5G/LTE Modem Support in Waybar

[mmorri]

5G/LTE Waybar Applet

I built a waybar integration for 5G/LTE cellular modems using ModemManager. Sharing it here for anyone running Omarchy on a laptop with a WWAN modem.

What it does

• omarchy-5g-status — Waybar module that shows connection status and signal strength with cellular icons
• omarchy-launch-5g — Fuzzel-based menu for connect/disconnect
• Auto-hides when no modem is detected, so it's safe to include in any config

The module sits between the Bluetooth and WiFi icons and updates signal strength every 5 seconds.

Setup

Dependencies:

• modemmanager
• fuzzel

Important — FCC Unlock:
If your modem gets stuck in enabling state with power state: low, you likely need to enable FCC regulatory authentication. ModemManager ships unlock scripts but doesn't activate them by default.

Check available scripts and symlink the one matching your modem's vendor ID:

ls /usr/share/ModemManager/fcc-unlock.available.d/
sudo mkdir -p /etc/ModemManager/fcc-unlock.d
sudo ln -s /usr/share/ModemManager/fcc-unlock.available.d/<VENDOR_ID> /etc/ModemManager/fcc-unlock.d/<VENDOR_ID>
sudo systemctl restart ModemManager

For Foxconn/Qualcomm modems (common in Lenovo ThinkPads), the vendor ID is 105b.

Code

Full implementation is in PR #4219 — four files:

• bin/omarchy-5g-status — status script
• bin/omarchy-launch-5g — connect/disconnect menu
• config/waybar/config.jsonc — waybar config additions
• config/waybar/style.css — styling

Tested on

• Laptops with Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G modem
• MediaTek T700 5G modem
• Module hides cleanly on systems with no modem

[mmorri]

Follow-up: I moved this into a standalone AUR package so it is easier to install and easier to integrate without carrying the niche modem/FCC-unlock/UI code directly in Omarchy.

Package: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/samsung-galaxybook-5g

It includes the Waybar status command, fuzzel UI, privileged modem helper, Omarchy Waybar setup helper, and FCC unlock symlinks for the Samsung Galaxy Book modem.