TELTONIKA RUT240 onboard playing tricks?

[vas]

sorry, not particularly helpful title, but after almost two years of service, last week following a slight power failure, it fired up ok, serves an influxDB from a wireless connection of the BMS raspberry pi 24/7, wont serve at all a wireless connection to the boat win10laptop and occasionally runs the other rpi running VenusOS and the whole lot of mppt/multiplus victron lot.
Service provider says all's fine.
Running old firmware (R00.01.14.5) which I never upgraded based on info read in here in other teltonika threads.

so quick Q, before trying to reset the lot, re program, re whatever, anyone got such an issue before?
needless to say I've done the usual reboot and unplug let it rest for 10mins and reboot, no joy.

cheers

V.

 

[Hurricane]

Hi Vas
I'm afraid that I don't rate the Teltonika hardware.
IMHO, it is really old and not very powerful.

But, like me, you have one.
So, I guess it is a full reset - back to basics etc.

Having just upgraded my downstream routers, my next project on the boat will be to look at the 4G/5G/LTE element of the system and Teltonica probably wouldn't be on my shopping list.
I quite like the idea of a Raspberry Pi as my LTE connection but my RUT950 is working as a router as well so I would need to do some thinking.
I also have my old D-Link router on board so if the RUT950 fails, I do have a spare.
No help to you though

Good luck
Let us know if you fix it.

 

[vas]

thanks Mike,

it has worked flawlessly for quite some time (almost 2yrs!)
couldn't do a full reset as I stupidly didn't have the pin with me... Now found it at home, so tomorrow morning will be coffee onboard and fooling around with it.

cheers

V.

 

[vas]

hm,
for whoever cares, teltonika is fine, idiots at the mobile service provider side decided to change my connection from a public IP (so that I can log in and check things) to a private one (not accessible from outside...)
didn't even bother to upgrade the firmware, so I'm still on last years' 01.14.5 so not moving to 7.04
now next step is chatting to their support to sort their act!

to clarify, this means I had to revert to auto APN and not the custom line I was given by them two years ago. Once I went stock it worked fine...

cheers

V.

 

[northwind]

hm,
for whoever cares, teltonika is fine, idiots at the mobile service provider side decided to change my connection from a public IP (so that I can log in and check things) to a private one (not accessible from outside...)
didn't even bother to upgrade the firmware, so I'm still on last years' 01.14.5 so not moving to 7.04
now next step is chatting to their support to sort their act!

to clarify, this means I had to revert to auto APN and not the custom line I was given by them two years ago. Once I went stock it worked fine...

cheers

V.

Take a look at pivpn, that way you can run wireguard and include the raspi on your lan, no need for public facing ports or access

 

[Hurricane]

hm,
for whoever cares, teltonika is fine, idiots at the mobile service provider side decided to change my connection from a public IP (so that I can log in and check things) to a private one (not accessible from outside...)
didn't even bother to upgrade the firmware, so I'm still on last years' 01.14.5 so not moving to 7.04
now next step is chatting to their support to sort their act!

to clarify, this means I had to revert to auto APN and not the custom line I was given by them two years ago. Once I went stock it worked fine...

cheers

V.

Yep - I guess we are going to see more of this in the future.
There are only about 4.3 billion IPv4 Addresses available.
So CGNAT gives service providers the ability to use a single Public IPv4 Address for may subscribers (just like NAT in your router) but you, as an end user, then don't end up with a full Public IP Address.
I think it happens a lot in the mobile networks.
Without a Public Address, you should be able to make two way connections to the likes of Victron's monitoring service by making the connection from your end.

Doesn't affect me as long as my home system has a Public IP Address but I had a look at a work round for a friend.

I came up with the same idea as @northwind
A VPN with the likes of PIA or NordVPN and select one of their Static IP Address options.
Keep that connection active.
I think you could then connect to your system using the Static IP Address that the VPN provider allocates to you.
Not tested it but its an idea that I think might work.
The fact that they use OpenVPN or Wireguard is a bit irrelevant but, of course, adds to security.

Do you think that will work?

 

[vas]

probably will, but tbh, I expect they "repair" what they did and give me back my public address
as a backup I have zerotierOne installed and have setup a service on all my main computers (home office, work, laptop and boat laptop and ofcourse mobile), so can use that, but rather I don't need anything.
they may have already fixed it by now, will check in the morning when I visit the boat again.

V.

 

[Hurricane]

probably will, but tbh, I expect they "repair" what they did and give me back my public address
as a backup I have zerotierOne installed and have setup a service on all my main computers (home office, work, laptop and boat laptop and ofcourse mobile), so can use that, but rather I don't need anything.
they may have already fixed it by now, will check in the morning when I visit the boat again.

V.

Interesting
My friend didn't have that option without moving his connection to a business account.
So, please post on here if you have been successful.

 

[jakew009]

Normally they will charge you a lot more for a static IP. The open market value for IPv4 is now about $60 per IP.

 

[vas]

not quite static ip, it changes everytime you reboot or occasionally without even rebooting. Same happens at home ADSL and on the boat 4G connection.
So I have DDNS via noip configured on both to be able to access them with set names. On both cases I only had to contact the helpdesk of the provider and request it.
Guess not many request that in Greece so I can get away with it.

 

[jakew009]

not quite static ip, it changes everytime you reboot or occasionally without even rebooting. Same happens at home ADSL and on the boat 4G connection.
So I have DDNS via noip configured on both to be able to access them with set names. On both cases I only had to contact the helpdesk of the provider and request it.
Guess not many request that in Greece so I can get away with it.

Will be interesting to see if you can get it back again.
Some small ISPs are in a strange position where they are better off selling their stash of IPv4 and shutting down (or implementing carrier grade nat if they can be bothered).

 

[Hurricane]

Here in the UK, I have an IPv4 Static IP Address - provided by PlusNet (now part of BT).
I was only charged an initial one off fee of £5 but I suspect that wouldn't happen again.

I used the Static Address for my old site to site connection.
But when recently changing to my new (OpenWRT) system, I configured it to use DDNS.
Incidentally, I only need one of my systems to have a Public Static Address because I'm using the "keep alive" facility inside Wireguard/OpenWRT.
The remote peer makes the connections and then keeps it all going.

The big issue that Vas has is that the IP Address his provider has given him is internal to their network so isn't reachable from the Public Internet.

@jakew009 - would that idea work? - of using a VPN provider like PIA and NordVPN (there are loads more) to provide a Public IP Address?

 

[jakew009]

@jakew009 - would that idea work? - of using a VPN provider like PIA and NordVPN (there are loads more) to provide a Public IP Address?

Yes, you can then NAT it to the devices on the local network just like you can from the WAN interface. Teltonika let’s you chose the VPN tunnel interface as the source interface.

If you wanted to be more adventurous you could run PFSense on a cheap virtual machine on Vultr or similar, and then setup a VPN tunnel between that and the router. Then you could do the NAT on that and run a router network over the VPN tunnel.

1000 ways to skin a cat (or route packets)

 

[Hurricane]

If you wanted to be more adventurous you could run PFSense on a cheap virtual machine on Vultr or similar, and then setup a VPN tunnel between that and the router. Then you could do the NAT on that and run a router network over the VPN tunnel.

1000 ways to skin a cat (or route packets)

Interesting - I think I understand you - never used pfSense but I've watched lots of videos on it.
I guess that idea is "kind of" creating a "site to site" VPN with one end in the cloud.
Presumably a Wirguard tunnel between the two.
I've started playing with Docker so maybe thats the kind of thing I could use Docker for.
If I were doing it, I would probably try and use OpenWRT now that I have got my head round it.

 

[superheat6k]

I'm interes in this subject for both boating and my business use, but why oh why is there so much jargon nonsense everyone pretends to understand, when truth is most folk don't have a clue ?

 

[vas]

Trev, it's the IT ppl to blame not us users. We just have to struggle to keep up and be able to communicate with them lot...
fe, the private vs public IP for a router is something I learnt the hard way two years ago...

I agree that most of these things are (needlessly) complicated for an end user who usually just wants something that works and a couple of port forwarding so s/he can access from "outside" a couple of useful machines "inside" I want access to the lifepo4 bms and to the rpi running venusOS (Victron). Are they mission critical, nope, they work alone just fine, it's nice to have access and be able to do certain (simple) tasks remotely. Not that much for me who am less than a km from the boat, but I guess if your boat is a few hundred miles (or even thousand) it starts making more sense. Marina wifi is usually a joke, so a 4G connection is your best bet.
now go to either a openWRT or a Teltonika and have a look at the options at the menu - you'll want to cry!
I started jotting down where lies the bits I want as everytime I get into this webinterface I need at least an hour to remember where is what and what certain terms actually mean. and since they generally work ok, I end up touching it once a year and by that time I've forgotten everything so start afresh!


V.

 

[Hurricane]

I'm interes in this subject for both boating and my business use, but why oh why is there so much jargon nonsense everyone pretends to understand, when truth is most folk don't have a clue ?

The detail of Networking (either Local or Internet) is a subject that gets more detailed the more you look.
If you keep things simple, then the subject remains simple.
But if you want to do complicated stuff, then the subject will become more complicated.
I always think that people in IT dream up complicated words for stuff that is really quite simple.
Microsoft used to be really bad at that - I'm in the Linux world now and the names of the different technologies tend to be more fun (or stupid).
I believe that Linus Torvilds (the designer of Linux) was once asked why he named the now popular version control system GIT.
Apparently he said - thats what I am!!

As I say, it is all about what you want to do.
You say that you are looking at this subject for boating and separately for business.
Vas' issue is all about remotely connecting to his boat system.
He connects to various devices that monitor his boat systems.
But for business, you might be looking to remotely connect to a computer whilst you are away (say) from the office.
Software like Teamviewer has been allowing this for years but, in my experience, a simpler option is a website called DWService - remote access, remote administration, remote support
DWSERVICE allows you to connect remotely to your system at (say) home or on the office - all you need on the connecting system is an internet connection and a browser.
This is an example of keeping things very simple - in this case, you wouldn't need to know anything about IP Addresses.

Personally, I love to learn anything IT related.
But, in answer to Vas' comment about forgetting stuff, I always write notes.
Actually, I write my notes BEFORE doing anything - and then alter them during/alter as I go through that project.
These notes are stored on a computer using a simple text editor so they will work on any system.
Later, when I need to use the notes, I have the notes file open and I will again modify the notes as I go along.
The notes become a "live representation" of my project.
I try to do this for everything.

 

[superheat6k]

The detail of Networking (either Local or Internet) is a subject that gets more detailed the more you look.
If you keep things simple, then the subject remains simple.
But if you want to do complicated stuff, then the subject will become more complicated.
I always think that people in IT dream up complicated words for stuff that is really quite simple.
Microsoft used to be really bad at that - I'm in the Linux world now and the names of the different technologies tend to be more fun (or stupid).
I believe that Linus Torvilds (the designer of Linux) was once asked why he named the now popular version control system GIT.
Apparently he said - thats what I am!!

As I say, it is all about what you want to do.
You say that you are looking at this subject for boating and separately for business.
Vas' issue is all about remotely connecting to his boat system.
He connects to various devices that monitor his boat systems.
But for business, you might be looking to remotely connect to a computer whilst you are away (say) from the office.
Software like Teamviewer has been allowing this for years but, in my experience, a simpler option is a website called DWService - remote access, remote administration, remote support
DWSERVICE allows you to connect remotely to your system at (say) home or on the office - all you need on the connecting system is an internet connection and a browser.
This is an example of keeping things very simple - in this case, you wouldn't need to know anything about IP Addresses.

Personally, I love to learn anything IT related.
But, in answer to Vas' comment about forgetting stuff, I always write notes.
Actually, I write my notes BEFORE doing anything - and then alter them during/alter as I go through that project.
These notes are stored on a computer using a simple text editor so they will work on any system.
Later, when I need to use the notes, I have the notes file open and I will again modify the notes as I go along.
The notes become a "live representation" of my project.
I try to do this for everything.

I do use the Teltonica RUT955 for my business with dedicated fixed IP SIMs that I think cost a small fortune for a very limited data provision. I have worked out how to set them up for our needs, and could I suppose for out how to set one up for my boat, but it seems many others can get by with a cheapo data only SIM, e.g. Smarty where I can buy 30 GB or more for ~ £10/ month, but the fixed IP SIMs I use at work are costing us £7 (ok not so much) but for only 100MB.

The problem for us is if we visit a site with one installed and I haven't set the router up properly (which is very easy to do), my lap top logs on and I can use most of the monthly data allowance with just a few email downloads.

A few weeks ago I had a row with a BMS prima donna engineer because our Teltonica started firing out IP addresses to all his sites equipment. The settings for his site were no different to any other site we have these things on. How dare I start sending out IP addresses - no BMS engineer would ever do that - I took great joy telling him that ...

1 I was not a BMS engineer

and 2 If he did not tone down his attitude he could (very bluntly) go away !

He did then calm down, and I suggested for this particular client that prefers not to pay when due, any idea I am going to leap when commanded was an idea for the birds, but none the less not understanding what the router functions do did not help.

 

[Hurricane]

I do use the Teltonica RUT955 for my business with dedicated fixed IP SIMs that I think cost a small fortune for a very limited data provision. I have worked out how to set them up for our needs, and could I suppose for out how to set one up for my boat, but it seems many others can get by with a cheapo data only SIM, e.g. Smarty where I can buy 30 GB or more for ~ £10/ month, but the fixed IP SIMs I use at work are costing us £7 (ok not so much) but for only 100MB.

The problem for us is if we visit a site with one installed and I haven't set the router up properly (which is very easy to do), my lap top logs on and I can use most of the monthly data allowance with just a few email downloads.

A few weeks ago I had a row with a BMS prima donna engineer because our Teltonica started firing out IP addresses to all his sites equipment. The settings for his site were no different to any other site we have these things on. How dare I start sending out IP addresses - no BMS engineer would ever do that - I took great joy telling him that ...

1 I was not a BMS engineer

and 2 If he did not tone down his attitude he could (very bluntly) go away !

He did then calm down, and I suggested for this particular client that prefers not to pay when due, any idea I am going to leap when commanded was an idea for the birds, but none the less not understanding what the router functions do did not help.

It seems like you have a number of different issues.
What do you use your systems for?
Why do you need static addresses?

I don't see how the you can use all your data if the Teltonica isn't set up correctly.
Is it something like Windows doing its updates.

I agree that you should be able to operate a system using cheap (Smarty like) services.
What are you doing with your connections?
Are they some kind of Air Conditioning monitors?

 

[jakew009]

I do use the Teltonica RUT955 for my business with dedicated fixed IP SIMs that I think cost a small fortune for a very limited data provision. I have worked out how to set them up for our needs, and could I suppose for out how to set one up for my boat, but it seems many others can get by with a cheapo data only SIM, e.g. Smarty where I can buy 30 GB or more for ~ £10/ month, but the fixed IP SIMs I use at work are costing us £7 (ok not so much) but for only 100MB.

The problem for us is if we visit a site with one installed and I haven't set the router up properly (which is very easy to do), my lap top logs on and I can use most of the monthly data allowance with just a few email downloads.

A few weeks ago I had a row with a BMS prima donna engineer because our Teltonica started firing out IP addresses to all his sites equipment. The settings for his site were no different to any other site we have these things on. How dare I start sending out IP addresses - no BMS engineer would ever do that - I took great joy telling him that ...

1 I was not a BMS engineer

and 2 If he did not tone down his attitude he could (very bluntly) go away !

He did then calm down, and I suggested for this particular client that prefers not to pay when due, any idea I am going to leap when commanded was an idea for the birds, but none the less not understanding what the router functions do did not help.

How many SIM cards do you have? Our wholesale cost for a 100MB aggregated SIM roaming across all 4 UK networks is 66 pence no minimum term (I just looked it up). We couldn't put a static IP on it for that but you could have it on a private APN.
A public IP would waste half the allowance with people doing port scans against it...

SIM cards aren't core to our business but I got so cheesed off with the slimy M2M sim card sales companies I wasted an inordinate amount of time getting an agreement with a tier 1 network ourselves.