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TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:29 am
by ggravier
Hi!

I flashed my TL-MR3040 with Gargoyle 1.8.0... works great. All happy.

Now I'm trying to use a TP-Link MA180 USB 3G modem with it to enjoy connectivity over 3G... But that's not working.

Anybody has an idea of how to procede? I didn't see any kind of 3G / USB networking additional packages to add.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Gilles.

Re: TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 3:58 pm
by nworbnhoj
ggravier wrote:Now I'm trying to use a TP-Link MA180 USB 3G modem with it to enjoy connectivity over 3G... But that's not working.
Need a little more info here!

Once you have plugged the USB modem it should show up in the drop down list at:
Gargoyle - Connection - Basic - Internet/WAN - Connect Via:

Re: TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:54 pm
by ggravier
Hi!

It doesn't. :(

I plug the modem (TP-Link MA180 - there's a SIM card inside) in the USB plug of my TL-MR3040v2 (Gargoyle 1.8.0)...

And then I go to connection / basic and it doesn't show the 3G stuff :

Even if I turn off and then on the TL-MR3040, it still doesn't acknowledge seeing the MA180.

I understand that on the MR3040, with Gargoyle, the mode selection switch (3G/4G, WISP, AP) isn't functional (it's set on 3G/4G for sake of having to leave it somewhere)...

Any suggestions?

GIlles

Re: TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:58 pm
by Lantis
Do a logread after plugging the device in.

Re: TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 5:07 pm
by ggravier
Hi!

No additional line in the "logread" result after pluging the USB modem in.

I do see battery consumption go up (the charging / power LED of the router goes from green to orange, indicating that suddenly it's charging)... And the MA180 model led turns on red, which means that it's powered on, but not connected to the 3G network (it would be green).

Do I need to remove the PIN code from the SIM? Or can I leave it with a PIN?

Gilles

Re: TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 2:25 am
by ggravier
Actually, I did a logread after inserting a very simple USB memory stick, and no entries.

I'm ready to assume that the USB drivers aren't built into the firmware...

Gilles

Re: TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 3:07 am
by Lantis
ahh of course how silly of me. below 8mb of flash the all of the usb stuff is not included!

Re: TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 3:09 am
by ggravier
I was just about to say "opkg list-installed" shows no kmod-usb-* modules... nor the usbutils

So... no way I can get usb devices connected. :(

Re: TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 3:10 am
by ggravier
Do you know there is any small, portable, battery powered router (like the MR3040) that supports Gargoyle and has enough storage to have full USB support? :)

Gilles

Re: TL-MR3040 and 3G USB Modem

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 3:53 am
by Lantis
When you started posting I looked up your router and saw it was battery powered. I was amazed! I'd never seen anything like it.

So no I don't think so I'm sorry.

Before you give up, you might like to try a look at the following:
http://eko.one.pl/?p=openwrt-gargoylepl

The polish developers have done a lot of work at stripping down features to make things like USB work on small routers. I believe yours is even listed.

Those images all start as Polish. You'd have to load a different language pack after (not difficult).

The only other issue is that they haven't gone past version 1.6.2 which is one reason they are able to keep it so small.