ER605 and ZTE MF833
Have connected this 4G USB modem (which works perfectly plugged directly into a computer) and it identifies successfully:
But will not connect to the network, hanging out "offline" instead with every possible variant for my relevant telco, with or without custom dns:
no luck with "manually" connection either:
The only potential incompatibility I can see is not being ably to choose a "none" authentication type, which is not required on my carrier. Does "Auto" allow "none" in addition to PAP and CHAP? If not, could this be added? Or is there anywhere I can check in logs to see if this is truly the issue?
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@Clive_A Have had some more opportunity to test this.
For anyone playing along at home, can confirm that it seems to work as follows:
- Main internet drops out (nbn in australia)
- Internet connection monitor app shows offline for about 15 seconds
- Telstra MF833V 4g dongle cuts in
- Backup WAN is then active
- When main internet reconnects, switches back (in today's test case, without the connection monitor app showing offline) but open internet sessions do seem to hang a bit as the connection cuts over, sometimes requiring a webpage refresh etc.
I do wonder whether, if the 4G dongle was always "connected", the cutover time might be slightly smaller. But glad to report that otherwise it seems to be performing as intended.
The other thing would be, sometimes NBN connections can cut in/out quite a bit during an unstable period. Perhaps a useful feature could be that it only cuts back to the primary wan after it has been stable for X seconds/minutes, as opposed to the current options being only 1. return as soon as primary wan is back online or 2. return only when backup wan fails.
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For anyone playing along at home, here is a link to the article @Clive_A mentions above, plus one other, which expands upon the tooltips visible in the controller software
- https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/641740
- https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/636946
Key takeaway is that in link backup mode, backup wan will intentionally show "offline" unless the failover mode is active.
I was clearly confused here because I interpreted the backup wan being "offline" as meaining it is not working, as opposed to working but not connected because the primary wan is active right now.
In any case, glad that the router is functioning as intended. Thank you @Clive_A
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Hi @exceladdict
Thanks for posting in our business forum.
Possible cause:
1. Incompatibility. 4G/3G USB Modem Compatibility List for ER605
There is no way we can fix it for you. Get a compatible one or try one by one.
2. It is set to be a backup WAN because the USB modem is only for Internet backup.
You can disconnect the primary WAN and check if it comes up as Online status.
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@Clive_A sorry, I made a typo in the header. My device is a ZTE MF833 which is on the compatibility list. I have updated the post subject accordingly.
The "identify successfully" message suggests to me the modem and the ER605 are connecting fine.
Thank you for your post. After disabling "link backup" the modem appears to connect successfully. Changing MTU Size to 1500 also appears to have helped.
But when I swap it back to use link backup, the 4G USB modem once again does not connect. I am not at the location of the device but when i next am, I will try swapping it back to link backup and see what happens when I unplug the primary WAN. I will then report back.
This is confusing me because I was expecting the 4G connection to be maintained at all times, so that failover would be quicker if/when the primary WAN goes down.
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Hi @exceladdict
Thanks for posting in our business forum.
exceladdict wrote
@Clive_A sorry, I made a typo in the header. My device is a ZTE MF833 which is on the compatibility list. I have updated the post subject accordingly.
The "identify successfully" message suggests to me the modem and the ER605 are connecting fine.
Thank you for your post. After disabling "link backup" the modem appears to connect successfully. Changing MTU Size to 1500 also appears to have helped.
But when I swap it back to use link backup, the 4G USB modem once again does not connect. I am not at the location of the device but when i next am, I will try swapping it back to link backup and see what happens when I unplug the primary WAN. I will then report back.
This is confusing me because I was expecting the 4G connection to be maintained at all times, so that failover would be quicker if/when the primary WAN goes down.
The USB modem is designed to be a backup link if you enable the link backup. This is written in the firmware. When the USB modem was first introduced, it was advertised as one of the ways of backup line.
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@Clive_A Have had some more opportunity to test this.
For anyone playing along at home, can confirm that it seems to work as follows:
- Main internet drops out (nbn in australia)
- Internet connection monitor app shows offline for about 15 seconds
- Telstra MF833V 4g dongle cuts in
- Backup WAN is then active
- When main internet reconnects, switches back (in today's test case, without the connection monitor app showing offline) but open internet sessions do seem to hang a bit as the connection cuts over, sometimes requiring a webpage refresh etc.
I do wonder whether, if the 4G dongle was always "connected", the cutover time might be slightly smaller. But glad to report that otherwise it seems to be performing as intended.
The other thing would be, sometimes NBN connections can cut in/out quite a bit during an unstable period. Perhaps a useful feature could be that it only cuts back to the primary wan after it has been stable for X seconds/minutes, as opposed to the current options being only 1. return as soon as primary wan is back online or 2. return only when backup wan fails.
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Hi @exceladdict
Thanks for posting in our business forum.
exceladdict wrote
@Clive_A Have had some more opportunity to test this.
For anyone playing along at home, can confirm that it seems to work as follows:
- Main internet drops out (nbn in australia)
- Internet connection monitor app shows offline for about 15 seconds
- Telstra MF833V 4g dongle cuts in
- Backup WAN is then active
- When main internet reconnects, switches back (in today's test case, without the connection monitor app showing offline) but open internet sessions do seem to hang a bit as the connection cuts over, sometimes requiring a webpage refresh etc.
I do wonder whether, if the 4G dongle was always "connected", the cutover time might be slightly smaller. But glad to report that otherwise it seems to be performing as intended.
The other thing would be, sometimes NBN connections can cut in/out quite a bit during an unstable period. Perhaps a useful feature could be that it only cuts back to the primary wan after it has been stable for X seconds/minutes, as opposed to the current options being only 1. return as soon as primary wan is back online or 2. return only when backup wan fails.
No. I have written a very detailed guide about the whole load balance and its sub-features. Please read that article and learn about the answers.
If you use the controller, then you have this option.
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For anyone playing along at home, here is a link to the article @Clive_A mentions above, plus one other, which expands upon the tooltips visible in the controller software
- https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/641740
- https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/636946
Key takeaway is that in link backup mode, backup wan will intentionally show "offline" unless the failover mode is active.
I was clearly confused here because I interpreted the backup wan being "offline" as meaining it is not working, as opposed to working but not connected because the primary wan is active right now.
In any case, glad that the router is functioning as intended. Thank you @Clive_A
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- Report Inappropriate Content
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