WWAN - Wireless Wide-Area-Network
The Wireless Wide-Area-Network interface provides access (through a wireless modem/wwan) to wireless networks provided by various cellular providers.
VyOS uses the interfaces wwan subsystem for configuration.
Configuration
Common interface configuration
Configure the interface with one or more IP addresses.
The following options are available:
address: Assign one or more IPv4 or IPv6 addresses to the interface. For example, use 192.0.2.1/24 for IPv4 or 2001:db8::1/64 for IPv6.
dhcp: The interface obtains an IPv4 address from a DHCP server on the same network segment.
dhcpv6: The interface obtains an IPv6 address from a DHCPv6 server on the same network segment.
Note
If the interface obtains an IPv4 address via DHCP, and specific adjustments are needed before/after the IP address is obtained, use the provided hook scripts:
/config/scripts/dhcp-client/pre-hooks.d//config/scripts/dhcp-client/post-hooks.d/
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 address 192.0.2.1/24
set interfaces wwan wwan0 address 2001:db8::1/64
set interfaces wwan wwan0 address dhcp
set interfaces wwan wwan0 address dhcpv6
Configure a clear, descriptive alias for the interface.
This alias appears in the show interfaces command and SNMP-based
monitoring tools.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 description 'This is an interface running on VyOS.'
Disable the interface.
The interface will be set to the administratively down
(A/D) state.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 disable
Disable physical link-state change detection on the interface, such as when a cable is unplugged.
By default, the interface detects physical link-state changes.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 disable-link-detect
Configure the MTU on the interface.
This value defines the largest packet size, in bytes, that the interface transmits without fragmentation.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 mtu 1600
Configure the MSS advertised in outgoing TCP SYN packets on the specified interface.
By clamping the MSS value in TCP SYN packets, you explicitly inform the remote side not to send packets larger than that size. This prevents connection issues that occur when Path MTU Discovery (PMTUD) fails.
The following options are available:
mss: Sets the MSS to a specific value, in bytes. Use this option if you need to enforce a specific MSS, for example, to troubleshoot connectivity issues or accommodate specific network requirements.
clamp-mss-to-pmtu: The router automatically calculates the MSS to be the interface’s MTU minus 40 bytes for IPv4 traffic (20 bytes for the IPv4 header and 20 bytes for the TCP header). This option is recommended to automatically set the proper value.
Configure how long an ARP entry remains valid after learning an IP-to-MAC address mapping on this interface.
The default duration is 30 seconds.
An ARP entry remains valid if it receives positive feedback from higher-level protocols.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ip arp-cache-timeout 180
Configure ARP filtering on this interface.
Default behavior: The kernel responds to ARP requests on this interface only if the traffic would be routed back to the ARP sender through that specific interface.
If configured: The kernel responds to ARP requests on this interface for any IP address configured on the local host, regardless of which specific interface that IP address is assigned to, and regardless of the routing table. This reflects the Linux concept that IP addresses belong to the host, not individual interfaces.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ip disable-arp-filter
Configure the interface for host or router behavior.
If configured, the interface switches to host mode, and IPv4 forwarding is disabled on it.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ip disable-forwarding
Configure whether to forward IP-directed broadcast packets received on this interface.
Default behavior: IP-directed broadcast packets are dropped.
If configured: IP-directed broadcast packets are forwarded to all hosts on the destination subnet, as defined in RFC 1812 and RFC 2644.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ip enable-directed-broadcast
Configure how to process gratuitous ARPs on this interface.
If configured, an IP-to-MAC address mapping is added to the ARP table based on gratuitous ARP requests or replies.
Note
If the ARP table already contains the IP address from a gratuitous ARP, its entry is updated regardless of whether this setting is configured.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ip enable-arp-accept
Configure the source IP selection for ARP requests on this interface.
Default behavior: The kernel can use any IP address the host owns as the source IP address in ARP requests on this interface.
If configured: The kernel first attempts to select a source IP address configured on the interface that shares a common subnet with the target IP address. If there is no such subnet, the kernel selects the IP address it would normally use (based on the routing table to reach the target destination).
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ip enable-arp-announce
Configure which ARP requests will be ignored on this interface.
Default behavior: The kernel responds to ARP requests for any local IP addresses, regardless of which interface they are assigned to.
If configured: The kernel responds to ARP requests only if the target IP address is assigned to this specific interface.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ip enable-arp-ignore
Configure proxy ARP on this interface.
If configured, the router (kernel) intercepts ARP requests for non-local IP addresses and replies with the MAC address of the interface that received the request. Subsequent packets destined to these IP addresses are forwarded to their actual destinations on remote subnets.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ip enable-proxy-arp
Configure local proxy ARP on the interface.
If configured, the router (kernel) responds to ARP requests on this VLAN interface even if the target IP address resides on the same subnet and interface.
This is used to support network isolation requirements (RFC 3069) for private VLANs (PVLANs). In PVLAN configurations, hosts on isolated ports are NOT allowed to communicate directly with each other at Layer 2, but they can communicate with the upstream router.
By replying to inter-host ARP requests with its own MAC address, the router (kernel) directs inter-host traffic through itself instead of directly between hosts.
Note
This command works independently and does not require enabling the standard proxy ARP on the interface.
Local proxy ARP is also known as:
VLAN aggregation (RFC 3069).
Private VLAN (Cisco, Allied Telesyn).
Source-port filtering or port isolation (Hewlett-Packard).
MAC-Forced Forwarding (Ericsson).
Configure source IP address validation using RPF on this interface, as specified in RFC 3704.
The following options are available:
strict: Each incoming packet’s source IP address is checked against the Forwarding Information Base (FIB). If the interface is not the best route back to that source, validation fails, and the packet is dropped.
loose: Each incoming packet’s source IP address is checked against the FIB. If the source IP address is unreachable through any interface, validation fails.
disable: No source IP address validation is performed. All incoming packets are accepted.
RFC 3704 recommends enabling strict mode to prevent IP spoofing, such as DDoS attacks. For asymmetric or other complex routing scenarios, use loose mode.
Configure the interface to automatically obtain an IPv6 address using SLAAC, as specified in RFC 4862.
IPv6 hosts can configure themselves automatically when connected to an IPv6 network using the Neighbor Discovery Protocol via ICMPv6 router discovery messages. When first connected to a network, a host sends a link-local router solicitation multicast request for its configuration parameters. The router responds with a router advertisement packet containing Internet Layer configuration parameters.
Note
This method automatically disables IPv6 traffic forwarding on the interface.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ipv6 address autoconf
Configure the interface to assign itself an IPv6 address using the EUI-64 method, as specified in RFC 4291.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ipv6 address eui64 2001:db8:beef::/64
Disable the automatic assignment of a link-local IPv6 address to this interface.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ipv6 address no-default-link-local
Configure the interface for host or router behavior.
If configured, the interface switches to host mode, and IPv6 forwarding is disabled on it.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ipv6 disable-forwarding
Configure the MSS advertised in outgoing TCP SYN packets on the specified interface.
By clamping the MSS value in TCP SYN packets, you explicitly inform the remote side not to send packets larger than that size. This prevents connection issues when Path MTU Discovery (PMTUD) fails.
The following options are available:
mss: Set the MSS to a specific value, in bytes. Use this option to enforce a specific MSS, for example, to troubleshoot connectivity issues or accommodate specific network requirements.
clamp-mss-to-pmtu: The router calculates the MSS to be the interface’s MTU minus 60 bytes for IPv6 traffic (40 bytes for the IPv6 header and 20 bytes for the TCP header). This option is recommended to automatically set the proper value.
Configure IPv6 DAD on the interface.
The following options are available:
0: Disables DAD. No duplicate address detection is performed.
1: Enables DAD (default). Duplicate addresses are detected. The interface’s IPv6 operation continues for valid IPv6 addresses.
2: Enables DAD and, if a MAC-based duplicate link-local address is found, disables IPv6 operation on this interface.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ipv6 accept-dad 2
Configure the number of DAD messages that the router (kernel) sends during IPv6 address assignment on this interface.
The default value is 1.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 ipv6 dup-addr-detect-transmits 5
Assign the interface to a specific VRF instance.
See also
For information on configuring a VRF, refer to the VRF section.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 vrf red
DHCP(v6)
Configure a DHCP client identifier for the interface, as specified in RFC 2131.
The client-id is an identifier that the DHCP client sends to the DHCP
server to uniquely identify itself for IP address assignment. By default,
the client uses its MAC address. The <description> is a user-defined
string that will be sent to the DHCP server as the DHCP client identifier.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcp-options client-id 'foo-bar'
Configure a specific hostname for the interface.
Instead of the real hostname, the DHCP client will send the specific hostname to the DHCP server when requesting an IP address.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcp-options host-name 'VyOS'
Configure the DHCP client to include a vendor-class identifier in its DHCP requests on this interface.
The vendor-class identifier is a vendor-specific byte string that enables the DHCP server to identify the device and, in some cases, provide configuration options.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcp-options vendor-class-id 'VyOS'
Configure the DHCP client to obtain an IP address, but ignore any default gateway provided by the DHCP server on this interface.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcp-options no-default-route
Configure the distance for the default route obtained from the DHCP server on this interface.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcp-options default-route-distance 220
Configure the DHCP client to reject the specific IP address or IP address range from the DHCP server on this interface.
This is useful when a modem assigns a local IP address upon start. To reject multiple addresses, run this command multiple times with different values. You can reject individual addresses (192.168.100.1) or entire subnets (192.168.100.0/24).
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcp-options reject 192.168.100.0/24
Configure the DHCP client to send a specific user-class identifier in its DHCP requests on this interface.
The DHCP server can interpret this identifier and provide specific configuration options based on it (for example, default routes). The user-class value typically groups DHCP clients with similar configuration needs (for example, employees, guests, or printers).
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcp-options user-class VyOS
Configure a specific DUID for the DHCPv6 client on this interface.
The DUID is an identifier used by a DHCPv6 client to get an IPv6 address from a DHCPv6 server. It consists of a 2-byte type field, followed by a variable-length identifier field up to 128 bytes. The format of the identifier part depends on the DUID type:
DUID-LLT: The most common type, which includes a hardware type, a timestamp, and a MAC address.
DUID-EN: Is based on a vendor’s enterprise number and a unique identifier assigned by the vendor.
DUID-LL: Includes only a MAC address.
The DHCP server matches the DUID against its database and provides configuration data (such as address, lease times, DNS servers, etc.) to the DHCP client.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 duid '0e:00:00:01:00:01:27:71:db:f0:00:50:56:bf:c5:6d'
Configure the DHCP client not to send a release message when it stops running on this interface.
This helps retain the assigned address or prefix.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcpv6-options no-release
Enable a stateless DHCPv6 client mode on this interface.
In stateless mode, the DHCPv6 client requests only stateless configuration parameters from the DHCP server (for example, DNS server addresses). It doesn’t request a stateful configuration, such as IPv6 addresses or prefixes.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcpv6-options parameters-only
Enable DHCPv6 rapid commit on this interface.
When enabled, the DHCP client and server skip the negotiation steps (Advertise and Request), completing the DHCPv6 configuration process in just two messages (Solicit and final Reply).
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcpv6-options rapid-commit
Configure the DHCPv6 client to request a temporary IPv6 address on this interface.
When configured, the DHCP client doesn’t form an Identity Association for Non-temporary Addresses (IA_NA) partnership. Consequently, it only obtains a temporary IPv6 address and doesn’t obtain a permanent one.
Example:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcpv6-options temporary
DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation (PD)
VyOS supports DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation (DHCPv6-PD) as described in RFC 3633. DHCPv6-PD is supported by most ISPs that provide native IPv6 for consumers on fixed networks.
Configure a specific prefix length for DHCPv6-PD requests on this interface.
Some ISPs provide only a /64 prefix by default. Use this command to request a different prefix length for a specific DHCPv6-PD request, ranging from /32 (if allowed by your ISP) down to /64. <id> is a unique identifier for the DHCPv6-PD request.
The default value is 64.
To request a /56 prefix from your ISP, use:
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcpv6-options pd 0 length 56
Configure the IPv6 interface identifier (host portion) for the delegatee interface.
The value must be a decimal integer. It is appended to the delegated prefix and the configured SLA ID to form the final IPv6 address.
By default, the host portion is generated based on the parent interface’s MAC address (EUI-64 format).
Example:
If a /64 prefix is delegated to interface eth8 and you configure the host portion as 65535, the resulting IPv6 address will end with ::ffff, as 65535 corresponds to ffff in hexadecimal notation.
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcpv6-options pd 0 interface eth8 address 65534
Configure the SLA ID for the delegatee interface.
The value must be a decimal integer greater than 0 and fit in the length of SLA IDs. It is converted to hexadecimal and appended to the delegated prefix to form the specific subnet prefix for the delegatee interface.
Example:
If SLA ID is 1 and the delegated prefix is 2001:db8:ffff::/48, the
resulting subnet prefix for the delegatee interface will be
2001:db8:ffff:1::/64.
set interfaces wwan wwan0 dhcpv6-options pd 0 interface eth8 sla-id 1
WirelessModem (WWAN) options
Operation
Show detailed information on given <interface>
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0
wwan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/ether 02:c2:f3:00:01:02 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 10.155.144.12/30 brd 10.155.144.15 scope global dynamic wwan0
valid_lft 7012sec preferred_lft 7012sec
inet6 fe80::c2:f3ff:fe00:0102/64 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
RX: bytes packets errors dropped overrun mcast
640 2 0 0 0 0
TX: bytes packets errors dropped carrier collisions
3229 16 0 0 0 0
Show detailed information summary on given <interface>
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 summary
--------------------------------
General | dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0
| device id: 79f4e9cc2e9fc8d4a3b8c8f6327c2e363170194d
--------------------------------
Hardware | manufacturer: Sierra Wireless, Incorporated
| model: MC7710
| revision: SWI9200X_03.05.29.03ap r6485 CNSHZ-ED-XP0031 2014/12/02 17:53:15
| h/w revision: 1.0
| supported: gsm-umts, lte
| current: gsm-umts, lte
| equipment id: 358xxxxxxxxxxxx
--------------------------------
System | device: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb3/3-1/3-1.3
| drivers: qcserial, qmi_wwan
| plugin: Generic
| primary port: cdc-wdm0
| ports: ttyUSB0 (qcdm), ttyUSB2 (at), cdc-wdm0 (qmi), wwan0 (net)
--------------------------------
Numbers | own: 4917xxxxxxxx
--------------------------------
Status | lock: sim-pin2
| unlock retries: sim-pin (3), sim-pin2 (3), sim-puk (10), sim-puk2 (10)
| state: connected
| power state: on
| access tech: lte
| signal quality: 63% (recent)
--------------------------------
Modes | supported: allowed: 2g; preferred: none
| allowed: 3g; preferred: none
| allowed: 4g; preferred: none
| allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: 3g
| allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: 2g
| allowed: 2g, 4g; preferred: 4g
| allowed: 2g, 4g; preferred: 2g
| allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 3g
| allowed: 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
| allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 4g
| allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 3g
| allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 2g
| current: allowed: 2g, 3g, 4g; preferred: 2g
--------------------------------
Bands | supported: egsm, dcs, pcs, utran-1, utran-8, eutran-1, eutran-3,
| eutran-7, eutran-8, eutran-20
| current: egsm, dcs, pcs, utran-1, utran-8, eutran-1, eutran-3,
| eutran-7, eutran-8, eutran-20
--------------------------------
IP | supported: ipv4, ipv6, ipv4v6
--------------------------------
3GPP | imei: 358xxxxxxxxxxxx
| operator id: 26201
| operator name: Telekom.de
| registration: home
--------------------------------
3GPP EPS | ue mode of operation: ps-1
--------------------------------
SIM | dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/SIM/0
--------------------------------
Bearer | dbus path: /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Bearer/0
Show WWAN module hardware capabilities.
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 capabilities
Max TX channel rate: '50000000'
Max RX channel rate: '100000000'
Data Service: 'simultaneous-cs-ps'
SIM: 'supported'
Networks: 'gsm, umts, lte'
Bands: 'gsm-dcs-1800, gsm-900-extended, gsm-900-primary, gsm-pcs-1900, wcdma-2100, wcdma-900'
LTE bands: '1, 3, 7, 8, 20'
Show WWAN module firmware.
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 firmware
Model: MC7710
Boot version: SWI9200X_03.05.29.03bt r6485 CNSHZ-ED-XP0031 2014/12/02 17:33:08
AMSS version: SWI9200X_03.05.29.03ap r6485 CNSHZ-ED-XP0031 2014/12/02 17:53:15
SKU ID: unknown
Package ID: unknown
Carrier ID: 0
Config version: unknown
Show WWAN module IMEI.
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 imei
ESN: '0'
IMEI: '358xxxxxxxxxxxx'
MEID: 'unknown'
Show WWAN module IMSI.
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 imsi
IMSI: '262xxxxxxxxxxxx'
Show WWAN module model.
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 model
Model: 'MC7710'
Show WWAN module MSISDN.
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 msisdn
MSISDN: '4917xxxxxxxx'
Show WWAN module hardware revision.
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 revision
Revision: 'SWI9200X_03.05.29.03ap r6485 CNSHZ-ED-XP0031 2014/12/02 17:53:15'
Show WWAN module signal strength.
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 signal
LTE:
RSSI: '-74 dBm'
RSRQ: '-7 dB'
RSRP: '-100 dBm'
SNR: '13.0 dB'
Radio Interface: 'lte'
Active Band Class: 'eutran-3'
Active Channel: '1300'
Show WWAN module SIM card information.
vyos@vyos:~$ show interfaces wwan wwan0 sim
Provisioning applications:
Primary GW: slot '1', application '1'
Primary 1X: session doesn't exist
Secondary GW: session doesn't exist
Secondary 1X: session doesn't exist
Slot [1]:
Card state: 'present'
UPIN state: 'not-initialized'
UPIN retries: '0'
UPUK retries: '0'
Application [1]:
Application type: 'usim (2)'
Application state: 'ready'
Application ID:
A0:00:00:00:87:10:02:FF:49:94:20:89:03:10:00:00
Personalization state: 'ready'
UPIN replaces PIN1: 'no'
PIN1 state: 'disabled'
PIN1 retries: '3'
PUK1 retries: '10'
PIN2 state: 'enabled-not-verified'
PIN2 retries: '3'
PUK2 retries: '10'
Example
The following example is based on a Sierra Wireless MC7710 miniPCIe card (only the form factor in reality it runs UBS) and Deutsche Telekom as ISP. The card is assembled into a PC Engines APU4.
set interfaces wwan wwan0 apn 'internet.telekom'
set interfaces wwan wwan0 address 'dhcp'
Supported Modules
The following hardware modules have been tested successfully in an PC Engines APU4 board:
Sierra Wireless AirPrime MC7304 miniPCIe card (LTE)
Sierra Wireless AirPrime MC7430 miniPCIe card (LTE)
Sierra Wireless AirPrime MC7455 miniPCIe card (LTE)
Sierra Wireless AirPrime MC7710 miniPCIe card (LTE)
Huawei ME909u-521 miniPCIe card (LTE)
Huawei ME909s-120 miniPCIe card (LTE)
HP LT4120 Snapdragon X5 LTE
Firmware Update
All available WWAN cards have a built-in, reprogrammable firmware. Most vendors provide regular updates to firmware used in the baseband chip.
As VyOS makes use of the QMI interface to connect to the WWAN modem cards, the firmware can be reprogrammed.
To update the firmware, VyOS also ships the qmi-firmware-update binary. To
upgrade the firmware of an e.g. Sierra Wireless MC7710 module to the firmware
provided in the file 9999999_9999999_9200_03.05.14.00_00_generic_000.000_001_SPKG_MC.cwe
use the following command:
$ sudo qmi-firmware-update --update -d 1199:68a2 \
9999999_9999999_9200_03.05.14.00_00_generic_000.000_001_SPKG_MC.cwe