This is where you configure the APN (Access Point Name) and authentication (if required). We are connected to the network, but before we can do anything, we need to configure a profile. Let’s unlock the SIM card and see if it makes a difference: Router# cellular 0/1/0 gsm sim unlock 0000 !!!WARNING: SIM will be unlocked with pin=0000(4), call will be disconnected!!!Īre you sure you want to proceed?Īfter unlocking the SIM, you will see that the service status is now normal: Router# show cellular 0/1/0 network Current Service Status = Normal, Service Error = None There are no service errors, and we are connected to the NL KPN network in The Netherlands. This is because my SIM has a pincode and I have to unlock it first. Since we have a signal, let’s check to what network we are connected: Router# show cellular 0/1/0 network Current Service Status = Emergency Only, Service Error = NoneĪbove, you can see that the service status is “Emergency Only”. There are also some LEDs on the WIC, but it’s probably easier to look at your console. Solid Yellow: No service or no RSSI detected.Ī signal strength of -88 dBm indicates medium signal strength, not bad since this router is in an enclosed 42u rack cabinet.Solid Green: High RSSI (-69 dBm or higher).Fast Green Blink: Medium RSSI (-89 to -70 dBm).Slow Green Blink: Low or medium RSSI (-99 to -90 dBm).Cisco has a reference index to show you what RSSI values are acceptable: Our radio is connected and the current RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) is -88 dBm which is good enough for this lesson. Without a signal, it will be hard to establish a connection: Router# show cellular 0/1/0 radioĬurrent Band = WCDMA 2100, Channel Number = 10637 The first thing we will do is check if we have a signal. These commands are useful for checking your signal strength and seeing if you are connected to a network. Hardware Cellular modem hardware information All the show commands for the cellular interface are found under the show cellular command: Router# show cellular 0/1/0 ?Ĭonnection Current active connection and statistics Serial0/0/0 unassigned YES unset administratively down downĬellular0/1/0 unassigned YES unset down down Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status ProtocolįastEthernet0/0 unassigned YES unset administratively down downįastEthernet0/1 unassigned YES unset administratively down down
Below you can see that my router has a Cellular0/1/0 interface: Router# show ip interface brief Let’s walk through everything step by step! Configurationįirst we will check the interfaces of our router. The SIM card has to be unlocked with a PIN code, the radio modem requires AT dial commands to start the connection and the router requires some PPP commands. For each of these items we have to configure a couple of things. The SIM card is used to identify the end user, the radio modem takes care of the physical layer and the router part is required for layer 2/3 (PPP and IP).
#Cisco wifi signal strength dbm how to#
Once the configuration is complete I’ll show you how to verify your work and how to use debug commands to fix any possible problems that might arise.įor your 3G wireless connection we require 3 items to establish a data connection:
Instead of just showing the commands I will explain the entire connection process and tell you why we need to use each command. Even if you are using 4G / LTE this will be very useful. I’m using a HWIC-3G-GSM WAN card but the configuration will be very similar for most of the cards out there. In this lesson, you will learn how to configure your Cisco router to use its 3G / UMTS / HSPDA WAN interface.
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