HWIC-3G-GSM installation on the Cisco 1941 series router

[csco10865546]

Hello Folks,

I have got a cisco 1941W-E/k9 router and trying to insert Vodafone sim card on the hwic-3g-gsm card for a remote site.but i get the error sim card read failed.

I have checked all resources and the only solution proferred is the insertion of sim properly...that i ahve done over and over again and tried with different working sim cards.

Has anyone ever worked on this or has useful technical input to what can be wrong.

Attached is the roor message and the techsupport show config.

Cheers

[mavespig]

Hi!

Some suggestions below:

1. did you try to put the SIM on a cellphone, to see if it can connect to the network?

2. does the SIM have a PIN code to enter? (you can verify this with a cellphone, too)

3. I see that the cellular configuration is blank. Can you try to complete the configuration, then insert the SIM?

4. Collect also a "show cellular x/x/x all"

Cheers

Marco

[csco10865546]

Yeah I inserted the sim on a phone to check it is good and it has not got a pin.

What essentially are the basic configs to put in before it detects the sim because i have put in some configs and it still doesnt read it.

Attached is the show cellular all file.

Thanks a lot for your help.

[mavespig]

Hi,

In the "Modem Security Information" section of "show cellular all", it reports: "SIM Status = Removed"

Can you try this:

1. Perhaps the SIM is locked to work only with a specific phone --> you may check this with Vodafone

2. Can you find another SIM card (e.g. different operator) and test it in the modem?

2. SIM in not inserted correctly -> verify that the pins on the modem go to touch the contacts on the SIM

3. SIM slot on the modem is defective -> ask for a replacement card.

Hope this helps

Regards

Marco

[csco10865546]

Thanks a lot Marco,

I have been able to get it to work ...i changed the HWIC card as i guess it was faulty.

Can you assist with configs for setting it up and do i really need to ring vodafone up for details about username ,password and access point name etc.

Attached is a notepad of the show cellular all when i got the card and sim working.

Regards......

[mavespig]

Hi Mokolade, that's good news

To configure the card, you need to go through two steps:

1. Configure the profile

You need to ask Vodafone to provide these info (perhaps you may find them on their website):

- APN name

- username/password to use

You will use them to configure the command:

cellular 0/1/0 gsm create profile create 1 chap

2. Configure the router following the configuration guide:

www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/routers/access/1800/1861/.../mrwlsgsm.pdf

chat-script gsm "" "ATDT*99#" TIMEOUT 60 "CONNECT"

interface Cellular0/1/0
 ip address negotiated
 encapsulation ppp
 dialer in-band
 dialer string gsm
 dialer-group 1
 async mode interactive
 ppp chap hostname 
 ppp chap password 0 
 ppp ipcp dns request


ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 Cellular0/1/0

access-list 1 permit any
dialer-list 1 protocol ip list 1

line 0/1/0
 exec-timeout 0 0
 script dialer gsm
 login
 modem InOut
 no exec

Cheers

Marco

[csco10865546]

Hi boss,

I have configured exactly with your guideline but the link you pasted is broken.sorry i didnt get back to you for a while it was because i ordered for a new vodafone sim card.

Thanks a lot for your help  although the cellular 0/1/0 status still shows as down.

kindly assist,attached is the error message.

Thanks

[csco10865546]

i reckon this attachment might be more useful.

Thanks

[mavespig]

Sorry, the link was somehow truncated:

www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/routers/access/1800/1861/software/feature/guide/mrwlsgsm.pdf

The output of 'show cellular all' can tell you whether the modem can communicate with the base station or not (Current Service Status = Normal), but to see why the link is not coming up you need to analyze the debugs:

- deb chat

- deb dialer

- deb ppp nego

Cheers

Marco

[csco10865546]

Thanks Marco,i finnally got it to work last week ,sorry i didnt update you.....but i have got issue with connectimg a laptop to it.

I am able to ping google.com and any other websites from it so i assume it is fine connecting to the internet.

I plugged in a laptop to the ethernet interface and i am able to ping the gateway and the ip address assigned dynamically to the SIM card the access point is connected to but i cant go beyond that.I also traceroute from the router to google and i tracert from my laptop and from the laptop i am able to get to hosts on vodafone netwro but not beyond it to the internet.

Attached is my router config and the tracert from the laptop attached to the router.

[mavespig]

Hi, this seems to me more a DNS issue.

On the router, you can ping www.google.com, and the DNS server 10.203.65.70 resolves the IP address.

On the PC, the DNS cannot resolve the IP address, perhaps the server is not configured or it is using a different server?

Check on the PC which DNS is configured (ipconfig /all) and verify if you can ping the IP address of google directly.

From the logs and the tests you did, the issue with the cellular interface should be solved now, it seems to work fine.

Cheers

Marco

[csco10865546]

Thanks Marco,

It is obviously a dns issue as i can ping the ip address of google from the laptop.

I saw the dns server address of Vodafone GPRS setting on this link below and configured it in the dhcp pool assigned.

Checking the ipconfig /all shows the laptop was able to get the dns address automatically from the laptop too.

I will ring vodafone to confirm what the problem might be .

http://www.filesaveas.com/gprs.html

Do you know of the possibility of working out a VPN from my GSM-HWIC Card to the ASA in the office.

It appears so easy on paper by the router being in aggressive mode and initiating connection but it fails at phase 1 every time it reaches the ASA.

Errors attched

[mavespig]

I've seen some setups with crypto maps or EZVPN configured over the cellular interface, but I don't know much about VPN's, sorry

I suggest you to post a new thread under the Security area, you will surely get a reply.

Cheers

Marco

[csco10865546]

Thanks a lot for your help.

I have done just that and expecting a feedback.

Cheers