About Modem Interfaces

If your business operates in areas with weak ISP coverage, or you have non-traditional methods for Internet access, a dedicated modem interface can increase your network flexibility.

You can add one modem to a supported Firebox or XTM device. In Fireware v12.1 and higher, the modem is available as an external interface and appears in the list of Firebox interfaces. You can specify the modem interface when you configure these features:

• BOVPN and BOVPN virtual interfaces
• Dynamic DNS
• 1-to-1 NAT
• SNAT
• Dynamic NAT
• SD-WAN routing Tip!SD-WAN replaces Policy-based routing in Fireware v12.3 or higher
• Traffic management — Applies to modem interfaces for outgoing traffic only
• Multi-WAN
• Mobile VPN

The modem interface also appears in the Aliases list. You can add the modem interface to policies on your Firebox.

For mobile VPN connections to a modem interface that has a dynamic IP address, you must:

• Register the modem interface with a dynamic DNS provider
• Configure dynamic DNS on the Firebox
• Specify the domain name for the modem interface in the mobile VPN settings

For more information about dynamic DNS, see About the Dynamic DNS Service.

To configure a modem interface, see Configure a Modem Interface.

Modems and Multi-WAN

You can configure a modem interface to participate in multi-WAN. By default, modem interfaces do not participate in multi-WAN. For information about multi-WAN methods, see About Multi-WAN Methods.

When you configure a modem interface as a multi-WAN participant, link monitor is not enabled for the modem by default to prevent unwanted bandwidth consumption. To configure the modem interface to monitor the default gateway or another source that you specify, you must enable link monitor. For more information about link monitor configuration, see About Link Monitor.

You can configure branch office VPN connections to fail over to the modem interface. For more information about VPN modem failover, see Configure VPN Modem Failover.

Multi-WAN is not supported on the Firebox T10, or XTM 2 Series devices without the Pro upgrade. Multi-WAN is supported on Firebox T15 devices with Fireware v12.3 or higher. Although multi-WAN is not supported in certain cases, modem failover is supported for the Firebox T10 and T15. This is true even after an upgrade to Fireware v12.1 or higher, which converts modems to external interfaces.

Modem Failover

If your Firebox is configured for modem failover, and you upgrade from Fireware v12.0.2 or lower to Fireware v12.1 or higher, the upgrade automatically converts the modem to an external interface with modem failover enabled. If all other external interfaces become unavailable, traffic automatically fails over to the modem interface.

For more information about modem failover, see Configure Modem Failover.

Supported Firebox and XTM Devices

These Firebox and XTM devices support modems:

• T10
• T15
  
• T30
• T35
• T50
• T55
• T70
• M200
• M270
• M300
• M370
• M400
• M470
• M500
• M570
• M670
• XTM 2 Series
  
• XTM 3 Series
• XTM 5 Series
  To use a 3G/4G USB cellular modem with an XTM 330 or 5 Series device, you must use Fireware v11.7.4 or higher.

USB dial-up modems are not supported.

Connect a serial or 3G/4G modem to a USB port on the Firebox.

• To use a serial modem, you must have a dial-up account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
• To use a 3G/4G modem, the Firebox must use the minimum version of Fireware OS that supports the modem and you must have a 3G or 4G data plan with a wireless service provider.

Supported Modems

You can configure these modems on your Firebox:

Carrier	3G/4G USB Device	Vendor ID	Product ID	Fireware OS Requirement
N/A (UK and NL)	D-Link DWM-221	0x2001	0x7e19	v11.10.7 or higher
N/A (UK and NL)	D-Link DWM-2221	0x0BDB	0x1926	v12.0 or higher
AT&T	Netgear 340U2	0x1199	0x9051	v11.10.2 or higher
AT&T	Sierra 313U	0x0f3d	0x68aa	v11.7.4 or higher
AT&T	Sierra Elevate 4G	0x1199	0x68a3	v11.8.3 Update 1 or higher
AT&T	Netgear BEAM	0x1199	0x9051	v11.12.2 or higher
AT&T	Velocity MF861	0x19d2	0x1405	v12.1 or higher
Bell (CA)	Huawei E8372	0x12d1	0x14db	v11.10.7 or higher
Deutsche Telekom	Huawei E3372	0x12d1	0x1506	v11.10.7 or higher
Deutsche Telekom	Huawei E3372	0x12d1	0x14dc	v11.12 or higher
NTT / DoCoMo (Japan)	NCXX UX302NC NCXX UX302NC-R	0x11f6	0x1035	v12.2 or higher
NTT DoCoMo / au by KDDI / Softbank (Japan)	Fuji Soft FS040U	0x1C9E	0xF133	v12.2 or higher
SFR (FR)	Huawei E3372	0x12d1	0x14dc	v11.12 or higher
Sprint	Franklin U602	0x1fac	Unknown	v11.7.3 or higher
Sprint	Sierra 250U	N/A	N/A	v11.7.3 or higher
Sprint	Franklin U301	N/A	N/A	v11.9.1 or higher
Sprint	Netgear 341U	0x1199	0x9055	v11.8.3 or higher
Sprint	Netgear 341U (revision)	0x1199	0x9057	v12.2 or higher
Sprint	Franklin U772	0x1fac	0x0232	v11.12.2 or higher
Telcel (MX)	Huawei E3372	0x12d1	0x14dc	v11.12 or higher
Telus (CA)	Netgear 340U2	0x1199	0x9051	v11.10.2 or higher
T-Mobile	ZTE MF683	0x19d2	0x0157	v11.7.3 or higher
T-Mobile	ZTE MF190	0x19d2	0x0117	v11.9.3 or higher
T-Mobile (NL)	Huawei E3372	0x12d1	0x1506	v11.10.7 or higher
T-Mobile (NL)	Huawei E3372	0x12d1	0x14dc	v11.12 or higher
Telstra (ANZ)	Huawei E8372	0x12d1	0x14db	v11.10.7 or higher
Telstra (ANZ)	Sierra 320U	0x0f3d	0x68aa	v11.8.1 or higher
Verizon	Pantech UML295	0x10a9	0x6064	v11.10.2 or higher
Verizon	Novatel USB551L	0x1410	0xb001	v11.7.4 or higher
Verizon	Novatel U620L	0x1410	0x9022	v11.10.5 or higher
Verizon	Global Modem USB730L1	0x1410	0x9032	v12.1.1 or higher

¹ The D-Link DWM-222 and Verizon Global Modem USB730L modems require more power than the USB port can supply on T10 or T15 Fireboxes. You may experience poor modem performance or frequent modem reboots. To use these modems with your Firebox, you can connect a powered USB hub to the Firebox and connect the modem to the hub. Other modem models might be affected.

² To use the Netgear 340U with your Firebox, you might have to disable the Identity Morphing feature on the modem. For more information, see the Knowledge Base article NETGEAR AC340U modem not working with Firebox.

These serial modems are also supported:

• Zoom FaxModem 56K model 2949
• MultiTech 56K Data/Fax Modem International
• OMRON ME5614D2 Fax/Data Modem
• Hayes 56K V.90 serial fax modem

For XTM 21, 22, and 23 devices, you must use an IOGEAR GUC323A USB to Serial RS-232 adapter to connect a serial modem to the USB port.

See Also

Configure a Modem Interface

Configure Modem Failover

Configure VPN Modem Failover

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