Overview

This guide is for administrators of the Robustel EG5200 gateway. You may be in a situation where you need to disable one or all of the device's wireless interfaces—Cellular, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth—for security compliance, to reduce power consumption, or to prevent interface conflicts in a specific deployment. This document provides the exact command-line (CLI) commands to individually disable and re-enable these modules.
Important Reminder: Changes are Not Persistent

The command-line changes described in this guide are temporary and will not be saved. If the gateway is rebooted or loses power, all interfaces will automatically be re-enabled and return to their normal operational state.

What You'll Need

• Hardware List:

• 1 x Robustel EG5200 Gateway
• 1 x Power supply
• 1 x PC with an Ethernet cable or console cable for local access

• Software/Firmware:

• An SSH client (like PuTTY) or another terminal application.
• Root (administrator) or Sudo privileges for the EG5200 gateway.

• Other Precautions:

• Warning: Disabling the Cellular module will immediately terminate any remote connections that rely on it (such as RCMS, VPN, or remote Web/SSH access). Ensure you have local (Ethernet or console) access to the device before proceeding.
• Ensure no critical services depend on an interface before you disable it.

Step-by-Step Configuration Guide

Step 1: Access the Gateway's Command Line (CLI)

1. Connect to your EG5200 gateway from your PC using an Ethernet cable or console cable.
2. Open your SSH client (e.g., PuTTY) or terminal.
3. Log in to the gateway's IP address using your root or Sudo credentials.

Step 2: How to Disable the Cellular Module

This process stops the modem management software and then completely powers down the cellular module.

1. To stop the modem management process, run the following command:

/usr/scripts/kill_modemd

2. To power off the cellular module hardware, run this command:

/usr/scripts/modem_power.sh off

Here is an example of the commands being run in the terminal:

root@Router:~# /usr/scripts/kill_modemd
root@Router:~# /usr/scripts/modem_power.sh off

Step 3: How to Disable the Wi-Fi Module

This command stops and unloads the Wi-Fi driver from the system kernel, which deactivates all Wi-Fi functions.

1. Run the following command to stop the Wi-Fi driver:

/usr/scripts/load_eg5200_wifi_driver.sh wifi-driver-stop

Here is an example of the command being run in the terminal:

root@Router:~# /usr/scripts/load_eg5200_wifi_driver.sh wifi-driver-stop

Step 4: How to Disable the Bluetooth Module

This command deactivates the Bluetooth module by controlling its power via a dedicated GPIO (General-Purpose Input/Output) pin.

1. Run the following command to set the Bluetooth control GPIO pin to 0 (low/off):

echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio1/value

Here is an example of the command being run in the terminal:

root@Router:~# echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio1/value

Verification & Testing

You can confirm the interfaces are disabled using these methods:

• Cellular: The "MODEM" and "RSSI" LEDs on the front panel of the EG5200 should turn off. In the Web UI, the cellular connection status will show as "Offline" or "Not Detected."
• Wi-Fi: Using a phone or laptop, scan for Wi-Fi networks. The SSID of the EG5200 will no longer be broadcast.
• Bluetooth: Using a Bluetooth scanning app on your phone, the EG5200 will no longer be discoverable.

To restore functionality, you can re-boot the device

Troubleshooting / FAQ

Q: I disabled the cellular module and now I can't access my gateway remotely via RCMS or VPN.

A: This is expected behavior. Disabling the cellular module cuts the gateway's connection to the mobile network. You must log in to the device locally (using an Ethernet cable) to run the re-enable commands listed in the "Verification & Testing" section.

Q: Will these settings remain after I reboot the gateway?

A: No. These commands are not persistent and will be reset to their default state (usually "on") when the gateway reboots. To make these changes permanent, you must add the disable commands to a custom startup script in the gateway's Web UI.

Revision History