Do not update the firmware of the usb modem or the following procedure will not work!
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In December I will be back to Italy with my wife to spend the holidays with my family but I'll need to keep an eye on my servers in Brazil so I will need an Internet connection for 1 month but this is impossible in my country... so I decided to use a 3G modem with my brand new TL-WR1043ND wireless router.
The router is good even with the original TP-Link firmware but you cannot use the usb port with a modem, only to share a printer or a disk, so I decided to install the well-known distribution DD-WRT.
The process is very easy, you have only to download the webflash firmware and load it on the router using the normal update functions... and your router will not be the same again! (but much better!)
I took from my wife her unused 3G Onda MT503HS modem from TIM (an Italian mobile operator) and tried to use it with the router but it didn't work due to the memory storage inside it... so I decided to tweak it and I'll explain how!
First what you need:
- a 3g usb modem MT503HS
- a computer (of course!) with Microsoft Windows (XP or superior)
- Putty (free-ware... and a great program!!!)
Now let's work!
Connect the 3G usb modem to the computer, Windows will recognize it and will install the right drivers (stored on the small memory in the modem)
Open the Hardware proprieties of your computer: we need to know the assigned COM port of the ONDA Nmea device. On the computer I used it was COM5 (see the example)
Start Putty and open a serial connection to the ONDA Nmea COM (mine was COM5, see the example)
Digit these commands (uppercase)
ATI will show informations about the 3G modem, the firmware and the imei
AT+ZCDRUN=8 will disable the flash CD-drive (what we need to let it work with the router)
AT+ZCDRUN=9 will enable the flash CD-drive (if you want to use the 3G modem back with your computer)
Start the router and connect the 3g modem to the router
Telnet o use Putty (in Telnet mode) to the router (mine have ip 192.168.1.1) and use root as login an your admin password as password
Now give the command dmesg
You'll see a lot of strings but at the end something like this:
usb 1-1 GSM modem (1-port) converted....
Now you can configure the WAN connection as your operator requests...
It is done, you can relax... till the next!
Note:
- Onda MT503HS is the same product knows as ZTE MF632
- Remove the pin check from the SIM card or the modem will not be able to connect