Hi Yasha,

Yes, I think USA ISPs are not so different from European ISPs even if,
actually, USB Dongles are, in Europe, more and more rare...they exists
as a sort of (problematic) legacy of the 3G/3.5G era pre-4G/LTE: ISPs
tend now to provide 4G/LTE Routers with embedded WiFi only (sometime
limiting the number of devices concurrently connected to the WiFi
pre-configured SSID)...no more troubles with OS drivers.

I really hope that the "Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45" statement's meaning -
in USA - looks exactly the same that has here in the old Europe!

What exactly other IEEE 802.3 capabilities [**] you're looking for?

AFAIK that device is (and I made just an example) a 4G/LTE Home Spot
Router provided with - that is *not so usual* - one RJ-45 LAN
Interface (the device supports IPv4 and performs NAT between the ISP
WAN side and its LAN wired/wireless sides) and - that *is usual* - one
WiFi LAN interface.

Yeah...I know that datasheet [*] isn't *so technical* as we would
expect...they (ZyXEL) were lazy in documenting features and hardware
characteristics by using appropriate technical terms we're used to
(terms that their average user - which is probably their real
marketing target - was not used to)...so simply writing "Gigabit
Ethernet RJ45" has a higher consumer "value" than correctly writing
IEEE 802.3ab support (or whatever).

Before 4G/LTE Routers become a reality (those ones that require only
the 4G/LTE SIM and nothing more) sometime I used Firewalls supporting
3G/3.5G/4G USB Dongles but was a sort of nightmare because the
Firewall Firmware needed to support exact USB Dongle models (so, each
time, you have to verify if a particular unbranded USB Dongle was
supported or not for your particular Firmware version).

I know that this is completely Off Topic with regard to *any* Linux
distribution...

Hope this help!

[*] Datasheet here:
ftp://ftp.zyxel.com/LTE4506-M606/datasheet/LTE4506-M606_3.pdf
[**] User Guide here:
ftp://ftp.zyxel.com/LTE4506-M606/user_guide/LTE4506-M606_V1.0.pdf

On Sat, Oct 15, 2016 at 8:53 AM, Yasha Karant <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hello Davide,
>
> Most USA ISPs (e.g., Sprint, ATT, etc.) provide the dongle/router/... , often a device that plugs into a USB port.  The unit you suggest states:
>
> One Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45)
>
> Is this only "gigabit ethernet" or does it have other 802.3 capabilities?  (I much prefer when the vendor states IEEE 802.3 whatever so that one can know to which standards the device is claimed to be compliant, rather than a marketing term such as "gigabit ethernet".)  To avoid 802.11 sniffing, I want to use a wired (e.g., 802.3) connection to a device that accesses an ISP 4G, etc., service.
>
> Essentially all ISPs I have found support a USB adapter that is Mac OS X or MS Win usable, but I need to verify Linux use (typically with the kernels and related drivers/layers that SL 7 uses).
>
> Regards
>
> Yasha
>
>
> On 10/14/2016 01:13 AM, Davide Poletto wrote:
>
> Hello Yasha, shouldn't a ISP (carrier) be "OS agnostic"?
>
> I mean: if I were you I would worry about USB 4G/LTE Dongle OS's compatibility but I would not about ISP (carrier) OS's compatibility...this because (yeah, your YMMV), in general, I would avoid to look for (and, even if found, to consequently use) a USB 4G/LTE Dongle directly connected to my Linux host (AFAIK some Huawei 4G Dongles seem to be globally compatible on Linux, tested on Fedora Workstation), I would *instead* direct my research straight to a 4G/LTE Router that will provide (a) an Ethernet LAN port and, eventually (not necessarily), (b) an embedded WiFi AP.
>
> A lot of headaches will be avoided since a Router is OS agnostic and vice versa.
>
> Have you considered *something similar* to a 4G/LTE Router *like* the ZyXEL LTE4506-M606? Just plug-in your enabled 4G/LTE carrier's SIM and you should be OK...provided that your carrier provides good 4G/LTE signal on your zone of operation (especially indoor)...it's better than a USB 4G/LTE Dongle IMHO and it's portable too.
>
> I personally use a ZyXEL LTE3301-Q222 (Indoor 4G/LTE Router) in front of my Firewall appliance, so it's used mainly as 4G/LTE Modem (in the LTE 800 MHz band) that does basically only NAT (eventually it can be configured to work in Bridge mode) and it works quite well and it's really stable (better than a copper asynchronous DSL connection, at least here in Italy!).
>
> Maybe I misunderstood your real request, pardon me if I've done.
>
>
> Kind regards, Davide.
>
> On Fri, Oct 14, 2016 at 1:05 AM, Yasha Karant <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> I need a 4G wireless USB WNIC and ISP (carrier) that is SL 7 compatible -- that is, that the drivers exist for SL 7, not just MS Win or Mac OS X.  The service needs to be in my geographic region; thus, I will check recommendations against service area (several I have found do not serve my area).  I do not want to use a MIFI access point unless a UTP hardwired 802.3 connection is supported -- I do not want to use 802.11 or Bluetooth to connect to the access point .  Any suggestions greatly would be appreciated.  Thus, a USB direct connection into the machine would be best.
>>
>> Yasha Karant
>>
>
>