Setup Huawei-HiLink USB modem to work on a RaspberryPi and view it's status
Requires python 2.7.9 & python pip
$ pip install schedule datetime paho-mqtt xmltodict
$ git clone https://github.com/openenergymonitor/huawei-hilink-status
$ cd huawei-hilink-status
$ cp default.config.ini config.ini
$ nano config.ini
Test with:
$ ./hilink-mqtt.py
Run as service:
Create systemd service, assuming repo was cloned to /home/pi folder on a RaspberryPi, adjust paths if needed
$ sudo ln -s /home/pi/huawei-hilink-status/hilink-status.service /etc/systemd/system/hilink-status.service
Set permissions:
sudo chmod 644 /etc/systemd/system/hilink-status.service
Reload systemd then enable the service at startup:
$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemctl enable hilink-status.service
$ sudo systemctl start hilink-status.service
Check service status and view log snippet with:
sudo systemctl status hilink-status.service
Tested with Huawei E3231 and E3131
* Caution: the E3131 comes in several different hardware variants, make sure your hardware can support Hi-Link mode.
If using a newer Raspberry Pi (B+,2 or 3) the Pi should be able to power the USB modem direclty without a y-cable ot usb hub if max power mode is tured on. Ensure a decent 2A PSU is used:
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
Add the following at bottom of file then save and reboot:
max_usb_current=1
For more info on what this does see forum post
-
Install sg3-utils:
sudo apt-get install sg3-utils
-
Change Huawei Hi-Link USB mode
$ lsusb will probably return 12d1:1f01 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. this is mass storage mode. We need Hi-Link USB modem mode. To switch modes enter command:
sudo /usr/bin/sg_raw /dev/sr0 11 06 20 00 00 00 00 00 01 00
$ lsusb should now return 12d1:14db Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
See here for more information on Huawei USB modes and AT commands.
- Set USB mode at boot
To ensure correct USB mode is set on each boot, create the following file:
sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/10-Huawei.rules
copy and paste this line in to it.
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{modalias}=="usb:v12D1p1F01*", SYMLINK+="hwcdrom", RUN+="/usr/bin/sg_raw /dev/hwcdrom 11 06 20 00 00 00 00 00 01 00"
Open the network interfaces file to edit:
sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces
and add the following lines:
allow-hotplug eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
Note: on newer version of Debian e.g Bullseye the network setting are now in /etc/systemd/network
Create the followng file:
sudo nano /etc/systemd/network/05-eth1.network
With the content:
[Match]
Name=eth1
[Network]
DHCP=yes
MulticastDNS=yes
[DHCPv4]
ClientIdentifier=duid
Now try and start the interface
sudo ifup eth1
Give the system an IP address:
sudo ifconfig eth1 192.168.1.47
ifconfig should now show that eth is connected to gateway 192.168.1.1. This is the default IP of the Hi-Link modem. If the gateway of eth0 (your router) is also this same IP this will cause and issue for testing.
Or on newer Debian
sudo ip link set dev eth1 up
or
sudo sudo networkctl up eth1
Check status with
networkctl status eth1
You may need to reboot the Pi.
The utility uses the xmltodict module which can be installed using pip:
apt-get install python-pip
pip install xmltodict
pip install requests
$ python ./hstatus.py
Huawei E3276 LTE Modem (IMEI: 861711012616361)
Hardware version: CH2F4276GM
Software version: 22.250.04.00.186
Serial: B3A3TC2313833197
MAC address (modem): 00:0D:87:22:34:AC
Connection status: Connected
Network type: W-CDMA (3G)
Signal level: ***** (92%)
Roaming: Enabled
Modem WAN IP address: 10.197.32.60
Public IP address: 32.131.81.221
DNS IP addresses: 212.113.0.4, 66.28.0.61
Network operator: Swisscom
Connected for: 00:49:33 (hh:mm:ss)
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