Jetpack 890L doesn't allow LAN IP changes...

[rrosati]

Got a 4GLTE Jetpack 890L to use with a few laptops when they're away from the office.

Corporate network is on a 192.168.1.x IP subnet. The 890L gives out a 192.168.1.x IP address by default, and there's NO WAY to change the IP subnet to make it different than my corporate subnet for VPN.

The web interface of the 890L (accessed by browser at 192.168.1.1 or vz.hotspot) has a Router tab with a LAN Interface Settings section. It clearly has a box for the IP address and DHCP IP Pool range. As shown here (http://support.verizonwireless.com/clc/devices/knowledge_base.html?id=50182) you should be able to change the LAN IP address.

However, when changing the LAN IP to a different subnet (like 192.168.9.1) it says "The LAN IP address must be in the form of 192.168.1.x".

Need to change the LAN IP subnet to not conflict with my corporate LAN IP subnet in order for the VPN connection to work. I'm imaging a lot of people bought or will buy this device for this use, in which case it is totally useless. VPN is obviously supported through it, as it has a "IPSec VPN Passthrough" option. Yet without the ability to modify the LAN IP subnet, the device is completely useless for VPN connections.

I called Verizon and and ZTE (manufacturer) and they confirmed there's no way to change the IP.

Very disappointed. Thoughts?

[John_Getzke]

Lots of posts about the 890L recently.  Perhaps its picking up in popularity.

With the 4620L there were some complaints about a similar limitation.  However, I believe with the 4620L all you need to do is update both the IP address and the DHCP range at the same time and you can switch your local IP to anything you want.  Make sure all your network info is synched up and you should be able to do it.  Making a similar change might be all that is needed for the 890L. 

For example if you wanted to a 10.x.x.x IP you would need to make your IP 10.x.x.1 and the DHCP range 10.x.x.2 to 10.x.x.99.  In your situation you would want the IP Address field to be 192.168.9.1, subnet the same, DHCP range 192.168.9.2 to 192.168.9.99.

See page 21 of the 890L User Guide for more help:

http://www.zteusa.com/support/um/201205/P020120524834954274011.pdf

[rrosati]

John, thanks for the reply! I did try this...so many times I've lost count now. Even when simultaneously changing the LAN IP and DHCP IP Pool, it still says the LAN IP must be 192.168.1.x.

Verizon had me try changing the DHCP Pool first, but then of course it says the first IP is out of the range.

The Verizon rep actually went and got an 890L and tested it, then tested it on his personal 890L. He agreed it's an issue, but there was nothing more he could do than transfer me to ZTE, whom barely spoke English but basically confirmed it must be 192.168.1.x.

[John_Getzke]

Thats a bummer.

Thanks for the confirmation on this limitation of the 890L.  Seems like something that a firmware update would have to fix.

[rrosati]

Yes, definitely. Especially since we had a company purchase these for a project we're working on to give them remote access to their network on the road. Never would have guessed a device with such a nice web interface would have such a dumb limitation. Guess they're going back if possible...

Should I have them try to exchange for the 4620L? Looks like the manufacturer is Novatel. I was really disappointed with the ZTE support. Could barely hear and understand them, and it was just someone reading me the PDF manual, which I had already done multiple times.

[rrosati]

Does anyone from Verizon typically read these forums? No one has any questions or concerns about this device having such a major flaw?

[John_Getzke]

I can confirm for you that the 4620L does not have the same limitation as the 890L in regards to the IP Address.  If VZW was going to send you a replacement device the 4620 would be the most likely candidate.  Not to say that the 4620L is perfect, it has its own share of difficulties with Dormancy, particularly in an extended support area.  However if you plan to be in a strong reception area they should perform nicely for you.

VZW reads all the posts in this forum.  You can tell by how quickly the mods react when someone violates the terms of agreement for posting to the forum.  Most of the time they let us discuss amongst ourselves as this is a user to user forum.  If you want to contact VZW directly then you will have to do so by using another form of communication.

[Ann154]

John Getzke wrote:

VZW reads all the posts in this forum.  You can tell by how quickly the mods react when someone violates the terms of agreement for posting to the forum.  Most of the time they let us discuss amongst ourselves as this is a user to user forum.  If you want to contact VZW directly then you will have to do so by using another form of communication.

The Moderators read the forum to ensure that the Terms of Service are followed and nothing more.  They don't have access to customer account just like the rest of the users on here.   This is meant to be a peer to peer forum first and foremost. The few official VZW employees on here are clearly noted by their avatar and rank of "Wireless Employee".

[babyonemoretime]

You *might* be able to change this by editing the configuration file and then "restoring" it with those changes. The file would need to deciphered first, but there are lots of people who have figured out how to do that already. I imagine V won't like if I post a direct link, so just Google for this string (without quotes): "890L read config file". It's worth it even if you don't change anything -- there's a lot of "interesting" things in the file.

[trbroyles1]

I can confirm through personal experience that if you just use chrome to hack the javascript validation in the web interface, you can change the subnet, Router IP and DHCP Pool and the 890L will work just fine with it. If anyone is still interested let me know and I'll come up with some instructions.

[babyonemoretime]

Good work! Count me in!

trbroyles1 created the discussion

"Re: Jetpack 890L doesn't allow LAN IP changes..."

To view the discussion, visit: https://community.verizonwireless.com/message/871199#871199

[ClemsonKris]

I knew someone would find a work-around!  Trbroyles1, could you please get us those instructions?  I would really appreciate it!

[ClemsonKris · Accepted solution]

OK, After fiddling around with Chrome and the developer tools, I found Trbroyles1's work-around.  Here are my directions:

NOTE: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. IF YOU BRICK YOUR JETPACK, DON'T CALL ME!

1.  In Chrome, login to the device and go to the LAN settings page (Router)

2.  Click settings, tools, developer tools

3.  Click Elements, then click the small magnifying glass below

4.  Click on the input box for the device IP address on the configuration page

5.  In the HTML code that appears below, you should see the input code for the form field that contains the IP address.  Scroll up until you find the form opener (<form name="router_lan"...)

6.  Find the javascript command in the form header that checks the IP address (onsubmit="return CheckValue()").  Double click it and delete it.

7.  Without refreshing or doing anything else, change the LAN and DHCP range addresses to your desired subnet. Click apply.  Your Jetpack, should restart and work like a charm!

NOW....I have a question:

The IPSec VPN server I run works just fine on almost any remote network.  Everything is set up properly, but I am still having problems with the Verizon devices.  I thought getting the subnet changed would fix this, but it's almost like the NAT-t port is still blocked by the Vzw proxies.  Has anyone else experienced problems?  X-auth connects without a problem, but traversal and DNS do not.  If anyone else has seen this, please let me know so that I know it is not just me!  Also, a fix would be helpful, but it may be out of our control.

[trbroyles1]

You hit right on it -- kudos and sorry I never got to return.

I haven't tried serving over the 890L (yet) so I can't speak to it in any detail -- but I will mention the DMZ / Server / IP Passthrough stuff... have you tried all that?

[ccarcit]

I registered just to say that THIS is exactly the solution I was looking for. THANK YOU!!!

I now have a Cradlepoint MBR95 wirelessly routing mobile broadband from the 890L. My emergency broadband kit can now be installed by an end user simply by unplugging the on-site router and plugging the MBR95 into the LAN. This is truly a thing of beauty!     

[xxfutureshotxx_jd]

If somehow you brick your device (like me ) you can fix it by plugging it in, taking out the battery and sim card, replacing the battery (leave the sim card out) and by restoring it to factory defaults using the pin hole on the top of the device next to the "on" switch. Once the device reboots make sure that it remains on when you connect devices, and make sure you can access the default router gateway (192.168.1.1). Once on the configuration page, make sure that all changes you made are reset and if not reset them manually. This worked for me and i haven't had any problems with my device since!

[jamatheney]

I believe i found an easy workaround. Go to the router settings page and change the lan ip and the dhcp pool addresses. DO NOT CLICK APPLY YET. Disable javascript for your browser and then go back and hit apply. Your address should change and the jetpack should restart. Enable javascript and everything should be changed. I was able to do this from my iPad.

[FXFLJL]

I had trouble correcting the issue using the instructions in "Correct Answer" probably because I was unfamiliar with the developer tools and didn't have success editing out the call. Nor did disabling the Javascript work for me.

Instead I followed a more difficult path, which I offer up as yet another way of getting at this.

In Google Developer tools, after a great deal of experimentation I set a breakpoint in lan.asp where the gateway values are checked, somewhere around line 314.

Then I set the LAN IP to 192.168.1.1 and my DHCP start and end to 192.168.x.101 and 192.168.x.150

(in my case x = 89)

Turn on the Chrome debugger for lan.asp

Click Apply and the script will run to the gateway value check

Go to the console and type in

document.

a list of values will come up, you are looking for the lan_ip_address.value reference

hit enter and it should say "192.168.1.1"

now what you do is you set it to what you want, e.g.

[sorry I didn't document the prefix!].lan_ip_address.value = "192.168.x.1" (obviously don't use X here)

hit enter to load the value the program got from the text box on the screen with your preferred LAN IP address

check it by hitting the up arrow twice to get back to the query of the value

now do the same thing for a variable the program has created:

> lan_ip = "192.168.x.1" (again don't use x, but if you are with me this far you're probably laughing that I repeat the warning)

OK, so now the code you are running thinks the text box and the variable are both the LAN IP you want. Click on the Run button and let the code finish.

That should do the trick. When I did this for a client while remoting to the desktop, the hotspot updated, the client wireless updated and we were able to continue the remote session without incident.

And in less stressful moments I will learn more about the Google debugger.....