ACM5004-G/V/S quick install and cellular connection notes

Note: These notes walk through an install however please do read the latest ACM5004-G Quick Start Guide before installing your unit

Unpacking your ACM5004-G/GS/GV

Contents: Part # 440016  2 x Cable UTP Cat5 blue Part # 319014  DB9F-RJ45 straight Part # 319015  DB9F-RJ45 cross-over Part # 440001  External AC power supply (48v Optional) Part # 539000  Quick Start Guide and CD-ROM Part # 590003  Rack mount kit, ACM500X Part # 569006  Antenna (GSM & CDMA 3G Part # 449038  Antenna coax cable Part # 59000x  Antenna mount

Installing the SIM Card (GSM carriers only)

Remove the SIM Card access panel Insert SIM Card with contacts facing upward The SIM card will lock into place, you may wish to use a pencil or tip of the antenna to fully seat the SIM card Replace the SIM Card Access Panel

Bracket and Antenna

Antenna mount:  For AT&T service attach the antenna using the mounting tab and coax cable. For other services you may screw the antenna directly onto the ACM5004 case Mount the rack mount tab and install the green terminal block connector (optional -E Models) Locate a secure place to mount your ACM5004-G(S/V) and connect both the network cable and power supply Use the provided A/C Power barrel connector lock tab to securely keep the power connector attached.

Configuring your ACM5004-G

• Change the default administration password on the System/Administration page
  
  
• Configure the local network settings on the System/IP page
  
  
• Configure serial ports settings and enable supported protocols on the Serial & Network/Serial Port page
  
  
• Configure users with access to serial ports on the Serial & Network/Users page
  
   
  
  
• To properly test the Cellular network connectivity we are going to leave the Failover field set to “none”. This will allow the ACM to call out and listen on both the Cellular and the primary ethernet interface simultaneously allowing us to confirm the carrier connection

Configuring your ACM5004-G Carrier Settings for Out-Of-Band Access

Your wireless carrier will offer a number of "SIM only" connection services you can purchase (or subscribe to). By default most providers offer dynamic, private IP address assignments to 3G devices which in most cases are perfectly adequate for home and general business use. However for OoB access your ACM5004-G will require either a publicly accessible fixed IP address or a publicly accessible dynamic IP address. If you select a dynamic IP address then a DDNS service will need to be configured to enable the remote administrator to initiate incoming access (refer faq 348) 

To configure ACM5004-G cellular modem for OoB (out-of-band) access:

• Select Internal Cellular Modem panel on the System: Dial menu and check Enable
  
  
• For ACM5004-G GSM service:
  The 3G carrier may have provided you with details for configuring the connection including:
  - APN (Access Point Name)
  - Pin Code (optional PIN code which may be required to unlock the SIM card)
  - Phone Number (the sequence to dial to establish the connection, defaults to *99***1#)
  - Username/ Password (optional)
  - Dial string (optional AT commands)
  However you generally will only need to enter your provider’s APN and leave the other fields blank e.g. for AT&T (USA) simply enter i2gold, for T-Mobile (USA) enter epc.tmobile.com, for InterNode (Aust) enter internode and for Telstra (Aust) enter telstra.internet. 
  
   
  
  For ACM5004-GS/GV CDMA service:
  The ACM5004-G(S/V) supports both Over-the-Air Service Provisioning (OTASP) where modem specific parameters can be retrieved via a call to a special phone number; and a manual process where the phone number and other parameters can be entered manually.
  • For OTASP, enter the particular number to be dialed e.g. Verizon uses *22899, Telus use *22886 etc.
  • For manual activation enter the MSL, MDN and MSID values (specific to your carrier)
  - Click Activate 
  - Enable the Internal Cellular Modem by entering the carriers phone number (which defaults to #777) and clicking Apply. 
  
  
• With out-of-band access enabled, the cellular modem connection is always on. The WWAN LED on top of unit will go on solid once a wireless connection has been established with your cellular carrier. 
  
  Note: You can also see the connection status from the WWAN LED on top of the unit. The LED is OFF when in reset mode or not powered. When powered, it will go ON and while searching for service it will flash off briefly every 5sec. Once a radio connection has been established with your cellular carrier (e.g. after an APN has been properly configured) the WWAN LED will blink at a rate proportional to traffic signal strength detected i.e. OFF =Low, (lower than -100 dBm), Blinking Slow = Low to Medium (-99 to -90 dBm), Blinking Fast = Medium to High (-89 to -70 dBm) and ON=High (-69 dBm or higher) 
  
  
• You can also check the connection status on the Cellular panel of Status: Statistics 
  
  
• By default only HTTPS and SSH access is enabled on the OoB connection. So you can browse to the ACM5004-G (using DDNS or its fixed IP address) - but you cannot ping it

Verifying Carrier Connectivity

• Choose Statistics within the web UI
  
  
• Locate the Tab for Cellular
  
  
• Verify Service Availability
  
  
• Verify Mode is set to Online
  
  
• Try accessing the Opengear from the custom APN Public IP Address provided by the carrier (https/SSH)

 

Failover

Once you have confirmed carrier connectivity you can navigate back to the network settings under IP and choose a failover device and proper primary and secondary probe addresses. This will tell the internal cellular connection to remain idle in a low power state. If the primary and secondary probe addresses are not available it will bring up the cellular connection and connect back to the custom APN. If you wish to not use the failover feature simply leave failover set to “none” and the cellular modem will continually stay connected.