Best USB modem to use with Pineapple?

[Zephyr]

Hey all,

Ok FIRST, I know this topic has been discussed elsewhere in other threads, but I'd like to get some very direct opinions based on first-hand experience if I could.

For those of you who are hooked up well with a USB modem and your Pineapple, what is the "best" one you've discovered to use with the Pineapple? If I were to word this another way, I might ask, which USB modem has given you the most reliable performance with the least amount of trouble?

Using existing WiFi hotspots and tethering just doesn't always cut it.

And while we're on the topic of modems, I realize broadband service can vary greatly from region to region, but I might also ask what carrier/service you've found to be most cost effective for your general area. In other words, data rate + bandwidth + coverage / $

I'm currently checking out the Huawei E173 and a couple of the other Huaweis.

Opinions please?

Edited March 22, 2013 by Zephyr

[telot]

A proper cellular router is the most reliable and feature-rich way to get 3G to the pineapple, in my opinion. Theres two main brands, Sierra WIreless's Airlink and the Digi Connect Wan. I'm a fan of the Digi since it is much more easily configurable and it runs python. See: http://www.bressner.de/webdocs/DIGI%20CONNECT%20WAN%203G.JPG

Its what I use and I'll never go back to "dongles" ever again. Having a full blown router as my gateway is so damn handy, plus I can power the pineapple from its usb port, easily/reliably attach high gain antennas, setup a vpn to tunnel all my victims traffic securely over the airwaves and web, man its just the best. I highly recommend it.

As for price, they retail around $600-750. I know thats steep, but I've seen some pop up on ebay that go for $50. I bought mine for $75 from ebay.

Hope this helps

telot

Edited March 23, 2013 by telot

[Zephyr]

Thank you for the info, telot. I was checking the specs and the The Digi Connect Wan and it looks like a sincerely awesome piece of DWC hardware. The Diversity, Dual Sim and multi mode operations are nice to name but a few great features. If I find one on ebay for < $100 I'll jump on it in a flash.

Meanwhile I'm still going to try to find a decent plain-vanilla Huawei just to get some immediate connectivity. WhistleMaster was mentioning a Huawei which he said worked well for him ... trying to find the post and model # now.

Most definitely I snatch up one of those Digi's if I see it for cheap.

[webdirector]

Hello,

I just got a cellular router.

I see the router goes to the internet no issues.

It is setup with DHCP and gives IP ranges from 192.168.0.XXX

I then connected the ethernet cable to WAN port of the Pineapple.

I did the commands :

iptables -A FORWARD -i eth1 -o wlan0 -s 172.16.42.0 -m state --state NEW -j ACCEPTiptables -A FORWARD -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPTiptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth1 -j MASQUERADE

when i am in status page of the pineapple I see it got a WAN IP 192.168.0.100

I alos see a public IP

so to mee it looks as if all is owrking well.

When I now connect over WLAN to the pineapple with my laptop. I see the pineapple status page but when I want to go to google it does not open

any Idea what I am doing wrong ?

Thanks

[telot]

Hey webdirector - grats on getting a bonified cell router! I'm no longer the only one lol

To be honest, I've never used the wan port on my pineapple...like ever. Does your router allow you to change its internal IP and its DHCP? I've always just disabled DHCP at the router and set the routers IP to 172.16.42.42, thereby mimicing a computer. Then I port forward 1471 to 172.16.42.1 so I can reach the web interace, in addition to forwarding port 22 for ssh access. Sorry I couldn't be of more help with your wan-port usage example, hopefully the POE port will give you better results. Cheers!

telot

[webdirector]

Thank´s Telot

I will do the same.