In mobile network research, the integration of real-world components such as
User Equipment (UE) with open-source network infrastructure is essential yet
challenging. To address these issues, we introduce open5Gcube, a modular
framework designed to integrate popular open-source mobile network projects
into a unified management environment. Our publicly available framework allows
researchers to flexibly combine different open-source implementations,
including different versions, and simplifies experimental setups through
containerization and lightweight orchestration. We demonstrate the practical
usability of open5Gcube by evaluating its compatibility with various commercial
off-the-shelf (COTS) smartphones and modems across multiple mobile generations
(2G, 4G, and 5G). The results underline the versatility and reproducibility of
our approach, significantly advancing the accessibility of rigorous
experimentation in mobile network laboratories.