SONICWALL SonicOS 7.1 WWAN Wireless AC User Guide

: June 15, 2024
: SONICWALL

Table of Contents

SONICWALL SonicOS 7.1 WWAN Wireless AC
About SonicOS
Working with SonicOS
SonicOS Workflow
Guide Conventions
About WWAN
Monitoring WWAN Status
USB Modem Access
SonicWall Support
About This Document
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

SONICWALL SonicOS 7.1 WWAN Wireless AC

SONICWALL-SonicOS-7-1-WWAN-Wireless-AC-PRODUCT

About SonicOS

This guide is a part of the SonicOS collection of administrative guides that describe how to administer and monitor the SonicWall family of firewalls. SonicOS provides network administrators the management interface, API (Application Program Interface), and Command Line Interface (CLI) for firewall configuration by setting objects to secure and protect the network services, manage traffic, and provide the desired level of network service. This guide focuses on configuring and managing WWAN connections for SonicOS. See the following topics.

Topics

Working with SonicOS
SonicOS Workflow
How to Use the SonicOS Administration Guides
Guide Conventions

Working with SonicOS

SonicOS provides a web management interface for configuring, managing, and monitoring the features, policies, security services, connected devices, and threats to your network. SonicOS runs on top of SonicCore, SonicWall’s secure underlying operating system.
The SonicOS management interface facilitates:

Setting up and configuring your firewall
Configuring external devices like access points or switches
Configuring networks and external system options that connect to your firewall
Defining objects and policies for protection
Monitoring the health and status of the security appliance, network, users, and connections
Monitoring traffic, users, and threats
Investigating events

SonicWall offers two different modes of operation in SonicOS; the modes differ mainly in the areas of policy, object configuration and diagnostics.

Policy Mode provides a unified policy configuration workflow. It combines Layer 3 with Layer 7 policy enforcement for security policies and optimizes the workflow for other policy types. This unified policy workflow gathers many security settings into one place, which were previously configured on different pages of the management interface.
Classic Mode is more consistent with earlier releases of SonicOS; you need to develop individual policies and actions for specific security services. The Classic Mode has a redesigned interface.

This table identifies which modes can be used on the different SonicWall firewalls:

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In addition to the management interface, SonicOS also has a full-featured API and a command-line interface (CLI) to manage the firewalls. For more information, refer to:

SonicOS 7.1 API Reference Guide
SonicOS Command Line Interface Reference Guide

SonicOS Workflow

When working with SonicWall products, you can use the following workflow as a guide for setting up your security solution.

SONICWALL-SonicOS-7-1-WWAN-Wireless-AC-FIG-1

You begin your planning as you start making your purchasing decisions. Your sales partners can help you assess your network and make recommendations based on the kinds of security services you need. You can learn more about SonicWall products by reviewing product information and solutions. After selecting the solution, you can schedule your implementation. After planning and scheduling your solution, you begin setting up the firewalls. The Getting Started Guides for your products can help you begin setting up the pieces to your solution. The Getting Started guides are designed to help you install the firewall to a minimal level of operation. Before performing any detailed configuration tasks described in the SonicOS Administration Guides, you should have your firewall set up and basic operation validated.
The configuration block of the workflow refers to the many tasks that combine to define how your firewall is integrated into your security solution and how it behaves when protecting your environment. Depending on the features of your security solution, this task can be quite complex. The System Administration Guides are broken into key command sets and features. Some documents may be used for all solutions, but others may be used use only if you integrated that feature into your solution. For example, High Availability or Wireless Access Points are not necessarily used by all customers. More information about a feature’s workflow is presented in the feature administration guide. Refer to the specific Administration Guide for a SonicOS feature for more information. Configuration tends to be a one-time activity, although you might make minor adjustments after monitoring performance or after diagnosing an issue. The configuration activity can be broken down into the more detailed flow as the following figure shows. This also mirrors the key functions that are listed across the top of the management interface.

SONICWALL-SonicOS-7-1-WWAN-Wireless-AC-FIG-2

There is some flexibility in the order in which you do things, but this is the general workflow you would follow when configuring your firewall. Start by defining the settings on the firewall. Next, you set up the system and other devices that your firewall is connected to, and you can choose to implement High Availability when done. After your device, network, and system are configured, you should define the objects that you want to monitor. Then you use those objects to define the policies that protect your network. The final step to preparing your setup is to validate the user authentication.

How to Use the SonicOS Administration Guides
The SonicOS Administration Guide is a collection of guides that detail the features represented by each of the main menu items in the management interface. Within each guide, you can find topics covering commands in that menu group, along with procedures and in-depth information. The exceptions are the SonicOS 7.1 Monitor Guide and the SonicOS 7.1 Objects Guide which combine the topics for each of those functions into a single book. To help you understand how the books align with the features and commands, the following figure shows the books organized like the SonicWall management interface.

SONICWALL-SonicOS-7-1-WWAN-Wireless-AC-FIG-3

The SonicOS Administration Guides, along with related documentation, such as the getting started guides, are available on https://www.sonicwall.com/support/technical-documentation/.

Guide Conventions

These text conventions are used in this guide:

NOTE: A NOTE icon indicates supporting information.
IMPORTANT: An IMPORTANT icon indicates supporting information.
TIP: A TIP icon indicates helpful information.
CAUTION: A CAUTION icon indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not followed.
WARNING: A WARNING icon indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

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About WWAN

All SonicWall appliances support either LTE-only or LTE+5G external devices (LTE/5G) except for the NSsp 15700, in conjunction with the fail-over feature of SonicOS. You can connect an LTE/5G device to a USB port on the firewall to provide Wireless WAN (WWAN) connectivity to the internet over cellular networks. WWAN devices can also be used for Load Balancing (LB) with existing wired WAN connections.
An LTE/5G connection can be used for:

WAN failover to a connection that is not dependent on wire or cable.
Temporary networks where a preconfigured connection might not be available, such as at trade shows and kiosks.
Mobile networks, where the SonicWall appliance is based in a vehicle.
Primary WAN connections where wire-based connections are not available and LTE/5G cellular is.

To use the LTE/5G interface, you must have an LTE/5G PC card or USB device and a contract with a wireless service provider. An LTE/5G service provider should be selected based primarily on the availability of supported hardware. SonicOS supports the devices listed online at:
https://www.sonicwall.com/support/knowledge-base/what-wireless-cards-and-usb- broadband-modems-aresupported-on-firewalls-and-access-points.
By default, the firewall tries to detect the type of device that is connected. If it can successfully identify what kind it is, the left-side navigation provides the WAN device and network details in the DEVICE | WWAN menu group.
Without a connected LTE/5G device, the WWAN page displays the current status.

Topics

Monitoring WWAN Status

Monitoring WWAN Status

If you have an LTE/5G device detected/connected to one of your firewalls, the DEVICE > WWAN page offers monitoring information for that device.

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The first panel provides connectivity data and modem status, and the second panel shows a graphical representation of the device’s signal strength. The third panel, WWAN Network Status, shows you the IPs of the router, subnet mask, and DNS server.
When using an ATT WWAN modem, your panels might appear like this.

SONICWALL-SonicOS-7-1-WWAN-Wireless-AC-FIG-6

If no LTE/5G device is detected/connected on one of your firewalls, you get the following message on the DEVICE > WWAN page in the Signal Strength section:

No Device / Not Detected.

Without a connected LTE/5G device, the WWAN page displays the current status as follows.

SONICWALL-SonicOS-7-1-WWAN-Wireless-AC-FIG-7

NOTE: RAT Mode and Signal Strength displays are not supported on all modems. For modems that are not supported, the display defaults to RAT Mode = LTE and Signal Strength = Good. You should use the “Click to Access Modem” feature to access the management interface of your modem and to see additional information about signal strength, mode, and so on..

USB Modem Access

You can use Click to Access Modem in the USB Modem Access section to access the modem’s internal web
server to monitor runtime status and make changes to the modem settings.
To make changes to the modem settings:

Navigate to DEVICE | WWAN and scroll to the USB Mode Access section.
Click Click to Access Modem.
Depending on your modem provider, these pages might appear differently, but in this instance, you would log in to a Huawei account page that has been set up for your modem.
Enter your password and click Login.
From there, you can adjust settings as directed by your provider.

SonicWall Support

Technical support is available to customers who have purchased SonicWall products with a valid maintenance contract.
The Support Portal provides self-help tools you can use to solve problems quickly and independently, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. To access the Support Portal, go to https://www.sonicwall.com/support.
The Support Portal enables you to:

View knowledge base articles and technical documentation
View and participate in the Community forum discussions at
https://community.sonicwall.com/technology-and-support.
View video tutorials
Access https://mysonicwall.com.
Learn about SonicWall Professional Services at https://sonicwall.com/pes.
Review SonicWall Support services and warranty information
Register for training and certification
Request technical support or customer service.

To contact SonicWall Support, visit https://www.sonicwall.com/support /contact-support.

About This Document

SonicOS WWAN Administration Guide
Updated – December 2023
Software Version – 7.1
232-005869-00 Rev A
Copyright © 2023 SonicWall Inc. All rights reserved.

The information in this document is provided in connection with SonicWall and/or its affiliates’ products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property right is granted by this document or in connection with the sale of products. EXCEPT AS OUTLINED IN THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS SPECIFIED IN THE LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR THIS PRODUCT, SONICWALL AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES ASSUME NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER AND DISCLAIM ANY EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTY RELATING TO ITS PRODUCTS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SONICWALL AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS DOCUMENT, EVEN IF SONICWALL AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SonicWall and/or its affiliates make no representations or warranties to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this document and reserves the right to make changes to specifications and product descriptions at any time without notice. and/or its affiliates do not make any commitment to update the information contained in this document. For more information, visit https://www.sonicwall.com/legal.

End User Product Agreement
To view the SonicWall End User Product Agreement, go to: https://www.sonicwall.com/legal/end-user-product-agreements/.

Open Source Code
SonicWall Inc. can provide a machine-readable copy of open source code with restrictive licenses such as GPL, LGPL, and AGPL when applicable per license requirements. To obtain a complete machine-readable copy, send your written requests, along with a certified check or money order in the amount of USD 25.00 payable to “SonicWall Inc.”, to: