5G EE w/Huawei CPE pro + Tenda mesh MW3, fails to connect to internet

[Kineticmeercat]

I'm having an extremely strange issue only with my EE business sim 

Sadly I don't possess the networking knowledge to understand how to troubleshoot it, and there are no similar scenarios I've researched to aid

(besides these ones https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-home-phone/Connection-to-Orbi-Mesh/td-p/893981 & https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/it-networking-cluelessness-what-am-i-doing-wrong/)

Home mobile broadband setup summary:

5G Network provider (EE [Main] - [Three & Vodafone to test issue]) --> Modem (Huawei 5G CPE Pro - H112-370) --> Mesh routers (Tenda MW3 3-pack)

The problem:

While using the EE network sim in the modem, the mesh router will not connect to the internet during setup or after with DHCP or bridge. (Three and Vodafone both work fine)

While mesh routers are connected with EE, the Internet is still available by directly connecting to the Huawei modem via wifi or ethernet.

The complication:

Using the exact same settings on the Huawei modem and router while using a Vodafone or Three network sim. The mesh router instantly sets up correctly and connects to the internet. 

I don't understand this. It leads me to believe it's a problem directly with EE.

Additional details:

Huawei Modem: Unlocked, Not in bridge mode for the above tests, toggling bridge mode did not solve the problem.

Mesh router: Setup using DHCP (other options are Static IP or PPPoE, but I have no idea how to set these up). Ethernet from Modem (Lan only port) connects to WAN/LAN port of mesh router

Resets: I've additionally tested everything with clean resets for mesh routers and huawei modem with sim changes aswell. This has not affected the outcome

More details can be provided

The solution?:

I have no idea. It must be EE? if all others work (Vodafone and Three). Can someone help me solve this?

[XRaySpeX]

1. Is VLAN ID = 101 set in modem?
2. WAN setting of router: DHCP is for being directly BB connected to ISP on a dynamic public IP addy. PPPoE is for being connected by Ethernet to a modem (as you are) or another router. Switch to PPPoE.

[XRaySpeX]

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@Kineticmeercat wrote:

(besides these oneshttps://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-home-phone/Connection-to-Orbi-Mesh/td-p/893981

is about fixed BB BB Usernames & nowt to do with this.

[Kineticmeercat · Accepted solution]

Hi, thanks for the input mate but I managed to get it fixed!

It was an issue with IPv4 connectivity. Deduced this by looking at devices and viewing what could and couldn't connect to the internet. only the Tenda mesh router didn't have an IPv6. That led me to research posts on EE and the CPE pro not working with IPv4, which led to a solution!

The mesh router only communicated via IPv4, and had no Ipv6. This wouldn't allow it to connect to the internet with EE's default APN detected by the Huawei H112-370.

Changing the APN to prefer Ipv4 instead of Ipv4 & 6 solved the problem. (this post had the solution 'APN Ipv4 EE with CPE pro')

However there was another issue, Huawei had hidden the crucial option to change this via a firmware update. They had only hidden the option not removed it though. Using a this command line in developer options in chrome allowed me show the hidden settings, again sourced from the post above. 

See pics:

Normal menu of my Huawei H112-370 on firmware 10.0.05, with code highlighted and inputted into elements.

Menu after inputted code with necessary options (have to close the menu and reopen to initiate a new line of code)

EE APN settings posted by Ray_88

- Name: ee internet (make sure lower case ee)

- user name: eesecure

- password: secure

- ************: PAP

- IP Type: IPv4 (select only IPv4 from dropdown)

- APN: everywhere

- keep ‘set DNS server manually’ unchecked, so it's auto.

Code to input into elements when profile menu open to reveal hidden options posted by tmrbnsn

$('#ip_type').show();

Cheers anyway!

[XRaySpeX]

Thanks! You're welcome 🙂 ! Glad I could be of assistance & it is now sorted.

[E_E__]

Brilliant advice here - it worked thanks to this article:

My setup:

Unlocked Huawei H112-370

Huawei setup in Bridge mode

DrayTek Vigor 2927ac to do superior routing, firewall and port forwarding etc.

Ethernet cable connecting Huawei LAN1 into DrayTek WAN2 now lights up WAN2 LED without further configuration.

The APN settings for EE needed to be forced to use IPv4 as per this article in order to work (and I'd spent hours trying to figure it out).

PS. Googling the phrase "what is my IP" gives a different external IP address to the external IP address passed to DrayTek by Huawei, but I guess this is due to the use of CGN  / CGNAT by EE. (incidentally, putting a THREE data SIM card into the Huawei just worked, but I understand they don't use CGNAT).

I think I'm going to have fun / maybe fail setting up port forwarding for CCTV remote access and the DYNDNS service 😞