Sierra Wireless 4G/LTE MC7710/MC7700

[KFP]

One thing I noticed when buying 4G/LTE WWAN card:   I give an example

Sierra MC7700  MC7710 both are 4G/LTE WWAN (based on same chipset: Qualcomm MDM9200,  Sierra AirCard 320U also use it)

MC7700  uses 700(B17)/1700/2100(B4) MHz band

MC7710 uses 900(B8)/1800(B3)/2100 (B1)/2600(B7)/DD800(B20) MHz band

 

If I buy MC7700,  choose T-Mobile as ISP,   I may not get 4G/LTE speed, but only HSPA+

Oppositely, If I buy MC7710,   choose AT&T as ISP,  The same story as above, No 4G/LTE speed.

 

It is hard to get one GSM 4G/LTE card to work with all ISPs even it is called unlocked.  but technically it is still locked.

[KFP]

I have a MC7710 that caused me perhaps <US$100. it works in Windows 8.1 with drivers and frontend programme. I cannot make it work in Mavericks. After patching cellphone.kext, the conneciton status logo appears on the menu but not in network preference.

 

It is 4G/LTE in speed.

install this software:

http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/en/Disclaimer.aspx?redirecturl=http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/aircard/Generic_Mac_Watcher_B3563.mpkg.zip

It is used for AirCard 320U which has the same chip as AirPrime MC7710 (both are Qualcomm MDM9200)

The software should support AirPrime MC7710 to get 4G/LTE connection under Mavericks

[KFP]

Could you show me the screen snapshot for System Profiler ->USB and WWAN?    I will receive my MC7700 soon.

2 things to get 4G/LTE connections with your ISP.

 

1.  The mini PCIe WWAN must support ISP's LTE band,  Here is the list of most ISPs'  LTE bands used.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks

     otherwise,  it will use low speed connection.  Check WWAN card spec and ISP both sides to see they are matched.

    e.g. my MC770 and T-Mobile

    MC770 (http://www.3g-modem-wiki.com/page/Sierra+Wireless+MC7700) shows:

    LTE frequency bands:700(B17)/AWS

    T-Mobile US: Band: 4 , Frequency:  1700(e)/1700(d)/1700(f)

 

    At beginning, I thought I cannot use MC770 with T-Mobile(US) to get 4G/LTE connection.  But further search results show, AWS commonly means B4 (band 4)  1700/2100Mhz.  It seems matched.

 

2. I do not think Mavericks has any 4G/LTE script in xxx.ccl (such as WWAN.ccl) files. We need to patch existing dial-up script to add at least one line AT command to turn on LTE channel.  - I will check MC7700/MC7710 developer documents to find out the proper script to turn on 4G/LTE of the WWAN just before it starts to connect to APN of the ISP.

[KFP]

I am still waiting for my MC7700 arrival. (ordered on eBay, but mailed from China to US).

Meanwhile.  I downloaded "AirPrime MC/SL-Series (UMTS/LTE) Extended AT Command Reference"

 

After I receive and install it.  I will try these commands manually: (see my thread "SMS app for Ericsson WWAN module")

 

1. Set frequency band
Set the modem to use a particular frequency band. You must use this command to select an appropriate band before running LTE, WCDMA, or GSM commands.
Usage:
• Execution: AT!DASBAND=<rfband>
Response: <rfband>
OK
Purpose: Set frequency band.
Parameters:
<rfband> (Unique value corresponding to an RF band and technology.)
• This is a unique value that maps to an RF band and technology. It is not an actual 3GPP band number. For example, ‘18’ is GSM 850, which corresponds to 3GPP band 5 (on a GSM network).
• Band support is product specific—see the device’s Product Specification or Product Technical Specification document for details.
• Examples (for a full listing, see Table D-1 on page 279):
GSM
• 10=GSM 900
• 11=GSM 1800
• 12=GSM 1900
• 18=GSM 850
WCDMA
• 9=WCDMA 2100
• 16=WCDMA 1900B
• 22=WCDMA 850
• 29=WCDMA 900 (BC8)
LTE
• 34=LTE B1
• 35=LTE B7
• 36=LTE B13
• 37=LTE B17
• 42=LTE B4
• 44=LTE B3
• 47=LTE B8
• 56=LTE B20

 

2. Set modem channel (frequency)
Set the modem to operate on a particular frequency channel. Before using this command, use the command !DASBAND (described on page 110) to set the band. Once a channel is set, the modem continues to use that channel until the modem is reset or powered off and on.
Usage:
• Execution: AT!DASCHAN=<rfchannel>
Response: <rfchannel>
OK
Purpose: Set modem channel (frequency).
Parameters:
<rfchannel> (Uplink channel number (ARFCN)—depends on frequency band being used)
• 128–251: GSM 850 MHz
• 1–24: GSM 900 MHz
• 975–1023: GSM 900 MHz
• 512–885: GSM 1800 MHz
• 512–810: GSM 1900 MHz
• 9612–9888: WCDMA 2100
• 9262–9538: WCDMA 1900
• 4132–4233: WCDMA 850
• 2712–2863: WCDMA 900
• 18000–18599: LTE B1
• 19200–19949: LTE B3
• 19950–20399 LTE B4
• 20750–21449: LTE B7
• 21450–21799: LTE B8
• 23180–23279: LTE B13
• 23730–23849: LTE B17
• 24150–24449: LTE B20

 

Hopefully I can do that successfully from AT command line. Then I will put it into ccl script.

[Leon]

Links:

• Info: http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/bc/hardware/?action=h_view&model_id=1210
• Mode switch (Windows): http://www.szelins.com/download/usermanual/H685_MC7710_from_DIP_to_QMI.pdf

 

Following is my research notes on the mc7710

First of all - i figured out that the card operates either in QMI or DIP (Direct IP) mode - To identify what mode your card is in check the ProductID under sysinfo.

0x68A2 = QMI
0x68a3 = DIP

This seems to have alot of inpact on wether you can use it under osx/linux or not - under windows - logically... both work - mine is in QMI,

There is a guide here for howto change it - but i havent had much luck with it yet: http://www.szelins.com/download/usermanual/H685_MC7710_from_DIP_to_QMI.pdf

My progress on the different OS:

OSX 10.9.4:

• Patched Cellphonehelper.kext makes it show up in the topbar, but says "PIN LOCKED" when i click on it (the sim card is not locked)
• Sierrawatcher: Card _MUST_ be in direct ip mode (DIP) or it wont work.. i'm pretty sure it will enable 4G/LTE also.
  Use this watcher software: Generic_Mac_Watcher_B3563.mpkg.zip

Tried to patch the different plists and while card gets detected its unable to connect - dies with error "unable to comm. with modem"

Linux:
Not detected

Windows:
Works perfect using Sierrawatcher software

Update:
Switching modes from QMI to DIP worked by using another machine solves the problem and it now works as a DIP device in OSX using the watcher software.

 

DirectIP vs. QMI

DirectIP:
- Independent control of user plane and data plane
o Different USB interfaces for control vs data
- Data sessions can be controlled by AT commands
- Simple to setup a data session (one AT cmd to configure profile, one to trigger data session)
o User can test manually from a terminal program
- Currently supports multiple concurrent data sessions (PDP contexts) to host
o Note: works in HSPA but not fully tested on LTE
- No support for CDMA (therefore can’t be used with MC7750).
- No SDK support on MC77xx platforms as we don’t officially support CNS on MC77xx
- Windows and Linux driver support available

QMI:
- Control and data planes are multiplexed together
o Share a single USB interface for control & data
- Data sessions can only be controlled via QMI protocol
- Compared to AT cmds, much more complicated to setup a data session as control services need to be initialized before any QMI commands can be sent
o Need some sort of host program to do this (can’t be done manually)
- Currently, does not support multiple concurrent data sessions to host
o QCT has no plans to support but Sierra looking to add this support ourselves
o May be more complicated than DirectIP due to fact that we will need to split control and data planes for subsequent data sessions (i.e. one control interface for multiple data paths)
- Supports CDMA (currently only option for MC7750).
- Supported via QMI SDK in Linux and Windows
- Windows and Linux driver support available

[KFP]

OMG,  Do you implicitly mean  MC7710/MC7700 on market are all set to QMI mode,    that is the reason it is not detected from watcher software under OSX?  We need to buy some test board and set it to DIP mode manually.  - what a tedious job!  even as a computer professional,  it is still hard for me to accomplish it.  no mention to regular users.

That is really a good finding!  glad to know it is working for you, as this is the first successful case for LTE/4G mini card under Mavericks.

[Leon]

Honestly.. i dont know.. but it seems to be the solution in this case atleast.

Logically.. it would be more cool to have it working as a WWAN device.. on the other hand.. using the watcher does give quite alot of info.

[ckleea]

I switch to DIP mode and successfully make it work under windows 8 and OSX now

 

[ckleea]

In fact, I also have a modem entry as MC7710 which can be used as dial up. 

 

 

 

[Leon]

Right, so next step is to get it to work under Linux (Ubuntu or rather Elementary OS) .. any suggestions ?