Remote Monitoring - Again.........

Hurricane said:
I'm on the boat right now and the RUT950 is about to go in the bin.
Yes - it works but it is slow and takes an age to connect to the 3G/4G.
And it seems to disconnect more frequently than myold D-Link Router which is getting to the end of it life.
As a result, I have decided to continue to use the D-Link over the Teltonica.
As I said above, It would be good to have a dual SIM device but the RUT590 is so unreliable that I don't want to use it.
I am going to take it home but if anyone wants a cheap router, send me a PM.
It is rubbish - slow - the hardware is well past its "sell by" date.
So, until a cheap 5G alternative comes out, I am going to stick with the old router that needs to be rebooted about once a week.
Now I'm out here, I can set it all up to remotely reboot it using an Energie remote GSM power switch.
Sorry if this is contradicts what you guys are experiencing but, for me, it is less hassle if I just put the RUT950 in the bin.

BTW
My next project is to replace my downstream DDWRT router with a Raspberry Pi running OpenWRT/OpenVPN - probably on the boat and at home.
Click to expand...
Mike
We've got a RUT955 (actually got 2 - one on boat and one as a spare 3G/4G failover in our business) - the boat one has been running pretty much continuously for about 18months now. Haven't upgraded the firmware for a good while, but sounds like that might have helped the situation !
I'd agree that the UI is a bit of an acquired taste and sometimes slow (depending on what you're doing), but have found the whole thing very stable and good in general. Because we have the 955 we even have it a a geofenced tracker and as we have it setup on 240v supply with failover to 12v PoE it works even if you unplug the shorepower and move the boat. The fact that you can text it to interrogate position and undertake stuff (like reboot) is handy too - so long as you have it setup to do the actions you require.

On the whole I've been pleasantly surprised by it - having had both Huawei and TP Link mobile router devices the RUT has been loads better (more configurable and more stable). Just my 2 pence worth, but may be worth reviewing the firmware and a bit of a winter at home "testing".

Good luck with the continued connectivity projects.
Mike
 
jakew009 said:
not really, only option is a reset which will wipe your settings

hmmm thinking about it

- setup an Teltonika RMS account (free)
- get serial number and MAC address
- add it to RMS (free for 1 month)
- hope the firmware is new enough to support RMS and was left enabled by default (it will be unless you specifically disabled it)
- change password in RMS (I don’t think it needs the old password).

I’ve never tested this method but I reckon it would work
Click to expand...
thanks!
"wasting" my time top balancing my new LifePO4 bank, hopefully midweek I'll visit the boat and try all that. If not, I'll just reset the thing make sure I have a v.6 firmware and get on with it :D
cheers

V.
 
@jakew009
You have got me going now.
Your comment about DDWRT being a "Blast from the Past" got me thinking.
Maybe I should have a good look at OpenWRT
So, without spending anything on hardware, I dug out a Raspberry Pi 4 and loaded a copy of OpenWRT
After a couple of days of "head banging" (learning this stuff doesn't come easy to me), I have got a very simple wireless bridge working.
Yep - it does look a lot more modern than DDWRT so I think I will keep on playing with it.
I did bring the RUT950 home but I am finding more satisfaction playing with OpenWRT than the RUT950.
You said that the RUT950's firmware was based on OpenWRT but it feels a lot different.
And the little Raspberry Pis OpenWRT user interface (LuCi) is WAY quicker than the RUT950.
Much more satisfaction.

I'm really only looking at OpenWRT as an alternative to my DDWRT (OpenVPN) routers but I suppose, I could build a DIY replacement for the RUT950?
I will dig the RUT950 out and have another go before I go out to the boat again but I need some inspiration to get me off fiddling with OpenWRT

@jake009 Thanks again for your posts - I love this stuff.
 
Hurricane said:
@jakew009
You have got me going now.
Your comment about DDWRT being a "Blast from the Past" got me thinking.
Maybe I should have a good look at OpenWRT
So, without spending anything on hardware, I dug out a Raspberry Pi 4 and loaded a copy of OpenWRT
After a couple of days of "head banging" (learning this stuff doesn't come easy to me), I have got a very simple wireless bridge working.
Yep - it does look a lot more modern than DDWRT so I think I will keep on playing with it.
I did bring the RUT950 home but I am finding more satisfaction playing with OpenWRT than the RUT950.
You said that the RUT950's firmware was based on OpenWRT but it feels a lot different.
And the little Raspberry Pis OpenWRT user interface (LuCi) is WAY quicker than the RUT950.
Much more satisfaction.

I'm really only looking at OpenWRT as an alternative to my DDWRT (OpenVPN) routers but I suppose, I could build a DIY replacement for the RUT950?
I will dig the RUT950 out and have another go before I go out to the boat again but I need some inspiration to get me off fiddling with OpenWRT

@jake009 Thanks again for your posts - I love this stuff.
Click to expand...

You can bang plain old OpenWRT on the RUT955 :)

Or by a USB LTE modem and just plug that straight into your RPI

Dare I introduce you to PFSense, OPNSense, Mikrotik, UBNT :)

The Teltonika GUI is based on Luci, but in fairness to the RUT955, the RPI is like a NASA super computer in comparison to the processor inside the RUT955.
 
jakew009 said:
You can bang plain old OpenWRT on the RUT955 :)

Or by a USB LTE modem and just plug that straight into your RPI

Dare I introduce you to PFSense, OPNSense, Mikrotik, UBNT :)

The Teltonika GUI is based on Luci, but in fairness to the RUT955, the RPI is like a NASA super computer in comparison to the processor inside the RUT955.
Click to expand...
I did know about pfSense - my son in law swears by it.
So I had a quick look the other day.
pfSense seems to be easier to set up a private tunnel but it doesn't run on the RPi.
Not that the RPi would be the way to go.
Just that I have spare RPis that I can use to experiment.
I've got a Gigabit to USB3 adaptor on order.
If that works, I might stick with the Raspberry Pi though.
The RPi 4 has one Gigabit Ethernet port on board so with the USB adaptors, I might be able to replace my downstream DDWRT OpenVPN tunnel routers.
I don't need top quality WiFi - it seems that the OpenWRT community regard the RPi's radio as poor.
The thing that I like with the RPi solution is that it would be easy to fix if it failed - just keep a spare microSD card already flashed with the working software/build.
Maybe even a spare RPi .
If one of my DDWRT routers packs up, I have quite a long script to follow to rebuild it.
One issue that I may have with OpenWRT - I'm not sure that there is a compatible OpenVPN module for the RPi 4.
Still - it is great way of challenging the grey matter.
 
Hurricane said:
I did know about pfSense - my son in law swears by it.
So I had a quick look the other day.
pfSense seems to be easier to set up a private tunnel but it doesn't run on the RPi.
Not that the RPi would be the way to go.
Just that I have spare RPis that I can use to experiment.
I've got a Gigabit to USB3 adaptor on order.
If that works, I might stick with the Raspberry Pi though.
The RPi 4 has one Gigabit Ethernet port on board so with the USB adaptors, I might be able to replace my downstream DDWRT OpenVPN tunnel routers.
I don't need top quality WiFi - it seems that the OpenWRT community regard the RPi's radio as poor.
The thing that I like with the RPi solution is that it would be easy to fix if it failed - just keep a spare microSD card already flashed with the working software/build.
Maybe even a spare RPi .
If one of my DDWRT routers packs up, I have quite a long script to follow to rebuild it.
One issue that I may have with OpenWRT - I'm not sure that there is a compatible OpenVPN module for the RPi 4.
Still - it is great way of challenging the grey matter.
Click to expand...

For the WiFi, you could just get a standalone access point.

You can definitely run OpenVPN on a Pi, we run it on thousands of them (but not using OpenWRT). There’s absolutely no reason you couldn’t run it though, I don’t see why you’d need a specific module.

Wireguard is the snazzy new VPN solution nowadays.
 
I just got hold of a RUT950... It came with v07.01.2 firmware.

Internet access was so slow, it was unbearable. Worse than 9600 dial up speeds.

I just (as suggested in this thread) downgraded to their 'factory' 6.08.6 firmware via the gui, clicked "don't save settings" and throughput is up to what is expect from the SIM with no other changes.
 
Martin_J said:
I just got hold of a RUT950... It came with v07.01.2 firmware.

Internet access was so slow, it was unbearable. Worse than 9600 dial up speeds.

I just (as suggested in this thread) downgraded to their 'factory' 6.08.6 firmware via the gui, clicked "don't save settings" and throughput is up to what is expect from the SIM with no other changes.
Click to expand...
Interesting
I've only used version 7 but the actual internet speed seemed ok - a speed of data that was to be expected.
The GUI interface though, is very slow but, as has been said above, the hardware on the RUT950 is a bit crude.
I will downgrade though and see if it does what I want.
I am fearful that the version 6 firmware doesn't support SIM switching using SMS which I saw initially as important for remote access.
I may be wrong though and the device does deserve a bit more attention before I reject it.
Meanwhile my boat is running on the old D-Link router but it still needs a reboot every couple of days so I think the D-Link is "on its way out"
 
I was rather unimpressed with the speed on the already installed v7 firmware..

Due to a total lack of enough hours in the day, I never had time to investigate why.

It was a five minute task to download and install the older firmware over lunch just now. I didn't have time to check on anything else but I do recall seeing a message pop up at the start of the v6 firmware install confirming the checksum ( good) but that it wasn't 'verified' firmware.

I didn't have time to question that but it was the bin file I had downloaded from Teltonika so went along with it.
 
Just found a spare minute and SIM switching looks like this on the v6.08.6 firmware

Rut950 v6.PNG

Edit - Just realised it doesn't answer your question about remote SIM switching but gives an idea on what it can be made to switch on.
 
vas said:
Thing is I forgot what pswds I set that thing up with, was thinking of tinkering a bit with it and couldn't even get in :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Hurricane said:
I had an NIE number about 12 years ago but I've lost it
Click to expand...
I thought it was just me. Very comforting to know that this happens to other people too.

Our RUT950 was installed almost exactly 4 years ago, has run 24/7, and has never let me down when I've been off the boat. Having said that I have had to reboot it a couple of times when we have connected different things to the on-board WiFi. I didn't even know that remote access to the router is possible. But our firmware is version 3! I never upgrade firmware on something that is stable.
 
I've just got my Raspberry Pi 4 working as a router using OpenWRT
I was expecting to add 4 USB 2 Gigabit Adaptors but it seems that the Raspberry Pi isn't very good as a switch.
Probably use too much power and it isn't necessary to use it as a switch anyway.
I tend to use wired connections where I can so I'm used to my routers having at least 4 LAN ports.
So, it seems that the easy solution is to use a cheap Gigabit switch to extend the RPi's Gigabit port.
I will still use a single USB 2 Gigabit Adaptor for the WAN connection though.

This RPi/OpenWRT concept opens up a whole new concept.

How about this idea.
We are expecting data roaming in Europe to get expensive whereas local SIM contracts will remain nice and cheap.
Here is an example for Spain www.lobster.es
The big problem is that we will then loose our UK IP address - thus loosing TV - BBC iPlayer etc whilst away from the UK
For those that don't know - if you buy a UK 4G deal, you continue to get a UK IP address even when you roam.
So, one of my ideas is to build a Raspberry Pi 4 with a 4G/LTE dongle plugged into one of its USB ports.
From a hardware point of view, thats all you would need - the RPi has an inbuilt WiFi interface.
I am aware of some VPN services that don't get blocked by the BBC.
So, using OpenWRT on the RPi with the correct VPN you could use it to watch UK TV etc.
All you would do is plug the RPi in and connect to it using its WiFi.
The RPi would then make the internet connection and give a UK IP address to the devices that you connect to it.
You could even use a Smart TV - connect it to the RPi's WiFi and use it as though you were in the UK.

Personally, I am considering the concept as an alternative to my downstream DD-WRT routers that give me my secure tunnel to home.
But there are several other offshoots for this concept.
So, my next plan is to take up jakew009's challenge and start looking at Wireguard to replace my OpenVPN
I love this kind of thing - thanks jakew009
 
Reading with interest...
Thanks all, this is giving me somethings to look into as my simple little WiFi camera was not recording for the whole of December, it started it's self again on the 1st Jan and has gone back to recording events and sending me messages to my phone when the alerts occur.
The 4G router idea looks like one I will be employing at a remote property that does not have a land line or cable to it
 
Not sure how many people on here are interested in following this stuff but I will keep posting anyway.
IMHO, this isn't thread drift but it probably isn't the technical forum for this kind of discussion.
I don't want to get "flamed" again for posting irrelevant posts.
That said, maybe some are interested - those that aren't have the option not to read it.

Back to my little router project.
As I said, I have made the Raspberry Pi work as a router.

Picture are always worth a thousand words so this is the setup:-
20220216_123147.resized.jpg

The white wire on the right is the power
The grey Ethernet wire is connected to my PC
The black device is a USB3 to Gigabit Ethernet adaptor - the black Ethernet wire that is connected to it is connected to my "upstream" ISPs router.

The result is that the PC is on a separate downstream LAN.
The Raspberry Pi "routes" the PC onto the internet.
The PC can also connect to the Raspberry Pi's WiFi instead of the wired Ethernet.

I have just done some speed tests and there doesn't seem to be any reduction in speed when routing through the Raspberry Pi over connecting directly to the ISPs router.
My internet connection is about 60Mbs
I didn't bother doing the speed test over the Raspberry Pi WiFi.
The speed test was to see how well the Raspberry Pi routed and not test the speed of its WiFi.

Most routers will have multiple (4 or 5) Ethernet ports so this solution only works using one LAN Port.
(The USB3 to Ethernet Adaptor is effectively the WAN port)
So a neat fix to this will be to use a simple Gigabit Ethernet switch (available for about £10)
Like this
20220216_123239.resized.jpg

So, as a DIY router, the Raspberry Pi should be fine.
I know that you can buy cheap routers that will do the same job but it is the next step that most interests me.
I could "flash" a copy of OpenWRT onto a cheap router but I quite like the idea of having a simple backup to any failure.
If a "flashed router" with a load of bespoke settings (for the next bit) were to fail, it could take a lot of "head scratching" to get a replacement one working again.
With a Raspberry Pi solution, I can keep a mirror copy of the microSD card sellotaped to the Raspberry Pi and, in the event of a failure, just plug it in.
Even keep a spare Raspberry Pi.

So, moving on.
I see two applications for this router.
Firstly, I think it could be set up to route its internet connection through a VPN service with an "exit" to the internet within the UK thus providing a UK IP address for people outside the UK for BBC TV etc.
Secondly, I am interested in replacing my dual router solution where my boat systems are on the same virtual LAN as my home systems.
This allows me to securely connect to my home desktops using applications like NoMachine etc - I currently use DD-WRT and OpenVPN - it works well.

Over the last couple of days, I have looked at Wireguard software as an alternative to OpenVPN for the secure tunnel- as jake009 said, this seems to be the modern way of doing this kind of thing.
It is easier to set up - especially creating the secure public/private keys etc.
However, it seems that Wireguard runs on TCP/IP layer 3 so there are some applications that currently work through my tunnel that wouldn't work if I switched to a Wireguard tunnel.
WOL (Wake On LAN) for example runs on Layer 2 so I wouldn't be able to remotely switch my computers on.
Also, I believe that broadcast packets run on Later 2 - these are useful if you want to browse a LAN for computers.
I don't think this will be a problem for the first application that I mentioned but it would be a problem for my private VPN.
There do seem to be a few projects that can create Layer 2 access over the Wiregrard's Layer 3 but that seems to be getting complicated.
So, it is probably back to OpenVPN for my private VPN even though it will be much slower than using the new Wireguard software.
Also, getting my two LANs connected with Wireguard requires some careful routing whereas OpenVPN seems to handle most of this on my OpenVPN server.
So thats probably the direction I'm going for my private VPN

But I will also have a play with the Raspberry Pi as a VPN router to "pop up" in another country for use with BBC iPlayer etc.
 
If you want to use the Pi as a router, consider using VLANs rather than USB to ethernet adapters, and a simple managed switch like these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-SG105E-Desktop-Easy-Smart-Ethernet/dp/B00N0OHEMA

Needs a 5v power supply, will run happily off a usb / 12v converter.

I run a PiVPN server on a linux virtual machine in a uk data centre, cost is around £3 per month, and simply vpn into it. Means you have a fixed UK ip address.
Otherwise run PiVPN on a PC or Pi at home and VPN to that.
 
northwind said:
If you want to use the Pi as a router, consider using VLANs rather than USB to ethernet adapters, and a simple managed switch like these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-SG105E-Desktop-Easy-Smart-Ethernet/dp/B00N0OHEMA

Needs a 5v power supply, will run happily off a usb / 12v converter.

I run a PiVPN server on a linux virtual machine in a uk data centre, cost is around £3 per month, and simply vpn into it. Means you have a fixed UK ip address.
Otherwise run PiVPN on a PC or Pi at home and VPN to that.
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting
I did think about VLANs but I already had the USB3 to Gigabit Ethernet and wanted to see how well it worked.
I've not used VLAN's before so maybe worth having a go.

Not heard of PiVPN before either - looks interesting.
Setup looks simple - looks like it does what I did for CA and Certs/Keys - but looks way easier - creating the Certs and Keys can take ages.
I wonder if it could work as an OpenVPN client as well - my boat OpenVPN client works as a router using TAP to give me a "seamless" virtual LAN.
This means any device on the LAN on the boat can also use the same tunnel.
I also connect separately to my OpenVPN server using my Android devices.
 
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