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Configuring the LTE Module on NFX Devices

The LTE module can be configured in three modes:

  • Always-on—The LTE module connects to the 3G/4G network after booting. The connection is always maintained, as long as there are no network or connectivity problems.

    Note:

    The default mode for LTE module is always-on. For the LTE module to be operational, you only need to install one SIM card on the LTE module before powering on the device. There is no additional configuration required.

  • Dial-on-demand—The LTE module initiates a connection when it receives interesting traffic. You define interesting traffic using the dialer filter. To configure dial-on-demand using a dialer filter, you first configure the dialer filter and then apply the filter to the dialer interface.

  • Backup—The LTE module connects to the 3G/4G network when the primary connection fails.

You can configure the LTE module either as a primary interface or as a backup interface. When configured as the primary interface, the LTE module supports both the always-on and dial-on-demand modes. When configured as the backup interface, the LTE module connects to the network only when the primary interface fails.

Note:

Starting in Junos OS Release 19.1R1, you can configure LTE modules on both nodes in a chassis cluster to provide backup WAN support.

Profile configuration is not needed in most scenarios, as LTE has a built-in database of many service providers and can automatically select the profile to use. Occasionally, you might need to specify profiles explicitly in the configuration, in which case, the automatic profile selection is disabled.

Before you begin the configuration, insert the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) in the LTE module. The SIM uses a profile to establish a connection with the network. You can configure up to 16 profiles for each SIM card. The LTE module supports two SIM cards and so you can configure a total of 32 profiles, although only one profile can be active at a time. To configure the SIM profile, you will require the following information from the service provider:

  • Username and password

  • Access Point Name (APN)

  • Authentication (Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) or Password Authentication Protocol (PAP))

Configuring the LTE Module for Primary Mode

Before you begin the procedure, ensure that the logical interface (dl0.0) is not configured as a backup. If dl0.0 is configured as a backup option for any interface on the device, then this configuration overrides the configuration outlined in this procedure, and the LTE module will function as a backup interface.

Use the show interfaces | display set | match backup-option | match dl0.0 command to check whether any interface uses dl0.0 as a backup interface. If dl0.0 is configured as a backup interface, then delete the configuration by issuing the following command:delete interfaces interface-name unit 0 backup-options interface dl0.0

To configure the LTE module as a primary interface:

  1. Configure the dialer interface:
  2. Configure the dialer pool for the LTE physical interface:

    The dialer-pool-number is always 1 as there is only one LTE interface on the NFX150.

  3. Configure the profile.
    Note:

    sim-slot-number is the slot on the module in which the SIM card is inserted.

  4. Verify that the profile is configured successfully:
  5. Activate the SIM card:
  6. Select the profile and configure the radio access type for the SIM card:
    Note:

    If a SIM card is installed in the second slot, then select the profile and configure the radio access type for the SIM card in the second slot as well.

  7. Verify the status of the wireless network and dialer interface:

Configuring the LTE Module for Dial-on-Demand Mode

When the LTE module is configured as a primary interface, it can function either in always-on mode or in dial-on-demand mode. In always-on mode, the interface remains connected to the network whereas In dial-on-demand mode, the connection is established only when needed.

In dial-on-demand mode, the dialer interface is enabled only when network traffic configured as an “interesting traffic” arrives on the network. Interesting traffic triggers or activates the wireless WAN connection. You define an interesting packet by using the dialer filter. To configure dial-on-demand by using a dialer filter, you first configure the dialer filter and then apply the filter to the dialer interface.

Once the traffic is sent over the network, an inactivity timer is triggered and the connection is closed after the timer expires.

Note:

The dial-on-demand mode is supported only if the LTE module is configured as a primary interface.

To configure the LTE module as a dial-on-demand interface:

  1. Configure the dialer interface:
  2. (Optional) Configure the idle-timeout value, which determines the duration for which the connection will remain enabled in the absence of interesting traffic.
  3. Configure the dialer pool for the LTE physical interface:

    The dialer-pool-number is always 1 as there is only one LTE interface on the NFX150.

  4. Create the dialer filter rule:
  5. Set the default route:
  6. Configure the profile.
    Note:

    sim-slot-number is the slot on the module in which the SIM card is inserted.

  7. Verify that the profile is configured successfully:
  8. Activate the SIM card:
  9. Select the profile and configure the radio access type for the SIM card:
    Note:

    If a SIM card is installed in the second slot, then select the profile and configure the radio access type for the SIM card in the second slot as well.

  10. Verify the configuration by sending traffic to the destination address. The traffic is routed to the dl0 interface and if it matches the dialer filter rule, then the dl0 is triggered to dial.
  11. Verify the status of the wireless network and dialer interface:

Configuring the LTE Module for Backup Mode

You can configure the LTE module as a backup interface. If the primary interface fails, the LTE module connects to the network and remains online only until the primary interface becomes functional. The dialer interface is enabled only when the primary interface fails.

To configure the LTE module as a backup interface:

  1. Configure the dialer interface:
  2. Configure the dialer pool for the LTE physical interface:

    The dialer-pool-number is always 1 as there is only one LTE interface on the NFX150.

  3. Configure the profile.
    Note:

    sim-slot-number is the slot on the LTE module in which the SIM card is inserted.

  4. Verify that the profile is configured successfully:
  5. Activate the SIM card:
  6. Select the profile and configure the radio access type for the SIM card:
    Note:

    If a SIM card is installed in the second slot, then select the profile and configure the radio access type for the SIM card in the second slot as well.

  7. Configure the Ethernet interface as the primary interface, which connects to the wireless network. Configure the dl0 interface as the backup interface.
  8. Verify the status of the wireless network and dialer interface:

Configuring the LTE Interface Module in an NFX Chassis Cluster

An NFX150 chassis cluster supports two cl interfaces, cl-1/1/0 (primary node) and cl-8/1/0 (secondary node).

To configure the LTE modules in a chassis cluster:

  1. Configure the dialer interface (dl0):

    Sample configuration for the dl0 interface:

  2. Configure the LTE interface (cl-1/1/0) on the primary node:

    1. Configure the dialer pool for the LTE physical interface:

    2. Specify the priority for the interface. The interface with the higher priority becomes the active interface.

    3. Configure the profile:

    4. Verify that the profile is configured successfully:

    5. Activate the SIM card:

    6. Select the profile and configure the radio access type for the SIM card:

      Note:

      If a SIM card is installed in the second slot, then select the profile and configure the radio access type for the SIM card in the second slot as well.

    Sample configuration for the cl-1/1/0 interface:

  3. Repeat Step 2 to configure the LTE interface (cl-8/1/0) for the secondary node.

    If you assign the same priority to both interfaces, then the interface that is listed first in the configuration becomes the active interface.

    To verify which interface is the active interface:

    Sample configuration for the cl-8/1/0 interface:

  4. Verify the status of the wireless network and dialer interface:

    By default, the time interval taken to switch to the secondary cl interface when the active cl interface times out is 120 seconds. You can change the time interval by configuring the redial-delay option:

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