bandrich.txt

The configuration for the bandrich in the test setup is a bit hackish.

Here come some notes explaining what we do here.

To get /dev/bandrich.data and /dev/bandrich.control (so that you don't need
to look for which /dev/ttyUSBx are used by your dongle, and always use
the same files, no matter what), add a udev file:

    /etc/udev/rules.d/bandrich.rules

containing lines:

    SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ENV{ID_VENDOR_ID}=="1a8d", ENV{ID_MODEL_ID}=="100d", ENV{ID_SERIAL_SHORT}=="357473040068155", ENV{ID_USB_INTERFACE_NUM}=="00", SYMLINK+="bandrich.data", MODE="0666"
    SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ENV{ID_VENDOR_ID}=="1a8d", ENV{ID_MODEL_ID}=="100d", ENV{ID_SERIAL_SHORT}=="357473040068155", ENV{ID_USB_INTERFACE_NUM}=="02", SYMLINK+="bandrich.control", MODE="0666"

To avoid NetworkManager to play with the bandrich, add also the line:

    ENV{ID_VENDOR_ID}=="1a8d", ENV{ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE}="1"

Maybe also add; , ENV{ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE}="1"
to the two other lines.

Then run: udevadm control --reload-rules
And:      service network-manager restart

Change vendor_id/model_id/serial/interface num to match yours.
Use lsusb -v to find values.

At first we used /dev/ttyUSB2 linked to /dev/bandrich for both data (in
the wvdial configuration file) and control (in the python code, opening
/dev/bandrich the standard unix way and read and write into it, with no
special libusb commands).

But it turned out that using /dev/ttyUSB2 for data gives bad throughput
results. We tested downlink UDP at 15Mb/s but the maximum throughput for
a 5MHz cell was around 13, and we had a lot of packets lost at the iperf's
UDP level. Radio was looking fine (all packets acked correctly), so it was
not a radio problem. The dongle in a windows machine was working fine,
15Mbs/s. Using the wvdial configuration file from test setup v1 gave also
good results. The only difference was the use of /dev/ttyUSB0 instead of
/dev/ttyUSB2. Using /dev/ttyUSB0 solved the throughput issue.

But using /dev/ttyUSB0 for control in the pyton code did not work. The
output was incorrect.

So we decided to have /dev/bandrich.data linked to /dev/ttyUSB0 for data
(wvdial) and /dev/bandrich.control linked to /dev/ttyUSB2 for control
(in python code).

It may not be the correct way to go, but it seems to do the trick so far.

Your device may need some other solution.

Here, we get, as result of lsusb -v:

    [SNIP]
    Bus 003 Device 009: ID 1a8d:100d BandRich, Inc. 4G LTE adapter
    Device Descriptor:
      bLength                18
      bDescriptorType         1
      bcdUSB               2.00
      bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
      bDeviceSubClass         0 
      bDeviceProtocol         0 
      bMaxPacketSize0        64
      idVendor           0x1a8d BandRich, Inc.
      idProduct          0x100d 4G LTE adapter
      bcdDevice            0.00
      iManufacturer          10 BandRich, Inc.
      iProduct                9 BandLuxe HSPA-LTE Adapter
      iSerial                11 357473040068155
    [SNIP]

You can also run:

    udevadm monitor

and unplug/replug the dongle. It will print some information.

The command:

    udevadm info --export-db

is also important to get the right identifier to put in ENV{}. (It also
gives the correct value.)

Here is extracted what we have for our dongle:

    P: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.0/usb3/3-1/3-1.2/3-1.2:1.2/ttyUSB2/tty/ttyUSB2
    N: ttyUSB2
    S: bandrich
    S: serial/by-id/usb-BandRich__Inc._BandLuxe_HSPA-LTE_Adapter_357473040068155-if02-port0
    S: serial/by-path/pci-0000:00:1a.0-usb-0:1.2:1.2-port0
    E: DEVLINKS=/dev/bandrich /dev/serial/by-id/usb-BandRich__Inc._BandLuxe_HSPA-LTE_Adapter_357473040068155-if02-port0 /dev/serial/by-path/pci-0000:00:1a.0-usb-0:1.2:1.2-port0
    E: DEVNAME=/dev/ttyUSB2
    E: DEVPATH=/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.0/usb3/3-1/3-1.2/3-1.2:1.2/ttyUSB2/tty/ttyUSB2
    E: ID_BUS=usb
    E: ID_MM_CANDIDATE=1
    E: ID_MODEL=BandLuxe_HSPA-LTE_Adapter
    E: ID_MODEL_ENC=BandLuxe\x20HSPA-LTE\x20Adapter
    E: ID_MODEL_FROM_DATABASE=4G LTE adapter
    E: ID_MODEL_ID=100d
    E: ID_PATH=pci-0000:00:1a.0-usb-0:1.2:1.2
    E: ID_PATH_TAG=pci-0000_00_1a_0-usb-0_1_2_1_2
    E: ID_REVISION=0000
    E: ID_SERIAL=BandRich__Inc._BandLuxe_HSPA-LTE_Adapter_357473040068155
    E: ID_SERIAL_SHORT=357473040068155
    E: ID_TYPE=generic
    E: ID_USB_DRIVER=option
    E: ID_USB_INTERFACES=:ffffff:020600:0a0000:080650:
    E: ID_USB_INTERFACE_NUM=02
    E: ID_VENDOR=BandRich__Inc.
    E: ID_VENDOR_ENC=BandRich\x2c\x20Inc.
    E: ID_VENDOR_FROM_DATABASE=BandRich, Inc.
    E: ID_VENDOR_ID=1a8d
    E: MAJOR=188
    E: MINOR=2
    E: SUBSYSTEM=tty
    E: USEC_INITIALIZED=672068596

You can also run:

    udevadm info -a -p /sys/bus/usb-serial/devices/ttyUSB0
    udevadm info -a -p /sys/bus/usb-serial/devices/ttyUSB2

Note: after creating the udev files, you need to unplug/replug your
dongle for /dev/bandrich.data and /dev/bandrich.control to appear.

Note: the mode 0666 is for everyone to access the dongle (no need for
      root privileges). If you prefer you can set it to 0600 (only root)
      or 0660 (root and group).

Then you need to configure pppd, to get correct 'route' information when
you run wvdial.

The file /etc/ppp/peers/wvdial should have the following content:

    noauth
    name wvdial
    usepeerdns
    defaultroute
    replacedefaultroute

The file wvdial.bandrich.conf has been created by copying some information
found on the Internet. Its content may not be fully correct. Adapt to your
situation. It seems to work here.