4G. I didn’t tape over any USB3.0 pins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD6F-dyHsJg

The mode the module comes with is usbnet,0 or ppp mode set by default. I set it to MBIM mode doing the following in ROS 6.48.3 first:


  • /port remote-access add channel=2 port=usb1 tcp-port=225
  • Use telnet from your PC to connect to port 225 of the address of the LHG (I had a DHCP client running)
  • Check serial comms is working - type AT and you should get OK back. It’ll behave the same as any serial connection to such a module.
  • Enter
AT+QCFG="usbnet",2

and you should get an OK back. MBIM is now set.

  • Install ROS7.1beta6 and it’s firmware.

The LTE interface will come up the same as it does on a Chateau with lots of useful information about the connection and so on. It has been flitting between bands and using 2 CA channels, including B28 (700MHz) which is what I was after as the supplied module didn’t support it. The LTE interface has the IP address assigned by the carrier.

4

Many Thanks, I’ll try that when my installation is re-located & engineered at the end of the month and I’ll report back here hopefully with success. Rgds, Steve

5

Please read a main thread at
Quectel EP06-E and wAP R ac (RBwAPGR-5HacD2HnD) - MikroTik

I not test the Passthrough because I not use that type of feature.

6

I read that thread and it provided me with some information, but distilled it all to what I wrote above.

I have decided to not run it on ROS7 in MBIM mode rather ECM mode on ROS6 which is working fine. It’s a shame that ECM mode is effectively another NAT - behaviour similar to Huawei 4G dongles for instance - but as the carriers use CGNAT anyway it’s not a huge drama. I can OOB to this unit as it runs an L2TP/IPSEC VPN to a CHR which is useful as it’s going in somewhere a few hours away.

Sending:
/interface lte at-chat lte1 input=“AT+QCAINFO”
output: +QCAINFO: “pcc”,3148,100,“LTE BAND 7”,1,474,-109,-9,-80,15 +QCAINFO: “scc”,2950,100,“LTE BAND 7”,1,
294,-115,-14,-94,4 OK

This shows that CA is working. Here it’s getting 2x B7 off 2 towers.

I didn’t test passthrough either in ECM mode - whatever is receiving the passthrough will probably get the same IP address subnet when it does a DHCP request.

7

UpRunTech says

Why you thinks it’s a two towers ?
earfcn 3148@20Mhz and 2950@20Mhz at the same band can be from the same tower eNB, just ISP/MNO give two differ frequency and you are lucky because both are @20Mhz and give CA.

Bonus photo
Inter-Intra.jpg

8

The last 4 digits ,,, are quite different, that’s why.

9

but this is normal.
Every frequency have own nature… general: the more low the frequency that will be reach farther range and cross obstacles more
You not have shoure that sectors antennas will be propagate that same way… more.. new antennas have form beam feature and can focus signal at different location.

And general ways to discover it is just go near to tower… run scanner like CellMonitor and record tower details around it.