ZBT WE826: My experience in choosing and configuring a 4G router

In this post, I want to share my personal experience in choosing and configuring a 4G router for my home. Bigger project I was on, required me to install a network solution in a house, and the choice was determined by the ratio of the offered functionality and price.

Out of many choices, the ZBT WE826 model caught my eye. This router had an attractive price and seemed suitable for my needs. With a 4G module, the router costs about €60. I found information that it supports OpenWRT software. I purchased from the Aliexpress platform and received the package.

However, after starting to use this router, problems arose. The 4G connection worked only for 3-8 hours (very randomly), and then disappeared. I wanted to make sure that the device was working properly and fairly stably, so at first I didn't change any settings and tried to use the one I received. I tried to reconfigure the device according to the seller's notes and advice, but it didn't help. The seller shared the firmware for the router based on the LEDE Reboot version from 2018. I decided to install it, but it wasn't successful either - the device worked for 8 minutes and rebooted. Apparently some script was working.

Finally, I decided to install the latest OpenWRT firmware version specifically for my device. I chose the “ZBT W826 T 16M factory image” version. This solution turned out to be correct and my device with the new firmware started up. As expected, the 4G modem did not work and needed to be configured. Two sources helped me do this:

• https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wan/wwan/ethernetoverusb_cdc
• https://forum.openwrt.org/t/need-help-to-configure-4g-with-we826-router/190811

You need to understand that in order to install some packages into router, you need an internet connection. I didn't had a wired connection, so I thought, maybe I can share the internet on my mobile and make the router a Wifi client. It was fairly straight forward. I've managed to enable 4G support by following documentation. Left router to hang overnight to evaluate stability. To my deep disappointment, the initial situation repeated itself - the 4G connection disappeared after a few hours.

Since I was using the latest version of OpenWRT, I decided to describe my problem on the OpenWRT forum. A forum member, guru, AndrewZ, responded quite quickly and asked for additional data from the router. After an initial analysis, he suggested changing the 4G module mode and reconfigure the router. I read the procedure and decided to go this route. I have nothing to lose, even if I break my router!

I reloaded the OpenWRT firmware once again to start from fresh, shared the Internet via my mobile phone. I changed the module configuration to support the QMI protocol using AT commands. I configured the router according to the documentation. This process was a challenge, but in the end, I've managed to achieve the desired result.

Now I have router that gives me low level configuration, has wide support for various software and active community in case something goes wrong. My ZBT WE826 router works stably and without problems. The 4G connection is stable, and the Wi-Fi coverage is very good. In addition, the form factor of the router is perfect for hanging on the wall, which is a big advantage.

This project showed that even with an inexpensive device, good results can be achieved if you are ready to invest some time and effort. The main thing is not to give up and look for solutions, even if everything seems complicated at first.