====== 3G / Mobile support for APdesk and MESHdesk ======
{{ :user_guide:apdesk:img_20161012_143220.jpg?nolink |}}

===== Introduction =====

  * Today, all of the commercial cloud based controllers we know about require that the hardware be connected to an Ethernet network running a DHCP server.
  * MESHdesk and APdesk was also like that until recently.
  * While one of the developers were waiting for a DSL Internet connection, the only other Internet connection available was through the mobile network using a 3G dongle.
  * Since neither **MESHdesk** nor **APdesk** are driven by hardware sales but rather to provide creative solutions, this then offered just such an opportunity.
  * We can now with pride say we also support mobile Internet connections as an alternative to Ethernet based Internet connections.

{{ :user_guide:apdesk:mobile_connection.png?nolink |}}
 

-------------------------


===== A Catch-22 =====
  * Having a controller somewhere on the Internet where a device will fetch its settings from will require the device to have an Internet connection to start with.
  * If you use a mobile connection there will be the requirement to preset the device with some very basic configuration in order for the device to get Internet connectivity.
  * This is where we use the **MESHdesk Node Config Utility**.
    * The utility now include a **3G Option** tab to pre-configure the device for Internet connectivity.
    * This is usually a once off setup and will be left unchanged until you maybe one day decide to disable it or to use another mobile provider which will then need their unique settings.
    * The first item to select on the **3G Option** tab is an Action
      * **Do Not Change** will leave the device unchanged and without adding or removing any existing mobile specific settings. This is the default and set during start-up.
      * **Enable** will enable all the fields which you can then populate.
      * **Disable** will disable an existing mobile configuration (provided there is one)
      * See the following screenshot which was for one of my 3G dongles
{{ :user_guide:3g_option.png?nolink |}}

<WRAP center round tip 90%>
  * The following URL has a nice list of APN and usernames for various providers over the world:
  * http://www.3g.co.za/index.php/information/mobile-data-connectivity
</WRAP>


  * Now that the device is pre-configured it can use the mobile connection to get Internet access and fetch the rest of its settings from the RADIUSdesk server.

-------------

===== What's the requirements? =====
  * There is not much extra requirements. You basically need the following things.
    * A device that can support a mobile Internet connection, eg. one with a USB port that can take the 3G dongle.
    * The extra modules required included with the firmware running on the device. See this bit on building your own firmware: [[http://www.radiusdesk.com/old_wiki/technical_discussions/md_on_lede#support_for_3g_dongles|Add Support for 3G dongles]]
    * The latest version of the **MESHdesk Node Config Utility**
    * Hardware that can access the mobile network eg. a 3G Dongle.
  * On the exit points of both **MESHdesk** meshed and APdesk AP Profiles you **cannot** have an exit point that is bridged with Ethernet
  * You can have a:
    * Captive Portal
    * NAT + DHCP
    * OpenVPN Bridge

-----------------

===== Lets get technical =====
For those technical people, the next section is aimed at you.
  * The MESHdesk Node Config Utility will insert an entry into the **/etc/config/meshdesk** config file that looks just like the interface declaration in the **/etc/config/network** file. Here is a sample
  * This means you can actually pre-build / configure the device, provided they do not require a pin or the pin is common among the devices which you will flash the firmware on.
  * It also means you can disable the interface in **/etc/config/meshdesk**.
  * The script which sets up the device will check if there is a **wwan** entry in the meshdesk config file and if it is there and active it will include that declaration in the **/etc/config/network** file and reload the networking.
  * If you need more inf on getting your mobile dongle working, refer to this pages:
  * https://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/3gdongle
  * Although the above page has lots of information, I got two dongles tested and running with the minimal effort and using the default values.

<code bash>
config interface 'wwan'
        option proto '3g'
        option service 'umts'
        option pincode 1234
        option apn 'internet'
        option username 'guest'
        option device '/dev/ttyUSB0'
</code>