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Integrations Contributing

With a computer

On a computer the dongle is a USB network adapter with its web interface at `http://192.168.7.1`, and a serial port with a command line. Internet over the mobile network is one switch away.

USB device

A network adapter (RNDIS out of the box, or CDC-NCM) and a serial port, on one cable

Address

The dongle is 192.168.7.1; your computer gets 192.168.7.2 from it

Web interface

http://192.168.7.1, no password, no app to install

Internet for the computer

Off until you turn on Ncm Share on the Cellular page

Plug it in

  1. Insert the SIM, with the dongle unplugged. The nano SIM slot is in the window on the underside: contacts down, cut corner first, push until it clicks.

  2. Plug the USB-A plug into the computer. Any USB port that gives 5 V. The LED is cyan while the dongle starts, amber while the modem registers, green when it is on the mobile network.

  3. Wait for the network adapter. About 5 seconds after power-on the computer finds a new USB network adapter and a serial port.

    The adapter is listed as Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device and the serial port as USB Serial Device (COMx). Nothing to install.

    Windows 11 version 24H2 and later have no driver for the RNDIS class the dongle presents out of the box: the adapter shows with a warning, or not at all. Switch the dongle to the NCM class once, from its serial port: see the NCM class below. The adapter is then MeatPi Electronics ESPNetLink.

    Both carry drivers for RNDIS and for CDC-NCM. The dongle appears as a USB Ethernet interface (rndis_host or cdc_ncm on Linux) and a serial port (/dev/ttyACM0 on Linux, /dev/cu.usbmodem... on macOS).

  4. Open the web interface at http://192.168.7.1. The Status page shows the mobile network, the GPS and the system at a glance; the header pill reads ESPNetLink_XXXX · 192.168.7.1 · USB.

    The Status page of a dongle on a computer: Connection interface down, LTE -67 dBm, GPS 24 satellites, uptime
    The Status page over USB. "Interface down" under Connection is the dongle's WiFi, which ships off.

Internet for the computer

Out of the box the USB link is a way to reach the dongle, not a way to the internet: the dongle hands your computer an address but no default route, so a laptop keeps using its own WiFi. To route the computer through the mobile network:

  1. Open Cellular and set Ncm Share to Enable under Modem Settings.
  2. Press Submit Changes in the header, then Continue. The dongle restarts (about 15 seconds).

From then on the dongle offers itself as the computer's router and DNS server over the USB link, and the computer's traffic rides the LTE link. LTE Cat M1 is a narrowband service: expect tens of kilobytes per second, enough for messaging, telemetry and a terminal, not for video. A WiCAN PRO in USB Ethernet mode turns this switch on by itself.

A laptop with WiFi and the dongle

With Ncm Share on, Windows and macOS usually prefer the wired adapter over WiFi, so the laptop's internet moves onto the slow link. Turn the switch off again (or unplug the dongle) when you do not want that.

Windows 11 and the NCM class

The dongle presents the RNDIS class by default because a WiCAN PRO pairs with it that way. A computer without an RNDIS driver still sees the serial port, and the class can be changed from there:

  1. Open the serial port with a terminal program (PuTTY, Tera Term, the Windows Terminal's serial support): the USB Serial Device (COMx) the dongle added, any baud rate. Press Enter and the prompt esp> appears.

  2. Type the two commands

    config set USB_CLASS ncm
reboot

    The dongle restarts and comes back as MeatPi Electronics ESPNetLink, a CDC-NCM adapter Windows 11 drives out of the box. The serial port stays.

The same choice is Class under USB Ethernet on the Cellular page once the page is reachable. A WiCAN PRO sets the class to match its own mode when it pairs, so a dongle that moves between a computer and a WiCAN PRO may change class on its own: see USB.

What to check first

Page What it tells you
Status The four tiles: Connection (the dongle's WiFi), LTE (signal, operator, network type), GPS (satellites, fix), Uptime. The Network card: mDNS name, LTE address, VPN. The System card: firmware, device id, motion, time, memory, temperature, unexpected resets.
Cellular Connected (data) with the operator, the network type (eMTC is Cat M1, NB-IoT the other), the signal in dBm and the LTE address; or Searching for network while the modem registers. The APN and SIM PIN are on the same page.
GPS Fix or no fix, satellites tracked and in view, the position, altitude, speed, course, the fix's age.

The command line gives the same, and more, from the serial port: lte -s, gps -p, version. See Console.

The WiFi password is on the console

The dongle's WiFi access point ships off, but its per-device password already exists. wifi_modem -k on the console prints the network name and the password; Settings › WiFi / Access Point › Mode turns the access point on. See WiFi.