Mobiles and a BT Home Hub 5a

[Java Jive]

Deliberate X-Post for reasons that will become apparent.

Back in February 2019 in uk.telecom.broadband I began a thread entitled
'Routers' asking for advice about what routers would match a given list
of criteria, the result of which was that it was suggested to me, by
Andy Burns I think, that I should flash OpenWRT onto a BT Home Hub 5a.
This I did, and have been using it satisfactorily since with a mobile
dongle plugged into the USB port, so, if you're reading this, thanks
again Andy.

For reference in what follows, I'm using a contract Three SIM.

Before explaining the current problem, and/or as a general introductory
note, there appear to be two most common types of these mobile dongles,
the first a serial type that is controlled as if it were an
old-fashioned modem, and the other which creates a self-contained
subnet, which Huawei call 'HiLink'. I think there are other types as
well, but these are the two I've encountered most often.

The first dongle I tried was a Huawei E3372s (s = serial type). It
worked pretty well for a while, but then the connection became flaky and
when I tried unplugging it from the USB extension lead it was almost too
hot to touch.

So next I tried a ZTE MF823, which is a 'HiLink' type, and that has
lasted much better, until a few days ago when a lightning strike in the
area caused a mains spike, and it's been dead flaky since, particularly
during hot weather. At first I thought it was the router that was
affected, but I have a spare ready to swap in, and the dongle didn't
work with that either, nor when it was directly plugged into a PC, so,
while the router may have been affected somewhat, the dongle is
definitely on the way out.

I have also a BT 4G Assure dongle, which a rebadged Huawei E3372h (h =
'HiLink' type). I appear to have managed to unlock it, and have had it
working in a PC, where I was also able to access its control page at
192.168.8.1, but I can't get it to work with the BTHH5a.

For the ZTE, the relevant part of /etc/config/network reads ...

config interface 'WAN_USB'
option proto 'dhcp'
option ifname 'usb0'

... and this 'just works'. However, it doesn't work with the HuaWei,
where, according to instructions found online, the relevant part of the
file should read ...

config interface 'WAN_USB'
option proto 'dhcp'
option ifname 'eth1'

... and certainly this seems to get closer to working than the previous
setting for the ZTE, in that the 'Interfaces' page of the router shows
some activity on the connection, but I can't access the control page of
the dongle at 192.168.8.1. Curiously, it's the same whether or not I
have a SIM in the dongle!

So my first question is: Can anyone help me get the BT-Badged Huawei
E3372h working?

The next question has been brought about by the above problems.
Anticipating a situation where the ZTE goes down completely, and perhaps
some time into the future the Huawei as well, I'll need a viable
back-up. Previously I achieved this by putting my Samsung SM-T719
tablet into mobile hotspot mode, then using a reflashed Cisco WRT320N as
a client-bridge to it, and connecting one of its LAN ports to the WAN
port of the BTHH5a. This worked very well, allowing me a backup path
requiring no changes other than a minimal reconfiguration of the router,
but the Cisco has now died, so the only backup I can think of now is to
connect the tablet directly to the BTHH5a via a USB cable, but my
recollection of trying this before is of getting absolutely nowhere.

So my other question is: Can anyone tell me how to connect to the
internet from a Linux machine, which is what the BTHH5a effectively is,
via a Samsung mobile?

Tx in advance for any help received.

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

[Carlos E.R.]

At another location, I use a router with a SIM card directly inserted
inside. It is a "TP-Link TL-MR6400 V5.20 Router 4G LTE 300Mbps". I'm
quite happy with it.

The router web page has access to the "phone", it even can send and
receive SMS messages.


Other times, I connected my latop via USB to my Motorola phone. It just
worked. Obviously I told the phone to supply internet via usb "somehow",
but I have forgotten the details. I think the phone just asks when I
connect the cable. Then on the computer, I setup the connection with
network manager, which "just works", mostly.

After that, I instead told the phone to supply internet via WiFi. This
worked better, but I don't remember why.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Java Jive]

Tx to Carlos for the sole reply so far. I have solved the second
problem ...

On 25/06/2023 18:49, Java Jive wrote:
>
> the relevant part of the file should read ...
>
> config interface 'WAN_USB'
>         option proto 'dhcp'
>         option ifname 'eth1'
>

> .... and certainly this seems to get closer to working than the previous

> setting for the ZTE, in that the 'Interfaces' page of the router shows
> some activity on the connection, but I can't access the control page of
> the dongle at 192.168.8.1.  Curiously, it's the same whether or not I
> have a SIM in the dongle!
>
> So my first question is:  Can anyone help me get the BT-Badged Huawei
> E3372h working?
>
> The next question has been brought about by the above problems.
> Anticipating a situation where the ZTE goes down completely, and perhaps
> some time into the future the Huawei as well, I'll need a viable
> back-up.  Previously I achieved this by putting my Samsung SM-T719
> tablet into mobile hotspot mode, then using a reflashed Cisco WRT320N as
> a client-bridge to it, and connecting one of its LAN ports to the WAN
> port of the BTHH5a.  This worked very well, allowing me a backup path
> requiring no changes other than a minimal reconfiguration of the router,
> but the Cisco has now died, so the only backup I can think of now is to
> connect the tablet directly to the BTHH5a via a USB cable, but my
> recollection of trying this before is of getting absolutely nowhere.
>
> So my other question is:  Can anyone tell me how to connect to the
> internet from a Linux machine, which is what the BTHH5a effectively is,
> via a Samsung mobile?

Lots of searching made the dispiriting discovery that apparently some
Samsung phones, even quite modern ones, only work with Windows, because
with Linux they fail to generate a proper random MAC address, the result
is all zeros. Thankfully this is not a problem with my Samsung phablet,
it generates random MACs properly, and is an RNDIS device.

So the instructions for getting USB tethering to work are:

1) Install the modules:
kmod-usb-net-rndis
usb-modeswitch

2) As with the ZTE, the relevant section of /etc/config/network should
read:

config interface 'WAN_USB'
option proto 'dhcp'
option ifname 'usb0'

Reboot, turn on USB tethering on the phone, log on to the router's admin
and connect the WAN_USB interface, and it works!

[Andy Burns]

Java Jive wrote:

> there appear to be two most common types of these mobile dongles,
> the first a serial type that is controlled as if it were an
> old-fashioned modem, and the other which creates a self-contained
> subnet, which Huawei call 'HiLink'.

There is a way to convert the Huawei dongles between "h" and "s" mode, I
found various poorly documented methods and files on the web, and did
successfully convert mine, I think the phrase "needle method" might find
it, but it was quite risky ...

In the end I found that a major version upgrade of openWRT left the USB
stack unusable for the dongle, it crashed the kernel, I couldn't get
much interest from the developers, so I ended-up going to a Vigor router.

[Theo]

In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> Deliberate X-Post for reasons that will become apparent.
>
> Back in February 2019 in uk.telecom.broadband I began a thread entitled
> 'Routers' asking for advice about what routers would match a given list
> of criteria, the result of which was that it was suggested to me, by
> Andy Burns I think, that I should flash OpenWRT onto a BT Home Hub 5a.
> This I did, and have been using it satisfactorily since with a mobile
> dongle plugged into the USB port, so, if you're reading this, thanks
> again Andy.

OK, I've got one (actually two) of those...

> I have also a BT 4G Assure dongle, which a rebadged Huawei E3372h (h =
> 'HiLink' type). I appear to have managed to unlock it, and have had it
> working in a PC, where I was also able to access its control page at
> 192.168.8.1, but I can't get it to work with the BTHH5a.

I also have one of those. But the consensus at the time (about 4 years ago)
was that it was impossible to unlock, ie to use on a network that wasn't BT.

> So my first question is: Can anyone help me get the BT-Badged Huawei
> E3372h working?

Instead of randomly fiddling with the router config, I'd first see if you
can get a link up on the device. For this you'll need to know how to use
the 'ip' command (successor to 'ifconfig'):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iproute2

ip link show
(see if the networking device appears when it's plugged in)
ip addr show
(see if an IP address is associated with it)
udhcpc eth99
(see if it will acquire an IP address via DHCP)
ip route show
(see if it picked up a route to anywhere)
ping 8.8.8.8
(ping an internet address)

The advantage of this route is you can see what's going on, whereas with the
GUI it's just random trial and error with no feedback. You do however need
to know a little about how Linux networking works.

Unless you can find someone who has already got it to work and written up
the exact instructions what to do, which is possible I suppose.

> The next question has been brought about by the above problems.
> Anticipating a situation where the ZTE goes down completely, and perhaps
> some time into the future the Huawei as well, I'll need a viable
> back-up. Previously I achieved this by putting my Samsung SM-T719
> tablet into mobile hotspot mode, then using a reflashed Cisco WRT320N as
> a client-bridge to it, and connecting one of its LAN ports to the WAN
> port of the BTHH5a. This worked very well, allowing me a backup path
> requiring no changes other than a minimal reconfiguration of the router,
> but the Cisco has now died, so the only backup I can think of now is to
> connect the tablet directly to the BTHH5a via a USB cable, but my
> recollection of trying this before is of getting absolutely nowhere.
>
> So my other question is: Can anyone tell me how to connect to the
> internet from a Linux machine, which is what the BTHH5a effectively is,
> via a Samsung mobile?

The same general principle should work for this too, although I'm not sure
whether it'll need some extra if it's showing up as a USB serial device
(which would need PPP starting).

You might find this kind of debugging easier from a Linux laptop/desktop, as
the environment on OpenWRT is a bit limited (eg it doesn't have the regular
'dhclient', you have to use udhcpc which is part of busybox) and you don't
have all the creature comforts of a full Linux machine.

Theo

[Andy Burns]

Theo wrote:

> Instead of randomly fiddling with the router config, I'd first see if you
> can get a link up on the device.

I found the dongle "just worked" using NetworkManager GUI on various
Fedora versions

[Java Jive]

On 26/06/2023 11:14, Theo wrote:
> In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> Deliberate X-Post for reasons that will become apparent.
>>
>> Back in February 2019 in uk.telecom.broadband I began a thread entitled
>> 'Routers' asking for advice about what routers would match a given list
>> of criteria, the result of which was that it was suggested to me, by
>> Andy Burns I think, that I should flash OpenWRT onto a BT Home Hub 5a.
>> This I did, and have been using it satisfactorily since with a mobile
>> dongle plugged into the USB port, so, if you're reading this, thanks
>> again Andy.
>
> OK, I've got one (actually two) of those...
>
>> I have also a BT 4G Assure dongle, which a rebadged Huawei E3372h (h =
>> 'HiLink' type). I appear to have managed to unlock it, and have had it
>> working in a PC, where I was also able to access its control page at
>> 192.168.8.1, but I can't get it to work with the BTHH5a.
>
> I also have one of those. But the consensus at the time (about 4 years ago)
> was that it was impossible to unlock, ie to use on a network that wasn't BT.

Changes in UK law a year or two back mean that they have to allow
unlocking. I rang BT and they gave me an unlock code.

>> So my first question is: Can anyone help me get the BT-Badged Huawei
>> E3372h working?
>
> Instead of randomly fiddling with the router config, I'd first see if you
> can get a link up on the device. For this you'll need to know how to use
> the 'ip' command (successor to 'ifconfig'):
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iproute2
>
> ip link show
> (see if the networking device appears when it's plugged in)
> ip addr show
> (see if an IP address is associated with it)
> udhcpc eth99
> (see if it will acquire an IP address via DHCP)
> ip route show
> (see if it picked up a route to anywhere)
> ping 8.8.8.8
> (ping an internet address)
>
> The advantage of this route is you can see what's going on, whereas with the
> GUI it's just random trial and error with no feedback. You do however need
> to know a little about how Linux networking works.

Thanks, I'll have a go at this next time the ZTE breaks down, which it
may well do this afternoon during the hottest part of the day.

> Unless you can find someone who has already got it to work and written up
> the exact instructions what to do, which is possible I suppose.

I have found some instructions as below but they didn't work for me ...

https://protyposis.net/blog/using-the-huawei-e3372-hi-link-lte-dongle-with-openwrt/
https://gist.github.com/bjoern-r/1345e8a17f4acf41006330e688af1441

... so, I guess one of two things is happening:

:-( I have a number of other modules installed from using the router
with other devices, and one of these, most probably the one that works
with an E3372s, is interfering with the E3372h.

:-( There a different generations of the E3372h and only some of them
work.

If the your suggestions above don't yield an answer, I'll try and
include some tail from dmesg as I unplug and plug back in the dongle.

[Snip as last problem now solved. It was observing the messages that
occurred from dmesg output as I unplugged and plugged back in the phone
and enabled and disabled USB tethering on it that made me realise that
it was an RNDIS device.]

[MikeS]

As you are dependent on 4G broadband why not buy a 4G WiFi router
designed for the job?

[Java Jive]

On 26/06/2023 13:16, MikeS wrote:
>
> As you are dependent on 4G broadband why not buy a 4G WiFi router
> designed for the job?

In the original thread, I outlined a list of requirements ...
* Is for the UK market and available here
* Supports A/VDSL, Data SIM (perhaps via USB), & cable WAN
* Has WiFi to n or ac standard
* Has at least three or four Gigabit LAN ports
* When in LAN DHCP mode, properly supports local DNS
* Is affordable, say ~< £150 new, half that used.
... and given that many, perhaps most, commercial routers, even from
reputable firms such as DrayTek, don't do local DNS properly, or at the
time didn't have Gigabit LAN ports, etc, this was a cheap, *very* cheap,
solution that has worked very well for me. The only real problem has
been the short lifespan of the dongles.

It's true that now I've discontinued my landline I could reconsider my
options, especially as it appears FTTP and VOIP are replacing
conventional landlines, but I'll probably die before we ever get FTTP here!

There is also a local firm Highland Wireless, but they are about £10
more per month for the equivalent unlimited package that I'm on with
Three, and to me the faster speeds wouldn't be worth the extra outlay.

[MikeS]

On 26/06/2023 13:58, Java Jive wrote:
> On 26/06/2023 13:16, MikeS wrote:
>>
>> As you are dependent on 4G broadband why not buy a 4G WiFi router
>> designed for the job?
>
> In the original thread, I outlined a list of requirements ...
>     *    Is for the UK market and available here
>     *    Supports A/VDSL, Data SIM (perhaps via USB), & cable WAN
>     *    Has WiFi to n or ac standard
>     *    Has at least three or four Gigabit LAN ports
>     *    When in LAN DHCP mode, properly supports local DNS
>     *    Is affordable, say ~< £150 new, half that used.
> ... and given that many, perhaps most, commercial routers, even from
> reputable firms such as DrayTek, don't do local DNS properly, or at the
> time didn't have Gigabit LAN ports, etc

Plenty now have 4 LAN ports, many do support A/VDSL & cable WAN (with 4G
Data SIM for backup) but you don't have a landline or cable service so
those "issues" are gone anyway, in the unlikely event of "don't do local
DNS properly" you can always use something like DNSMasq on your server
(or even with a dedicated raspberry pi).

[Java Jive]

On 26/06/2023 17:32, MikeS wrote:
>
> On 26/06/2023 13:58, Java Jive wrote:
>>
>> On 26/06/2023 13:16, MikeS wrote:
>>>
>>> As you are dependent on 4G broadband why not buy a 4G WiFi router
>>> designed for the job?
>>
>> In the original thread, I outlined a list of requirements ...
>>      *    Is for the UK market and available here
>>      *    Supports A/VDSL, Data SIM (perhaps via USB), & cable WAN
>>      *    Has WiFi to n or ac standard
>>      *    Has at least three or four Gigabit LAN ports
>>      *    When in LAN DHCP mode, properly supports local DNS
>>      *    Is affordable, say ~< £150 new, half that used.
>> ... and given that many, perhaps most, commercial routers, even from
>> reputable firms such as DrayTek, don't do local DNS properly, or at
>> the time didn't have Gigabit LAN ports, etc
>
> Plenty now have 4 LAN ports,

Yes, most of them have 4 LAN ports, but that is not the full criteria.
Supposedly, gigabit has been with us since 1998, yet even 20 years later
it was still common to find routers with only fast ethernet ports, or
with only one of them gigabit.

> many do support A/VDSL & cable WAN (with 4G
> Data SIM for backup) but you don't have a landline or cable service so
> those "issues" are gone anyway, in the

... actually, likely, ...

> event of "don't do local
> DNS properly" you can always use something like DNSMasq on your server
> (or even with a dedicated raspberry pi).

I don't want to have to setup and configure another box to do something
that the router should be doing for itself, it makes more sense to do
what I did, just create a router that works properly.

AIUI, according to the DNS specs, when given a machine name to find, a
DNS service should look for the name first in its local database, and if
it can't find it there, relay it upstream to the WAN server. However,
scandalously IMO, very few routers seem to implement this properly,
usually they offer a choice to act as a relay, in which case there is no
local DNS, or act as a server, in which case there is no WAN DNS.

AFAICR *all* the commercial and ISP-provided routers that I've ever had,
and certainly until a year or two back, and very possibly still, even
expensive routers such as DrayTek Vigor *still* have this trouble.
Sure, I understand that with DV there are work-arounds involving
entering the names of local machines into some table in the DV system in
some way, but it shouldn't be necessary to do this if the DNS service is
set up properly in the first place.

The reason for this widespread mode of failure is easy enough to
understand. Where the routers are used *ONLY* with Windows PCs, by
default Windows NetBIOS over TCP/IP runs a Computer Browser service
which makes the first PC to power-up on the network the 'Master
Browser', which others powering-up later can query for machine names.
Thus NetBIOS completely masks the failure of most routers to perform DNS
properly. The fault only becomes apparent when there are Linux machines
on the network communicating via NFS rather than SAMBA. The widespread
failure of routers to implement DNS properly shows that they are only
ever being tested with Windows machines on a network. Perhaps the
recent explosion of non-Windows machines such as mobile phones will
cause this finally to be sorted out, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[Tweed]

Is this a real problem though? mDNS seems to solve the problem on my home
network.

[Java Jive]

On 26/06/2023 18:56, Tweed wrote:
>
> Is this a real problem though? mDNS seems to solve the problem on my home
> network.

But why should you have to resort to a third party service, and install
it, and configure it, to do what the router should be doing for itself?
The very *existence* of third party services like mDNS proves what I was
saying, that the lack of proper local DNS support by most routers is a
problem. The correct way to solve that problem is to fix the routers,
not introduce a source of other potential problems:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicast_DNS

"By default, mDNS exclusively resolves hostnames ending with the .local
top-level domain. This can cause problems if .local includes hosts that
do not implement mDNS but that can be found via a conventional unicast
DNS server. Resolving such conflicts requires network-configuration
changes that mDNS was designed to avoid. "

[MikeS]

On 26/06/2023 21:18, Java Jive wrote:
> But why should you have to resort to a third party service, and install
> it, and configure it,

That might be a more convincing argument if you had not previously
described in graphic detail your efforts to botch together a BT hub
solution using custom firmware and OpenWRT plus assorted overheating USB
dongles.

[Java Jive]

On 26/06/2023 22:12, MikeS wrote:
>
> On 26/06/2023 21:18, Java Jive wrote:
>>
>> But why should you have to resort to a third party service, and
>> install it, and configure it,

Snipped content restored: to do what the router should be doing for itself?

The point still stands.

> That might be a more convincing argument if you had not previously
> described in graphic detail your efforts to botch together a BT hub
> solution using custom firmware and OpenWRT plus assorted overheating USB
> dongles.

Despite the relatively short life-span of the dongles that I've tried so
far, the result is still significantlyh better than any other router
that I've owned previously, including a DrayTek Vigor.

[Tweed]

Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> On 26/06/2023 22:12, MikeS wrote:
>>
>> On 26/06/2023 21:18, Java Jive wrote:
>>>
>>> But why should you have to resort to a third party service, and
>>> install it, and configure it,
>
> Snipped content restored: to do what the router should be doing for itself?
>
> The point still stands.
>
>> That might be a more convincing argument if you had not previously
>> described in graphic detail your efforts to botch together a BT hub
>> solution using custom firmware and OpenWRT plus assorted overheating USB
>> dongles.
>
> Despite the relatively short life-span of the dongles that I've tried so
> far, the result is still significantlyh better than any other router
> that I've owned previously, including a DrayTek Vigor.
>

mDNS just worked for me. In fact I had to look it up and learn about it
when I found that .local addresses resolved. I first used it communicating
from a Win10 machine to a Raspberry Pi.

[Graham J]

The overheating dongles are just that - they have nothing to do with DNS
and how it is resolved.

--
Graham J

[Graham J]

Java Jive wrote:
> On 26/06/2023 18:56, Tweed wrote:
>>
>> Is this a real problem though? mDNS seems to solve the problem on my home
>> network.
>
> But why should you have to resort to a third party service, and install
> it, and configure it, to do what the router should be doing for itself?
> The very *existence* of third party services like mDNS proves what I was
> saying, that the lack of proper local DNS support by most routers is a
> problem.  The correct way to solve that problem is to fix the routers,
> not introduce a source of other potential problems:

But presumably router manufacturers do not see a demand for proper local
DNS support which is why it doesn't generally exist.

Have you ever found anybody else who shares your view? I can see that
it might be "nice to have" but I would not consider spending anything
extra to get it. Having said that, the cost to a router manufacturer
such as Draytek must be trivial given the number of other esoteric
features they do include. Or is there some difficult-to-resolve
conflict here that hasn't occurred to me?


--
Graham J

[Carlos E.R.]

What should the DNS do?

Detect automatically the name of computers, and solve them?

Let me see. If I ask my router web page for a map of my LAN, I see it
guesses correctly the name of only one machine, a Linux laptop freshly
installed.

cer@Telcontar:~> host 192.168.2.17 192.168.1.1
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

cer@Telcontar:~> host Laicolasse 192.168.1.1
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

cer@Telcontar:~>



Well, no resolving at all at the router, there is no DNS server. AFAIK
what my router does is tell computers via dhcp to use the ISP DNS server
instead. No local DNS. Cheaper. A DNS server needs RAM, and RAM is
expensive (!).


The other possibility I can see is manually giving names to the machines
the router see, in a table in the router. Possibly tied to fixed
assignation of LAN IPs. I have never seen that in a home router; I would
use dnsmasq for that, and kill the dhcp server in the router.



Different thing. How to get the name of the machines automatically
known? mDNS? how?

If the router knows the name of that single laptop, I should be able to
configure something on other computers. Maybe open mDNS port. Maybe
making sure that services avahi-daemon and avahi-dnsconfd are running.
Dunno. I know that the command "host" doesn't find that laptop.



--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Bit Twister]

What works for me is install bind, configure named to know all my nodes ip
address and names, set all nodes to have a common /etd/hosts, and change
/etc/nsswitch.conf

$ diff /var/local/vorig/etc/nsswitch.conf_vorig /etc/nsswitch.conf
64c64,66
< hosts: mdns4_minimal files nis dns mdns4 myhostname
---
> # Changed by /local/bin/nsswitch_changes Mon 02 Jan 12:54 2023
> # hosts: mdns4_minimal files nis dns mdns4 myhostname
> hosts: files dns myhostname

then change router dns resolver to use my named resolver.


$ cat /etc/release
Mageia release 9 (Cauldron) for x86_64

[MikeS]

This alleged DNS issue is a mystery to me as I have never noticed it.

I am using a bog standard BT HomeHub6 with various devices connected. A
quick check of the web UI shows all with correct name, IP and MAC. All
names are obtained from the devices some of which were default, others I
edited (on each device).

[Bit Twister]

That is a feature of the dhcp server in the router or dhcp server on your lan.
Devices provides name/mac and ask for a lease. dhcp server then provides
device with gateway, ip address and time to renew lease.

[Anssi Saari]

Graham J <nob...@nowhere.co.uk> writes:

> But presumably router manufacturers do not see a demand for proper
> local DNS support which is why it doesn't generally exist.
>
> Have you ever found anybody else who shares your view?

Well, I like to have a local name server in my LAN and to me it makes
sense for the router to do that.

I haven't found commercial routers I like much. And it seems some of
them like to violate the GPL like it's nothing. Which I guess it is if
there's no one to enforce it.

Since I couldn't find a router I liked, I got an APU4D4 board and case
from Swiss outfit PC Engines and put Debian Linux on it. But looks like
that's a dead end now too, these router boards are going out of
production and redesigns are not planned. Shame, it's a 6-10W fanless
design. Was a little old fashioned already when I got mine during the
pandemic but nothing major.

Maybe next time will have to be something like the refurb Lenovo M625Q I
bought recently for 50 euros. It has only one ethernet socket but
otherwise nice and cheap for what it is. I think Servethehome has had a
whole series of reviews on these kind of computers but what they have
reviewed seemed fairly expensive. They call these TinyMiniMicros if I
remember correctly.

[Java Jive]

On 27/06/2023 08:01, Graham J wrote:
> Java Jive wrote:
>> On 26/06/2023 18:56, Tweed wrote:
>>>
>>> Is this a real problem though? mDNS seems to solve the problem on my
>>> home
>>> network.
>>
>> But why should you have to resort to a third party service, and
>> install it, and configure it, to do what the router should be doing
>> for itself? The very *existence* of third party services like mDNS
>> proves what I was saying, that the lack of proper local DNS support by
>> most routers is a problem.  The correct way to solve that problem is
>> to fix the routers, not introduce a source of other potential problems:
>
> But presumably router manufacturers do not see a demand for proper local
> DNS support which is why it doesn't generally exist.

Because their products are aimed mostly at two markets, businesses that
have their own DNS servers, homes that use mostly or only Windows
machines, and in neither of those two situations, for the reasons
already given, is the lack of proper local DNS so much of a problem.
It's only a minority, but possibly a significant one nevertheless, who
need local DNS for Linux machines that notice the problem.

> Have you ever found anybody else who shares your view?

Well, a brief search of my sent folder over the last few years found the
following threads here and elsewhere which weren't started by me, and
these were just the ones I noticed and bothered to reply to ...

Are there any VDSL routers out there that do proper DHCP/DNS with names?

Routers with USB3 port and SMB2 or (better) SMB3 - are there any?

... so it's not just me that has noticed the problem. Remembering that
these posts are being copied to a Linux group, are you going to claim
that Linux users are an unimportant minority :-)

But the real point is that, as proven by open builds such as OpenWRT and
DD-WRT, it would be trivially simple for routers to implement this
properly, it just needs the will to do it, and I for one am exasperated
by the perennial failures to do it.

[Java Jive]

On 27/06/2023 12:58, MikeS wrote:
>
> This alleged DNS issue is a mystery to me as I have never noticed it.
>
> I am using a bog standard BT HomeHub6 with various devices connected. A
> quick check of the web UI shows all with correct name, IP and MAC. All
> names are obtained from the devices some of which were default, others I
> edited (on each device).

Do you use a Linux PC with NFS networking? That's a rhetorical question
because the answer is obviously not, otherwise you'd certainly notice
the problem and have had to have solved it in some way, usually by
editing the 'hosts' file.

Just because you haven't experienced this problem doesn't mean that it
doesn't exist. Linux may only be 3% of the global market PC share, but
that still means a hell of a lot of people across the world are getting
unnecessary problems because router manufacturers seem only to test
their kit with Windows PCs.

[Frank Slootweg]

Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> On 27/06/2023 08:01, Graham J wrote:
> > Java Jive wrote:
> >> On 26/06/2023 18:56, Tweed wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Is this a real problem though? mDNS seems to solve the problem on my
> >>> home
> >>> network.
> >>
> >> But why should you have to resort to a third party service, and
> >> install it, and configure it, to do what the router should be doing
> >> for itself? The very *existence* of third party services like mDNS
> >> proves what I was saying, that the lack of proper local DNS support by
> >> most routers is a problem.  The correct way to solve that problem is
> >> to fix the routers, not introduce a source of other potential problems:
> >
> > But presumably router manufacturers do not see a demand for proper local
> > DNS support which is why it doesn't generally exist.
>
> Because their products are aimed mostly at two markets, businesses that
> have their own DNS servers, homes that use mostly or only Windows
> machines, and in neither of those two situations, for the reasons
> already given, is the lack of proper local DNS so much of a problem.
> It's only a minority, but possibly a significant one nevertheless, who
> need local DNS for Linux machines that notice the problem.

I have used Linux only for a little while (Unix/UNIX for decades) and
haven't used it for a long time, so I should probably mind my own
business :-), but can't/don't Linux systems use DHCP out of the box? (I
can't remember having any trouble when I still had/used my little Linux
'netbook'.)

> > Have you ever found anybody else who shares your view?
>
> Well, a brief search of my sent folder over the last few years found the
> following threads here and elsewhere which weren't started by me, and
> these were just the ones I noticed and bothered to reply to ...
>
> Are there any VDSL routers out there that do proper DHCP/DNS with names?

As to the 'with names' part, my ISPs cable modem/router (Cisco
EPC3928AD) shows 'Host Name' just fine without any doing on my part. And
to answer your earlier question about names for other (than Linux)
non-Windows devices, it reports the 'Host Name' of my (Samsung Galaxy
A51) Android smartphone just fine.

> Routers with USB3 port and SMB2 or (better) SMB3 - are there any?

My modem/router has a USB port for an external disk-drive ('NAS'). I
assume it's USB3 and at least SMB2, but don't know for sure.

IIRC, you use the USB port for a USB mobile-modem 'dongle'. I don't
think my modem/router's USB port can accomodate that.

> ... so it's not just me that has noticed the problem. Remembering that
> these posts are being copied to a Linux group, are you going to claim
> that Linux users are an unimportant minority :-)

Linux users are an unimportant minority! :-)

[Joerg Lorenz]

Am 27.06.23 um 17:17 schrieb Java Jive:

> Just because you haven't experienced this problem doesn't mean that it
> doesn't exist. Linux may only be 3% of the global market PC share, but
> that still means a hell of a lot of people across the world are getting
> unnecessary problems because router manufacturers seem only to test
> their kit with Windows PCs.

Sorry. This is nonsense. If all stick to the internationally agreed and
binding standards no one has any issues. I never had one on Linux, Mac
or Windows or mobile devices.

--
Gutta cavat lapidem (Ovid)

[Java Jive]

AFAIAA, I stick to all the internationally agreed and binding standards,
and I have problems, so if your is correct, someone else is *NOT*
sticking to those standards, which is exactly my complaint.

[Java Jive]

On 27/06/2023 16:31, Frank Slootweg wrote:

>
> Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> Because their products are aimed mostly at two markets, businesses that
>> have their own DNS servers, homes that use mostly or only Windows
>> machines, and in neither of those two situations, for the reasons
>> already given, is the lack of proper local DNS so much of a problem.
>> It's only a minority, but possibly a significant one nevertheless, who
>> need local DNS for Linux machines that notice the problem.
>
> I have used Linux only for a little while (Unix/UNIX for decades) and
> haven't used it for a long time, so I should probably mind my own
> business :-), but can't/don't Linux systems use DHCP out of the box? (I
> can't remember having any trouble when I still had/used my little Linux
> 'netbook'.)

They, the client PCs, do both DHCP and DNS - you seem to be confusing
the two - clients out of the box, the problem is not on the clients
but on most routers that implement DHCP services correctly but DNS
services only partially, so incorrectly.

>>> Have you ever found anybody else who shares your view?
>>
>> Well, a brief search of my sent folder over the last few years found the
>> following threads here and elsewhere which weren't started by me, and
>> these were just the ones I noticed and bothered to reply to ...
>>
>> Are there any VDSL routers out there that do proper DHCP/DNS with names?
>
> As to the 'with names' part, my ISPs cable modem/router (Cisco
> EPC3928AD) shows 'Host Name' just fine without any doing on my part. And
> to answer your earlier question about names for other (than Linux)
> non-Windows devices, it reports the 'Host Name' of my (Samsung Galaxy
> A51) Android smartphone just fine.

I was asked if I was the only person encountering this problem, and to
show in reply that I wasn't listed this thread as one where the DNS
problem was raised again a year or so back.

>> Routers with USB3 port and SMB2 or (better) SMB3 - are there any?
>
> My modem/router has a USB port for an external disk-drive ('NAS'). I
> assume it's USB3 and at least SMB2, but don't know for sure.

Again, this was the subject of a thread in which the DNS problem was
raised a year or so back, so is not relevant now.

> IIRC, you use the USB port for a USB mobile-modem 'dongle'. I don't
> think my modem/router's USB port can accomodate that.

That's correct, landlines around here are nearly or completely useless.

>> ... so it's not just me that has noticed the problem. Remembering that
>> these posts are being copied to a Linux group, are you going to claim
>> that Linux users are an unimportant minority :-)
>
> Linux users are an unimportant minority! :-)

I'll leave lynching to the members of alt.os.linux.

[Nick Finnigan]

On 27/06/2023 16:31, Frank Slootweg wrote:
>

> Linux users are an unimportant minority! :-)

We are all of us Linux users. Whatever the badge on the phone/tv/router.

[Frank Slootweg]

That too. And some of us also use Linux-like environments on otherwise
broken OSs (see User-Agent: header)! :-)

[Frank Slootweg]

Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> On 27/06/2023 16:31, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> >
> > Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> >>
> >> Because their products are aimed mostly at two markets, businesses that
> >> have their own DNS servers, homes that use mostly or only Windows
> >> machines, and in neither of those two situations, for the reasons
> >> already given, is the lack of proper local DNS so much of a problem.
> >> It's only a minority, but possibly a significant one nevertheless, who
> >> need local DNS for Linux machines that notice the problem.
> >
> > I have used Linux only for a little while (Unix/UNIX for decades) and
> > haven't used it for a long time, so I should probably mind my own
> > business :-), but can't/don't Linux systems use DHCP out of the box? (I
> > can't remember having any trouble when I still had/used my little Linux
> > 'netbook'.)
>
> They, the client PCs, do both DHCP and DNS - you seem to be confusing
> the two - clients out of the box, the problem is not on the clients
> but on most routers that implement DHCP services correctly but DNS
> services only partially, so incorrectly.

Confused!? Moi!? :-)

But you're right, sloppy reading on my part. As to DNS, also the DNS
part gives no problems because my smartphone (see below), i.e. a
non-Windows Linux-like device, has no lookup problems using the DNS
settings as auto-configured in the router part of my modem/router (see
below). When I use the web-UI of the router-part, I see which DNS
servers are configured/used (the router can handle 3, my ISP uses 2).

I hope this covers what you mean. Otherwise we should probably forget
it (I used to be (professionally) versed in this matter, but now I
hardly need to keep this knowledge/experience current, because it mostly
just works).

> >>> Have you ever found anybody else who shares your view?
> >>
> >> Well, a brief search of my sent folder over the last few years found the
> >> following threads here and elsewhere which weren't started by me, and
> >> these were just the ones I noticed and bothered to reply to ...
> >>
> >> Are there any VDSL routers out there that do proper DHCP/DNS with names?
> >
> > As to the 'with names' part, my ISPs cable modem/router (Cisco
> > EPC3928AD) shows 'Host Name' just fine without any doing on my part. And
> > to answer your earlier question about names for other (than Linux)
> > non-Windows devices, it reports the 'Host Name' of my (Samsung Galaxy
> > A51) Android smartphone just fine.
>
> I was asked if I was the only person encountering this problem, and to
> show in reply that I wasn't listed this thread as one where the DNS
> problem was raised again a year or so back.

Yes, I know that these were other threads, not yours, but thought
their subjects covered their content/context.

> >> Routers with USB3 port and SMB2 or (better) SMB3 - are there any?
> >
> > My modem/router has a USB port for an external disk-drive ('NAS'). I
> > assume it's USB3 and at least SMB2, but don't know for sure.
>
> Again, this was the subject of a thread in which the DNS problem was
> raised a year or so back, so is not relevant now.

Check.

> > IIRC, you use the USB port for a USB mobile-modem 'dongle'. I don't
> > think my modem/router's USB port can accomodate that.
>
> That's correct, landlines around here are nearly or completely useless.
>
> >> ... so it's not just me that has noticed the problem. Remembering that
> >> these posts are being copied to a Linux group, are you going to claim
> >> that Linux users are an unimportant minority :-)
> >
> > Linux users are an unimportant minority! :-)
>
> I'll leave lynching to the members of alt.os.linux.

Well, I'm used to Real UNIX (tm) systems, not toys, so ... :-)

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2023-06-27 17:45, Java Jive wrote:
> On 27/06/2023 16:42, Joerg Lorenz wrote:
>>
>> Am 27.06.23 um 17:17 schrieb Java Jive:
>>>
>>> Just because you haven't experienced this problem doesn't mean that it
>>> doesn't exist.  Linux may only be 3% of the global market PC share, but
>>> that still means a hell of a lot of people across the world are getting
>>> unnecessary problems because router manufacturers seem only to test
>>> their kit with Windows PCs.
>>
>> Sorry. This is nonsense. If all stick to the internationally agreed and
>> binding standards no one has any issues. I never had one on Linux, Mac
>> or Windows or mobile devices.
>
> AFAIAA, I stick to all the internationally agreed and binding standards,
> and I have problems, so if your is correct, someone else is *NOT*
> sticking to those standards, which is exactly my complaint.

When I have to mount an nfs share on Linux, I have to:

- Either assign a fixed address to the "server" computer in its
network configuration, or in the dhcp assign table of the router.

- Optionally add an entry for the server computer in host table or in
_my_ local dns server.

- import nfs share, either using the name I created in the previous
step, or using the IP numbers.


I have never relied on the router to give me the name of any computer,
no matter what operating system.


--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Java Jive]

On 27/06/2023 19:01, Frank Slootweg wrote:
>
> Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> They, the client PCs, do both DHCP and DNS - you seem to be confusing
>> the two - clients out of the box, the problem is not on the clients
>> but on most routers that implement DHCP services correctly but DNS
>> services only partially, so incorrectly.
>
> Confused!? Moi!? :-)
>
> But you're right, sloppy reading on my part. As to DNS, also the DNS
> part gives no problems because my smartphone (see below), i.e. a
> non-Windows Linux-like device, has no lookup problems using the DNS
> settings as auto-configured in the router part of my modem/router (see
> below). When I use the web-UI of the router-part, I see which DNS
> servers are configured/used (the router can handle 3, my ISP uses 2).

So you're using your ISP's DNS servers to handle your local DNS, but ...

- That is an unnecessary loading on your ISP's DNS servers to do
something that should be being done by your router's DNS service.

- In principle that's a security vulnerability for you, but one which
many accept because of convenience or because they don't know any
better. Although I've got nothing much to hide, on principle I'd
rather my ISP's systems didn't know the details of my LAN which
might then be exposed to the world if they get hacked.

[Java Jive]

On 27/06/2023 20:02, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>
> On 2023-06-27 17:45, Java Jive wrote:
>>
>> On 27/06/2023 16:42, Joerg Lorenz wrote:
>>>
>>> Sorry. This is nonsense. If all stick to the internationally agreed and
>>> binding standards no one has any issues. I never had one on Linux, Mac
>>> or Windows or mobile devices.
>>
>> AFAIAA, I stick to all the internationally agreed and binding
>> standards, and I have problems, so if your

claim

>> is correct, someone else is
>> *NOT* sticking to those standards, which is exactly my complaint.
>
> When I have to mount an nfs share on Linux, I have to:
>
>  - Either assign a fixed address to the "server" computer in its
> network configuration, or in the dhcp assign table of the router.
>
>  - Optionally add an entry for the server computer in host table or in
> _my_ local dns server.
>
>  - import nfs share, either using the name I created in the previous
> step, or using the IP numbers.
>
>
> I have never relied on the router to give me the name of any computer,
> no matter what operating system.

Quite, whereas with my OpenWRT reflashed router, I can just use names,
either in fstab, or in the file manager of the distro that I'm using,
which currently is Ubuntu.

[Frank Slootweg]

Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> On 27/06/2023 19:01, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> >
> > Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> >>
> >> They, the client PCs, do both DHCP and DNS - you seem to be confusing
> >> the two - clients out of the box, the problem is not on the clients
> >> but on most routers that implement DHCP services correctly but DNS
> >> services only partially, so incorrectly.
> >
> > Confused!? Moi!? :-)
> >
> > But you're right, sloppy reading on my part. As to DNS, also the DNS
> > part gives no problems because my smartphone (see below), i.e. a
> > non-Windows Linux-like device, has no lookup problems using the DNS
> > settings as auto-configured in the router part of my modem/router (see
> > below). When I use the web-UI of the router-part, I see which DNS
> > servers are configured/used (the router can handle 3, my ISP uses 2).
>
> So you're using your ISP's DNS servers to handle your local DNS, but ...

No, I'm using my ISP's DNS servers to handle *remote* lookups, i.e.
google.com. But I think we've now come to the point that I don't know
what your DNS needs are, because I have a setup (two Windows systems, a
(Synology) NAS (i.e. Windows Network Shares) and Android phones), which
does not have the problems/needs which you have. So my comments are no
longer helpful (if they ever were :-)), Sorry.

(AFAICT,) EOD.

[Java Jive]

FYI, some routers avoid the hassle of running a local DNS service by
acting as a relay and passing local DNS data up to the ISP's DNS
service. Obviously I can't be sure because every router seems to
implement DNS slightly differently, but it sounds to me as though that
is what yours is doing.

[MikeS]

On 27/06/2023 16:17, Java Jive wrote:
> On 27/06/2023 12:58, MikeS wrote:
>>
>> This alleged DNS issue is a mystery to me as I have never noticed it.
>>
>> I am using a bog standard BT HomeHub6 with various devices connected.
>> A quick check of the web UI shows all with correct name, IP and MAC.
>> All names are obtained from the devices some of which were default,
>> others I edited (on each device).
>
> Do you use a Linux PC with NFS networking?  That's a rhetorical question
> because the answer is obviously not, otherwise you'd certainly notice
> the problem and have had to have solved it in some way, usually by
> editing the 'hosts' file.
>
> Just because you haven't experienced this problem doesn't mean that it
> doesn't exist.  Linux may only be 3% of the global market PC share, but
> that still means a hell of a lot of people across the world are getting
> unnecessary problems because router manufacturers seem only to test
> their kit with Windows PCs.
>

Which goes right back to my earlier comment.
Flashing a HH5a, installing and configuring OpenWRT, and trying to find
dongles which work with it is vastly more trouble than using a 4G router
and, if necessary, configuring a few addresses in a hosts file. Or
installing a DNS server locally if you have a large Linux network.

[Java Jive]

On 27/06/2023 21:23, MikeS wrote:
> On 27/06/2023 16:17, Java Jive wrote:
>> On 27/06/2023 12:58, MikeS wrote:
>>>
>>> This alleged DNS issue is a mystery to me as I have never noticed it.
>>>
>>> I am using a bog standard BT HomeHub6 with various devices connected.
>>> A quick check of the web UI shows all with correct name, IP and MAC.
>>> All names are obtained from the devices some of which were default,
>>> others I edited (on each device).
>>
>> Do you use a Linux PC with NFS networking?  That's a rhetorical
>> question because the answer is obviously not, otherwise you'd
>> certainly notice the problem and have had to have solved it in some
>> way, usually by editing the 'hosts' file.
>>
>> Just because you haven't experienced this problem doesn't mean that it
>> doesn't exist.  Linux may only be 3% of the global market PC share,
>> but that still means a hell of a lot of people across the world are
>> getting unnecessary problems because router manufacturers seem only to
>> test their kit with Windows PCs.
>
> Which goes right back to my earlier comment.
> Flashing a HH5a, installing and configuring OpenWRT, and trying to find
> dongles which work with it is vastly more trouble than using a 4G router

And also vastly more expensive, especially if it turns out that the 4G
router doesn't last any longer than any of the dongles.

> and, if necessary, configuring a few addresses in a hosts file.

Several hosts files. Been there, done that, and it's a PITA.

> Or
> installing a DNS server locally if you have a large Linux network.

Or reflashing a router so that it works properly, and saves the
electricity consumption of another box.

[MikeS]

On 27/06/2023 21:56, Java Jive wrote:
> Or reflashing a router so that it works properly, and saves the
> electricity consumption of another box.

I was under the impression that you started this thread because you
cannot rely on your home brew solution working properly. ✌️

[Java Jive]

No, I started this thread to find out how to get an E3372h to work with
an OpenWRT router, and your irrelevant interventions haven't helped at
all with that.

[Dave Royal]

On 27 Jun 2023 12:58:31 +0100 MikeS wrote:
>
>This alleged DNS issue is a mystery to me as I have never noticed it.
>
>I am using a bog standard BT HomeHub6 with various devices connected. A
>quick check of the web UI shows all with correct name, IP and MAC. All
>names are obtained from the devices some of which were default, others I
>edited (on each device).

I also have a BT HH; I don't know what version: it's 2 years old. (And I
just noticed the f/w updated yesterday and it now has 'Hybrid Connect -
not configured'.)

When I got the HH I discovered - by accident - it could 'resolve' local
device names. For example, on this Android tablet I can access the
webserver on my RPi with
http://pi:8080/ --- 'pi' being the network name I gave it.

I don't think my earlier routers (Netgear, Plusnet) could do that, but I'm
not certain.

I don't know if it's necessary for this 'router resolution' but despite
the pi having a fixed ip4 address the HH says it's dhcp. To achieve that I
temporarily extended the dhcp range down to include it, then specified
'always use this address'.
--
(Remove numerics from email address)

[Andy Burns]

MikeS wrote:

> Which goes right back to my earlier comment.
> Flashing a HH5a, installing and configuring OpenWRT, and trying to find
> dongles which work with it is vastly more trouble than using a 4G router
> and, if necessary, configuring a few addresses in a hosts file. Or
> installing a DNS server locally if you have a large Linux network.

There is a certain satisfaction from going the openWRT way, one box that
handles many functions, exactly as you want them, the only ongoing
weakness was that it didn't support the hardware flow offloading, so
heavy wifi throughput would clobber the CPU.

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2023-06-28 09:25, Dave Royal wrote:
> On 27 Jun 2023 12:58:31 +0100 MikeS wrote:
>>
>> This alleged DNS issue is a mystery to me as I have never noticed it.
>>
>> I am using a bog standard BT HomeHub6 with various devices connected. A
>> quick check of the web UI shows all with correct name, IP and MAC. All
>> names are obtained from the devices some of which were default, others I
>> edited (on each device).
>
> I also have a BT HH; I don't know what version: it's 2 years old. (And I
> just noticed the f/w updated yesterday and it now has 'Hybrid Connect -
> not configured'.)
>
> When I got the HH I discovered - by accident - it could 'resolve' local
> device names. For example, on this Android tablet I can access the
> webserver on my RPi with
> http://pi:8080/ --- 'pi' being the network name I gave it.

But this can be a trick of the router or a trick of your computer or tablet.

>
> I don't think my earlier routers (Netgear, Plusnet) could do that, but I'm
> not certain.
>
> I don't know if it's necessary for this 'router resolution' but despite
> the pi having a fixed ip4 address the HH says it's dhcp. To achieve that I
> temporarily extended the dhcp range down to include it, then specified
> 'always use this address'.

--

Cheers, Carlos.

[Theo]

I'm upgrading from a BT Homehub 5a to a Fritzbox 7530, whose VDSL is now
supported in the 23.05-rc1 release of OpenWRT.

I haven't done the swapout for the HH5a yet so it's not handling the load
(in particular I want to configure it differently from the HH5a) but first
impressions are very promising. It's a 700MHz quad core ARMv7 rather than
the HH5a's 500MHz single core MIPS, the wifi is better and it has USB 3.
OpenWRT doesn't support the VOIP or DECT features through. I haven't tested
VDSL yet, that will have to wait for the swapout.

I know Zen are giving them out to their customers, so perhaps worth trying
if you have one lying around? Otherwise they go for £30-40 on ebay.

Theo

[Andy Burns]

Theo wrote:

> a Fritzbox 7530, whose VDSL is now
> supported in the 23.05-rc1 release of OpenWRT.

interesting, I might have jumped to fritz rather than vigor of it had
been supported at the time

> rather than
> the HH5a's 500MHz single core MIPS

I remember it as dual? but initial LEDE version only supported one core?

> OpenWRT doesn't support the VOIP or DECT features through.

Shame.

I think I'm happy with vigor and its mesh wifi.

[Dave Royal]

On 28 Jun 2023 10:50:02 +0200 Carlos E.R. wrote:
>On 2023-06-28 09:25, Dave Royal wrote:
>> When I got the HH I discovered - by accident - it could 'resolve' local
>> device names. For example, on this Android tablet I can access the
>> webserver on my RPi with
>> http://pi:8080/ --- 'pi' being the network name I gave it.
>
>But this can be a trick of the router or a trick of your computer or tablet.

It's not the Android tablet. It works on all computers in the house.
Before I discovered this I used to put the RPi in resolv.conf on my Linux
boxes, now I don't. On an unrooted Android tablet, like this one, or an
iPad I'd have to use the IP address.

But it's possible that I could have done this with previous routers; I
never tried.

[Paul]

The router could be using one or more nameservers on the LAN.
To resolve to an IP. Your example is not a fully qualified domain name,
it's just a short name, and that makes it more likely to be
coming from a service on the LAN that "collects" local names.

If your HH has storage (SAMBA or FTP or something), the HH may
participate as a client to the nameserver and "advertise" itself
so other nodes know about it.

Paul

[Frank Slootweg]

[Followup-To: comp.mobile.android]

Dave Royal <da...@dave123royal.com> wrote:
[...]

> For example, on this Android tablet

[Headers:]
> User-Agent: PyKiN 0.4 (Android)

Can you tell us a little bit about this newsreader (perhaps in a new
thread)?

Over time, many people have been looking for a good/reasonable
newsreader and found there are few and none of them good.

I don't think 'PyKiN' ever came up in those discussions, hence the
interest.

(N.B. *I* am not really interested in an Android newsreader, but I know
other are.)

[Dave Royal]

On n 2023 15:13:44 GMT Frank Slootweg wrote:
>[Followup-To: comp.mobile.android]
>
>Dave Royal <da...@dave123royal.com> wrote:
>[...]
>

>[Headers:]

>
> Can you tell us a little bit about this newsreader (perhaps in a new
>thread)?

I wrote it, in Python using Kivy, to handle Mozilla's news server, now
closed down. It's incomplete, and _v e r y_ slow. I recently started using
it again because my previous Android newsreader could no longer quote
properly. It's far too slow for release.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kivy_(framework)

[David W. Hodgins]

It would probably be a good idea to change the name.

https://pypi.org/project/pykin/

Regards, Dave Hodgins

[Java Jive]

More info now available

On 26/06/2023 12:19, Java Jive wrote:
>
> On 26/06/2023 11:14, Theo wrote:
>>
>> In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>> Deliberate X-Post for reasons that will become apparent.
>>>
>>> Back in February 2019 in uk.telecom.broadband I began a thread entitled
>>> 'Routers' asking for advice about what routers would match a given list
>>> of criteria, the result of which was that it was suggested to me, by
>>> Andy Burns I think, that I should flash OpenWRT onto a BT Home Hub 5a.
>>> This I did, and have been using it satisfactorily since with a mobile
>>> dongle plugged into the USB port, so, if you're reading this, thanks
>>> again Andy.
>>>
>>> I have also a BT 4G Assure dongle, which a rebadged Huawei E3372h (h =
>>> 'HiLink' type).  I appear to have managed to unlock it, and have had it
>>> working in a PC, where I was also able to access its control page at
>>> 192.168.8.1, but I can't get it to work with the BTHH5a.
>>>
>>> So my first question is:  Can anyone help me get the BT-Badged Huawei
>>> E3372h working?
>>
>> Instead of ... [Theo's advice moved to later in this post]
>
> Thanks, I'll have a go at this next time the ZTE breaks down, which it
> may well do this afternoon during the hottest part of the day.

Well, the weather's been cooler, and the ZTE has been working alright,
but given I had some free time this weekend, I decided to have another
go at this problem. Following are the results of my work, including
working through Theo's advice, which correspondingly has been moved down
there ...

First, the dongle is definitely unlocked. Inserting it into a PC for a
second-time with a SIM does not cause a repetition of the unlock page
that came up first time. Immediately the admin page came up in the
browser and it just worked.

>> Unless you can find someone who has already got it to work and written up
>> the exact instructions what to do, which is possible I suppose.
>
> I have found some instructions as below but they didn't work for me ...
>
> https://protyposis.net/blog/using-the-huawei-e3372-hi-link-lte-dongle-with-openwrt/
>
> https://gist.github.com/bjoern-r/1345e8a17f4acf41006330e688af1441
>
> .... so, I guess one of two things is happening:
>
>  :-(  I have a number of other modules installed from using the router
> with other devices, and one of these, most probably the one that works
> with an E3372s, is interfering with the E3372h.

This is not the cause of the problem. I tried returning both the
modules and the configuration back to OpenWRT's 'factory' state,
installed the minimum modules specified by various sources - 2 in the
ones above, 4 in another - and tried again. In both cases, the result
was the same as the first attempt already described, some activity on
the connection in the router admin, but pings to the dongle's IP
192.168.8.1 don't answer and the web admin at that address doesn't load.

>  :-(  There are different generations of the E3372h and only some of them
> work.

I suspect now that this at least part of the problem. Certainly, there
is historical talk online about some of these Huawei E3372h dongles
remaining in storage mode, showing that modeswitch is not working
correctly with them, though the dmesg excerpts below suggest that that
is not the problem here.

So then it seemed time to try Theo's advice ...

>> Instead of randomly fiddling with the router config, I'd first see if you
>> can get a link up on the device. For this you'll need to know how to use
>> the 'ip' command (successor to 'ifconfig'):
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iproute2

Here are the anonymised results of Theo's suggested work, the dongle is
eth1 ...

root@OpenWrt:~# ping 192.168.8.1
PING 192.168.8.1 (192.168.8.1): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto: Network unreachable

root@OpenWrt:~# ip link show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN qlen 1
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state
UP qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's MAC Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: eth1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state
UP qlen 1000
link/ether [Dongle's MAC Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's WiFi 1 MAC Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
5: wlan1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's WiFi 2 MAC Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
6: br-lan: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue
state UP qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's Switch Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
7: eth0.1@eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue
master br-lan state UP qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's Switch Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

root@OpenWrt:~# ip addr show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN qlen 1
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state
UP qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's MAC Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet6 [IP6 Address] scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: eth1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state
UP qlen 1000
link/ether [Dongle's MAC Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet6 [IP6 Address] scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
4: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's WiFi 1 MAC Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
5: wlan1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's WiFi 2 MAC Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
6: br-lan: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue
state UP qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's Switch Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.7.1/24 brd 192.168.7.255 scope global br-lan
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 [IP6 Address] scope global
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 [IP6 Address] scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
7: eth0.1@eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue
master br-lan state UP qlen 1000
link/ether [BT HH5a's Switch Address] brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

root@OpenWrt:~# udhcpc eth1
udhcpc: started, v1.28.3
udhcpc: sending discover
udhcpc: sending discover
udhcpc: sending discover [Ctrl-C pressed after some delay]

root@OpenWrt:~# ip route show
192.168.7.0/24 dev br-lan scope link src 192.168.7.1

root@OpenWrt:~# ip route show
192.168.7.0/24 dev br-lan scope link src 192.168.7.1

> If your suggestions above don't yield an answer, I'll try and
> include some tail from dmesg as I unplug and plug back in the dongle.

So here goes ...

root@OpenWrt:~# dmesg | grep -i usb
[ 0.486079] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[ 0.486229] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[ 0.486369] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[ 4.020739] dwc2 1e101000.ifxhcd: new USB bus registered, assigned
bus number 1
[ 4.048552] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 10.637233] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_wdm
[ 10.815229] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ether
[ 10.823643] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ncm
[ 10.849024] usbcore: registered new interface driver huawei_cdc_ncm
[ 11.829053] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using dwc2
[ 13.034951] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
[ 13.455742] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using dwc2
[ 13.927632] cdc_ether 1-1:1.0 eth1: register 'cdc_ether' at
usb-1e101000.ifxhcd-1, CDC Ethernet Device, [valid MAC Address]

Noticing the messages about dwc2, I wondered if that was all that was
needed to make the dongle work, so I tried uninstalling the cdc modules,
leaving just the dwc2 module, but actually that made things worse, I
didn't even get the physical device eth1

In case the above is insufficient, the full dmesg log is as follows:

root@OpenWrt:~# dmesg
[ 0.000000] Linux version 4.9.120
(buil...@builds-03.infra.lede-project.org) (gcc version 7.3.0 (OpenWrt
GCC 7.3.0 r7102-3f3a2c9) ) #0 SMP Thu Aug 16 07:51:15 2018
[ 0.000000] SoC: xRX200 rev 1.2
[ 0.000000] bootconsole [early0] enabled
[ 0.000000] CPU0 revision is: 00019556 (MIPS 34Kc)
[ 0.000000] MIPS: machine is BT Home Hub 5A
[ 0.000000] Determined physical RAM map:
[ 0.000000] memory: 08000000 @ 00000000 (usable)
[ 0.000000] Initrd not found or empty - disabling initrd
[ 0.000000] Detected 1 available secondary CPU(s)
[ 0.000000] Primary instruction cache 32kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32
bytes.
[ 0.000000] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, VIPT, cache aliases,
linesize 32 bytes
[ 0.000000] Zone ranges:
[ 0.000000] Normal [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[ 0.000000] Movable zone start for each node
[ 0.000000] Early memory node ranges
[ 0.000000] node 0: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[ 0.000000] Initmem setup node 0 [mem
0x0000000000000000-0x0000000007ffffff]
[ 0.000000] On node 0 totalpages: 32768
[ 0.000000] free_area_init_node: node 0, pgdat 80542640, node_mem_map
81009560
[ 0.000000] Normal zone: 256 pages used for memmap
[ 0.000000] Normal zone: 0 pages reserved
[ 0.000000] Normal zone: 32768 pages, LIFO batch:7
[ 0.000000] percpu: Embedded 12 pages/cpu @8110c000 s17488 r8192
d23472 u49152
[ 0.000000] pcpu-alloc: s17488 r8192 d23472 u49152 alloc=12*4096
[ 0.000000] pcpu-alloc: [0] 0 [0] 1
[ 0.000000] Built 1 zonelists in Zone order, mobility grouping on.
Total pages: 32512
[ 0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttyLTQ0,115200
[ 0.000000] PID hash table entries: 512 (order: -1, 2048 bytes)
[ 0.000000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 16384 (order: 4, 65536
bytes)
[ 0.000000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 8192 (order: 3, 32768 bytes)
[ 0.000000] Writing ErrCtl register=0000aa12
[ 0.000000] Readback ErrCtl register=0000aa12
[ 0.000000] Memory: 122860K/131072K available (4305K kernel code,
173K rwdata, 900K rodata, 1260K init, 244K bss, 8212K reserved, 0K
cma-reserved)
[ 0.000000] SLUB: HWalign=32, Order=0-3, MinObjects=0, CPUs=2, Nodes=1
[ 0.000000] Hierarchical RCU implementation.
[ 0.000000] NR_IRQS:256
[ 0.000000] Setting up vectored interrupts
[ 0.000000] Setting up IPI vectored interrupts
[ 0.000000] CPU Clock: 500MHz
[ 0.000000] clocksource: MIPS: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles:
0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 7645041786 ns
[ 0.000011] sched_clock: 32 bits at 250MHz, resolution 4ns, wraps
every 8589934590ns
[ 0.007884] Calibrating delay loop... 332.54 BogoMIPS (lpj=665088)
[ 0.042381] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
[ 0.047258] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
[ 0.053796] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096
bytes)
[ 0.065582] Primary instruction cache 32kB, VIPT, 4-way, linesize 32
bytes.
[ 0.065594] Primary data cache 32kB, 4-way, VIPT, cache aliases,
linesize 32 bytes
[ 0.065782] CPU1 revision is: 00019556 (MIPS 34Kc)
[ 0.116509] Synchronize counters for CPU 1:
[ 0.116511] done.
[ 0.123013] Brought up 2 CPUs
[ 0.130710] clocksource: jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles:
0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 7645041785100000 ns
[ 0.140374] futex hash table entries: 512 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
[ 0.146601] pinctrl core: initialized pinctrl subsystem
[ 0.153098] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[ 0.165952] pinctrl-xway 1e100b10.pinmux: Init done
[ 0.171945] dma-xway 1e104100.dma: Init done - hw rev: 7, ports: 7,
channels: 28
[ 0.284676] dcdc-xrx200 1f106a00.dcdc: Core Voltage : 1016 mV
[ 0.290482] Can't analyze schedule() prologue at 8043158c
[ 0.317221] PCI host bridge /fpi@10000000/pci@E105400 ranges:
[ 0.322903] MEM 0x0000000018000000..0x0000000019ffffff
[ 0.328172] IO 0x000000001ae00000..0x000000001affffff
[ 0.452204] PCI host bridge /fpi@10000000/pcie@d900000 ranges:
[ 0.484574] random: fast init done
[ 0.486079] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[ 0.486229] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[ 0.486369] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[ 0.486844] PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00
[ 0.486873] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [mem
0x18000000-0x19ffffff]
[ 0.486891] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [io
0x1ae00000-0x1affffff]
[ 0.486908] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [??? 0x00000000 flags 0x0]
[ 0.486926] pci_bus 0000:00: No busn resource found for root bus,
will use [bus 00-ff]
[ 0.487039] pci 0000:00:0e.0: [168c:ff1d] type 00 class 0x020000
[ 0.487088] pci 0000:00:0e.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x0000ffff]
[ 0.487588] pci_bus 0000:00: busn_res: [bus 00-ff] end is updated to 00
[ 0.487629] pci 0000:00:0e.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0x18000000-0x1800ffff]
[ 0.487884] PCI host bridge to bus 0000:01
[ 0.487909] pci_bus 0000:01: root bus resource [mem
0x1c000000-0x1cffffff]
[ 0.487926] pci_bus 0000:01: root bus resource [io
0x1d800000-0x1d8fffff]
[ 0.487943] pci_bus 0000:01: root bus resource [??? 0x00000000 flags 0x0]
[ 0.487960] pci_bus 0000:01: No busn resource found for root bus,
will use [bus 01-ff]
[ 0.488033] pci 0000:01:00.0: [1bef:0011] type 01 class 0x060000
[ 0.488052] ifx_pcie_rc_class_early_fixup: fixed pcie host bridge to
pci-pci bridge
[ 0.499634] pci 0000:01:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D3hot
[ 0.500015] pci 0000:01:00.0: bridge configuration invalid ([bus
02-00]), reconfiguring
[ 0.500355] pci 0000:02:00.0: [168c:003c] type 00 class 0x028000
[ 0.500427] pci 0000:02:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x00000000-0x001fffff 64bit]
[ 0.500511] pci 0000:02:00.0: reg 0x30: [mem 0x00000000-0x0000ffff pref]
[ 0.500676] pci 0000:02:00.0: supports D1 D2
[ 0.501022] pci_bus 0000:02: busn_res: [bus 02-ff] end is updated to 02
[ 0.501058] pci_bus 0000:01: busn_res: [bus 01-ff] end is updated to 02
[ 0.501117] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 8: assigned [mem 0x1c000000-0x1c1fffff]
[ 0.501144] pci 0000:01:00.0: BAR 9: assigned [mem
0x1c200000-0x1c2fffff pref]
[ 0.501176] pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem
0x1c000000-0x1c1fffff 64bit]
[ 0.501225] pci 0000:02:00.0: BAR 6: assigned [mem
0x1c200000-0x1c20ffff pref]
[ 0.501242] pci 0000:01:00.0: PCI bridge to [bus 02]
[ 0.501269] pci 0000:01:00.0: bridge window [mem 0x1c000000-0x1c1fffff]
[ 0.501293] pci 0000:01:00.0: bridge window [mem
0x1c200000-0x1c2fffff pref]
[ 0.501420] ifx_pcie_bios_map_irq port 0 dev 0000:01:00.0 slot 0 pin 1
[ 0.501431] ifx_pcie_bios_map_irq dev 0000:01:00.0 irq 144 assigned
[ 0.501473] ifx_pcie_bios_map_irq port 0 dev 0000:02:00.0 slot 0 pin 1
[ 0.501482] ifx_pcie_bios_map_irq dev 0000:02:00.0 irq 144 assigned
[ 0.668491] clocksource: Switched to clocksource MIPS
[ 0.674950] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[ 0.680339] TCP established hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096
bytes)
[ 0.687179] TCP bind hash table entries: 1024 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
[ 0.693590] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 1024 bind 1024)
[ 0.700108] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
[ 0.705975] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
[ 0.712591] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[ 0.716934] PCI: CLS 0 bytes, default 32
[ 0.720513] gptu: totally 6 16-bit timers/counters
[ 0.725390] gptu: misc_register on minor 63
[ 0.729695] gptu: succeeded to request irq 126
[ 0.734080] gptu: succeeded to request irq 127
[ 0.738619] gptu: succeeded to request irq 128
[ 0.743124] gptu: succeeded to request irq 129
[ 0.747617] gptu: succeeded to request irq 130
[ 0.752155] gptu: succeeded to request irq 131
[ 0.757011] phy-xrx200 gphy-xrx200: requesting
lantiq/xrx200_phy11g_a22.bin
[ 0.764559] phy-xrx200 gphy-xrx200: booting GPHY0 firmware at 7E60000
[ 0.770925] phy-xrx200 gphy-xrx200: booting GPHY1 firmware at 7E60000
[ 0.878386] No VPEs reserved for AP/SP, not initialize VPE loader
[ 0.878386] Pass maxvpes=<n> argument as kernel argument
[ 0.889764] No TCs reserved for AP/SP, not initializing RTLX.
[ 0.889764] Pass maxtcs=<n> argument as kernel argument
[ 0.902583] Crashlog allocated RAM at address 0x3f00000
[ 0.908307] workingset: timestamp_bits=30 max_order=15 bucket_order=0
[ 0.931203] squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher
[ 0.936964] jffs2: version 2.2 (NAND) (SUMMARY) (LZMA) (RTIME)
(CMODE_PRIORITY) (c) 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
[ 0.952498] io scheduler noop registered
[ 0.956337] io scheduler deadline registered (default)
[ 0.962857] 1e100c00.serial: ttyLTQ0 at MMIO 0x1e100c00 (irq = 112,
base_baud = 0) is a lantiq,asc
[ 0.971784] console [ttyLTQ0] enabled
[ 0.979109] bootconsole [early0] disabled
[ 0.990439] nand: device found, Manufacturer ID: 0x01, Chip ID: 0xf1
[ 0.995414] nand: AMD/Spansion S34ML01G1
[ 0.999380] nand: 128 MiB, SLC, erase size: 128 KiB, page size: 2048,
OOB size: 64
[ 1.007518] Bad block table found at page 65472, version 0x01
[ 1.013520] Bad block table found at page 65408, version 0x01
[ 1.018664] 4 fixed-partitions partitions found on MTD device
14000000.nand-parts
[ 1.025854] Creating 4 MTD partitions on "14000000.nand-parts":
[ 1.031782] 0x000000000000-0x0000000a0000 : "u-boot"
[ 1.038841] 0x0000000a0000-0x0000000c0000 : "uboot-env"
[ 1.044942] 0x0000000c0000-0x000000100000 : "unused"
[ 1.050854] 0x000000100000-0x000007f80000 : "ubi"
[ 1.061518] libphy: Fixed MDIO Bus: probed
[ 1.169052] libphy: lantiq,xrx200-mdio: probed
[ 1.177117] net-xrx200: invalid MAC, using random
[ 1.251188] Intel XWAY PHY11G (PEF 7071/PEF 7072) v1.5 / v1.6 0:00:
attached PHY driver [Intel XWAY PHY11G (PEF 7071/PEF 7072) v1.5 / v1.6]
(mii_bus:phy_addr=0:00, irq=-1)
[ 1.335167] Intel XWAY PHY11G (PEF 7071/PEF 7072) v1.5 / v1.6 0:01:
attached PHY driver [Intel XWAY PHY11G (PEF 7071/PEF 7072) v1.5 / v1.6]
(mii_bus:phy_addr=0:01, irq=-1)
[ 1.419151] Intel XWAY PHY11G (xRX v1.2 integrated) 0:11: attached
PHY driver [Intel XWAY PHY11G (xRX v1.2 integrated)]
(mii_bus:phy_addr=0:11, irq=-1)
[ 1.503151] Intel XWAY PHY11G (xRX v1.2 integrated) 0:13: attached
PHY driver [Intel XWAY PHY11G (xRX v1.2 integrated)]
(mii_bus:phy_addr=0:13, irq=-1)
[ 1.587166] Intel XWAY PHY11G (PEF 7071/PEF 7072) v1.5 / v1.6 0:05:
attached PHY driver [Intel XWAY PHY11G (PEF 7071/PEF 7072) v1.5 / v1.6]
(mii_bus:phy_addr=0:05, irq=-1)
[ 1.704762] ltq-cputemp cputemp@0: Current CPU die temperature: 25.0 °C
[ 1.710420] wdt 1f8803f0.watchdog: Init done
[ 1.720616] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[ 1.725866] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[ 1.729060] bridge: filtering via arp/ip/ip6tables is no longer
available by default. Update your scripts to load br_netfilter if you
need this.
[ 1.741885] 8021q: 802.1Q VLAN Support v1.8
[ 1.750189] UBI: auto-attach mtd3
[ 1.752159] ubi0: attaching mtd3
[ 1.894890] ubi0: scanning is finished
[ 1.911805] ubi0: attached mtd3 (name "ubi", size 126 MiB)
[ 1.915895] ubi0: PEB size: 131072 bytes (128 KiB), LEB size: 129024
bytes
[ 1.922768] ubi0: min./max. I/O unit sizes: 2048/2048, sub-page size 512
[ 1.929440] ubi0: VID header offset: 512 (aligned 512), data offset: 2048
[ 1.936236] ubi0: good PEBs: 1012, bad PEBs: 0, corrupted PEBs: 0
[ 1.942343] ubi0: user volume: 4, internal volumes: 1, max. volumes
count: 128
[ 1.949571] ubi0: max/mean erase counter: 1244/923, WL threshold:
4096, image sequence number: 918029805
[ 1.959043] ubi0: available PEBs: 0, total reserved PEBs: 1012, PEBs
reserved for bad PEB handling: 20
[ 1.968410] ubi0: background thread "ubi_bgt0d" started, PID 375
[ 1.970296] block ubiblock0_1: created from ubi0:1(rootfs)
[ 1.970309] ubiblock: device ubiblock0_1 (rootfs) set to be root
filesystem
[ 1.992825] VFS: Mounted root (squashfs filesystem) readonly on
device 254:0.
[ 2.002423] Freeing unused kernel memory: 1260K
[ 2.005572] This architecture does not have kernel memory protection.
[ 2.601946] init: Console is alive
[ 2.604401] init: - watchdog -
[ 3.793803] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules-boot.d/*
[ 3.912116] dwc2 1e101000.ifxhcd: requested GPIO 495
[ 4.017031] dwc2 1e101000.ifxhcd: DWC OTG Controller
[ 4.020739] dwc2 1e101000.ifxhcd: new USB bus registered, assigned
bus number 1
[ 4.027969] dwc2 1e101000.ifxhcd: irq 62, io mem 0x00000000
[ 4.033492] dwc2 1e101000.ifxhcd: Hardware does not support
descriptor DMA mode -
[ 4.040925] dwc2 1e101000.ifxhcd: falling back to buffer DMA mode.
[ 4.048552] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 4.051072] hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected
[ 4.056298] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from
/etc/modules-boot.d/*
[ 4.072713] init: - preinit -
[ 5.114676] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 5.119445] lantiq,xrx200-net 1e108000.eth eth0: port 1 got link
[ 5.125537] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
[ 5.151604] random: procd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[ 8.398729] UBIFS (ubi0:2): background thread "ubifs_bgt0_2" started,
PID 439
[ 8.436958] UBIFS (ubi0:2): recovery needed
[ 8.531834] UBIFS (ubi0:2): recovery completed
[ 8.535079] UBIFS (ubi0:2): UBIFS: mounted UBI device 0, volume 2,
name "rootfs_data"
[ 8.542727] UBIFS (ubi0:2): LEB size: 129024 bytes (126 KiB),
min./max. I/O unit sizes: 2048 bytes/2048 bytes
[ 8.552644] UBIFS (ubi0:2): FS size: 120508416 bytes (114 MiB, 934
LEBs), journal size 6064128 bytes (5 MiB, 47 LEBs)
[ 8.563240] UBIFS (ubi0:2): reserved for root: 4952683 bytes (4836 KiB)
[ 8.569889] UBIFS (ubi0:2): media format: w4/r0 (latest is w4/r0),
UUID 98C9272D-95B9-4EAE-AD17-96AB8413C967, small LPT model
[ 8.584080] mount_root: switching to ubifs overlay
[ 8.621506] urandom-seed: Seeding with /etc/urandom.seed
[ 8.859074] procd: - early -
[ 8.860670] procd: - watchdog -
[ 9.226743] lantiq,xrx200-net 1e108000.eth eth0: port 1 lost link
[ 9.541523] procd: - watchdog -
[ 9.543849] procd: - ubus -
[ 9.797070] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[ 9.821109] random: jshn: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[ 9.913675] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[ 9.921948] procd: - init -
[ 10.533835] kmodloader: loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[ 10.542827] IFXOS, Version 1.5.19 (c) Copyright 2009, Lantiq
Deutschland GmbH
[ 10.553648] NET: Registered protocol family 8
[ 10.556662] NET: Registered protocol family 20
[ 10.566881] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2
[ 10.575842] ip6_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
[ 10.598237] Lantiq (VRX) DSL CPE MEI driver, version 1.5.17.6, (c)
2007-2015 Lantiq Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG
[ 10.615669]
[ 10.615669]
[ 10.615669] Lantiq CPE API Driver version: DSL CPE API V4.17.18.6
[ 10.623376]
[ 10.623376] Predefined debug level: 3
[ 10.637233] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_wdm
[ 10.643248] Loading modules backported from Linux version
wt-2017-11-01-0-gfe248fc2c180
[ 10.649886] Backport generated by backports.git v4.14-rc2-1-31-g86cf0e5d
[ 10.659457] ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
[ 10.668257] Infineon Technologies DEU driver version 2.0.0
[ 10.674454] IFX DEU DES initialized (multiblock).
[ 10.679295] IFX DEU AES initialized (multiblock).
[ 10.683219] IFX DEU ARC4 initialized (multiblock).
[ 10.687709] IFX DEU SHA1 initialized.
[ 10.691358] IFX DEU MD5 initialized.
[ 10.694912] IFX DEU SHA1_HMAC initialized.
[ 10.699005] IFX DEU MD5_HMAC initialized.
[ 10.710384] nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (2048 buckets, 8192 max)
[ 10.761868] PCI: Enabling device 0000:00:0e.0 (0000 -> 0002)
[ 10.771851] owl-loader 0000:00:0e.0: fixup device configuration
[ 10.776527] NET: Registered protocol family 24
[ 10.778793] pci 0000:00:0e.0: [168c:002d] type 00 class 0x028000
[ 10.778849] pci 0000:00:0e.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0x18000000-0x1800ffff]
[ 10.778975] pci 0000:00:0e.0: PME# supported from D0 D3hot
[ 10.779421] pci 0000:00:0e.0: BAR 0: assigned [mem 0x18000000-0x1800ffff]
[ 10.810502] xt_time: kernel timezone is -0000
[ 10.815229] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ether
[ 10.823643] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ncm
[ 10.849024] usbcore: registered new interface driver huawei_cdc_ncm
[ 10.937185] PCI: Enabling device 0000:01:00.0 (0000 -> 0002)
[ 10.941585] PCI: Enabling device 0000:02:00.0 (0000 -> 0002)
[ 10.947444] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: pci irq legacy oper_irq_mode 1
irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[ 11.168749] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for
ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[ 11.178103] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[ 11.308953] firmware ath10k!pre-cal-pci-0000:02:00.0.bin:
firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[ 11.318499] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for
ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/firmware-6.bin failed with error -2
[ 11.327909] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[ 11.580110] firmware ath10k!QCA988X!hw2.0!firmware-6.bin:
firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[ 11.829053] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using dwc2
[ 11.835902] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: qca988x hw2.0 target 0x4100016c
chip_id 0x043202ff sub 0000:0000
[ 11.843797] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1
tracing 0 dfs 1 testmode 1
[ 11.859242] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: firmware ver 10.2.4-1.0-00033
api 5 features no-p2p,raw-mode,mfp,allows-mesh-bcast crc32 c41417d0
[ 11.902808] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for
ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/board-2.bin failed with error -2
[ 11.911919] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[ 12.044265] firmware ath10k!QCA988X!hw2.0!board-2.bin:
firmware_loading_store: map pages failed
[ 12.052681] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: board_file api 1 bmi_id N/A
crc32 bebc7c08
[ 12.882000] dwc2 1e101000.ifxhcd: Not connected
[ 13.034951] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
[ 13.254083] ath10k_pci 0000:02:00.0: htt-ver 2.1 wmi-op 5 htt-op 2
cal file max-sta 128 raw 0 hwcrypto 1
[ 13.378469] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x833a
[ 13.378567] ath: EEPROM indicates we should expect a country code
[ 13.378589] ath: doing EEPROM country->regdmn map search
[ 13.378605] ath: country maps to regdmn code: 0x37
[ 13.378617] ath: Country alpha2 being used: GB
[ 13.378624] ath: Regpair used: 0x37
[ 13.455742] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using dwc2
[ 13.499103] PCI: Enabling device 0000:00:0e.0 (0000 -> 0002)
[ 13.516767] ath: phy1: Ignoring endianness difference in EEPROM magic
bytes.
[ 13.524362] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x833a
[ 13.524376] ath: EEPROM indicates we should expect a country code
[ 13.524396] ath: doing EEPROM country->regdmn map search
[ 13.524408] ath: country maps to regdmn code: 0x37
[ 13.524418] ath: Country alpha2 being used: GB
[ 13.524426] ath: Regpair used: 0x37
[ 13.543655] ieee80211 phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
[ 13.549867] ieee80211 phy1: Atheros AR9287 Rev:2 mem=0xb8000000, irq=30
[ 13.563114] kmodloader: done loading kernel modules from /etc/modules.d/*
[ 13.927632] cdc_ether 1-1:1.0 eth1: register 'cdc_ether' at
usb-1e101000.ifxhcd-1, CDC Ethernet Device, [valid MAC Address]
[ 20.706646] random: crng init done
[ 20.708597] random: 6 urandom warning(s) missed due to ratelimiting
[ 27.211945] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 27.238391] device eth0 entered promiscuous mode
[ 27.250751] br-lan: port 1(eth0.1) entered blocking state
[ 27.254867] br-lan: port 1(eth0.1) entered disabled state
[ 27.261029] device eth0.1 entered promiscuous mode
[ 27.279744] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): br-lan: link is not ready
[ 27.323307] cdc_ether 1-1:1.0 eth1: kevent 12 may have been dropped
[ 30.408492] lantiq,xrx200-net 1e108000.eth eth0: port 1 got link
[ 30.422852] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
[ 30.429123] br-lan: port 1(eth0.1) entered blocking state
[ 30.433250] br-lan: port 1(eth0.1) entered forwarding state
[ 30.443061] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): br-lan: link becomes ready

[Theo]

In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> root@OpenWrt:~# udhcpc eth1
> udhcpc: started, v1.28.3
> udhcpc: sending discover
> udhcpc: sending discover
> udhcpc: sending discover [Ctrl-C pressed after some delay]

That suggests it's not responding to DHCP.

It seems that it's possible to disable DHCP on the stick. Does it get an
address if you plug it into a PC? If not, maybe you need to work out how to
enable it.

> Noticing the messages about dwc2, I wondered if that was all that was
> needed to make the dongle work, so I tried uninstalling the cdc modules,
> leaving just the dwc2 module, but actually that made things worse, I
> didn't even get the physical device eth1

dwc2 is the driver for the USB controller, so messing with that is likely to
break things. cdc_ether is the driver for USB ethernet, which the stick
pretends to be.

It sounds like the ethernet device is coming up, so I don't think you need
any shenanigans with usb_modeswitch, which is used for some sticks which
first pretend to be DVD devices with the Windows software on them.

If you have a Linux PC, I'd see if you can get it to work from there, as
that will give confidence that everything is in order. I think on some of
them there's a web interface where you set the APN, and it would make sense
if that can be set up from a PC.

Theo

[Andy Burns]

Theo wrote:

> In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> root@OpenWrt:~# udhcpc eth1
>> udhcpc: started, v1.28.3
>> udhcpc: sending discover
>> udhcpc: sending discover
>> udhcpc: sending discover [Ctrl-C pressed after some delay]
>
> That suggests it's not responding to DHCP.

These "NIC-on-a-stick" models fake it, the DHCP server that they appear
to talk to is internal to the stick, not on the far side of the 4G radio

[Theo]

In uk.telecom.broadband Andy Burns <use...@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Indeed, so a lack of DHCP means there's something wrong with the stick or
its config, rather than anything to do with the network. In particular you
need DHCP working to get to the settings web page for the mobile network.

Theo

[Carlos E.R.]

Or, you could manually setup that internal "fake" lan assigning IP
addresses manually, same as when you configure a computer to access a
new gadget with network interface before connecting it for real.


--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Theo]

We'd need to know what IP address the dongle is listening at, which is
something the OP will have to find out. Once we know that we can configure
one in the same subnet to the PC and try to get into the dongle
configuration web pages. Once we're in, there should be a toggle for DHCP.
There isn't much to be gained by using a static IP here apart from the
initial setup.

If it's not clear what the default IP of the dongle is, or it doesn't work,
then there may be a factory reset procedure.

The main thing is this dongle behaves much like a home router, except with
the Ethernet over USB and the WAN being wireless. So you need to think like
you're configuring a router.

Theo

[Java Jive]

On 02/07/2023 17:28, Theo wrote:
>
> In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> root@OpenWrt:~# udhcpc eth1
>> udhcpc: started, v1.28.3
>> udhcpc: sending discover
>> udhcpc: sending discover
>> udhcpc: sending discover [Ctrl-C pressed after some delay]
>
> That suggests it's not responding to DHCP.

No, actually it's the stick that's not booting its networking, because
knowing what subnet it should be using I tried Carlos' suggestion
downthread of using a fixed IP, without any change. But see below for
the good news ...

> It seems that it's possible to disable DHCP on the stick. Does it get an
> address if you plug it into a PC? If not, maybe you need to work out how to
> enable it.

It just works if I plug it into a W7 PC.

> It sounds like the ethernet device is coming up, so I don't think you need
> any shenanigans with usb_modeswitch, which is used for some sticks which
> first pretend to be DVD devices with the Windows software on them.

No, it's definitely getting that far alright, the dmesg output shows that.

> If you have a Linux PC, I'd see if you can get it to work from there, as
> that will give confidence that everything is in order. I think on some of
> them there's a web interface where you set the APN, and it would make sense
> if that can be set up from a PC.

Think I've solved it, but have yet to test with the SIM ...

After various searches long into the night finding nothing that fixed
it, in desperation I wondered whether an updated image would help, so I
flashed OpenWRT 18.0.6 r7808-ef686b7292 which has been fixed for an
OpenWRT problem specific to certain routers (not the same as my problem
that has been the subject of this thread) ...

https://forum.openwrt.org/t/18-06-4-speed-fix-for-bt-homehub-5a/23643
https://bit.ly/2xypJqv

... and now I get the dongle admin page come up at 192.168.8.1, so I'm
reasonably certain that when I put the SIM in the dongle it should work.
Too late for that now, though, a job for tomorrow maybe.

Thanks with much appreciation to everyone who has given advice and help.

[Theo]

Oh, that's really old. Were you on something even older?

The current stable release is 22.03 and there's an 23.05-rc2 available.
I'm using 22.03 reliably on a HH5a with no problems (although not using USB
though). 23.05-rc1 has also been working fine for me on a Fritzbox 7530.

Download links from here:
https://openwrt.org/

Theo

[Java Jive]

On 03/07/2023 13:19, Theo wrote:
> In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> After various searches long into the night finding nothing that fixed
>> it, in desperation I wondered whether an updated image would help, so I
>> flashed OpenWRT 18.0.6 r7808-ef686b7292 which has been fixed for an
>> OpenWRT problem specific to certain routers (not the same as my problem
>> that has been the subject of this thread) ...
>>
>> https://forum.openwrt.org/t/18-06-4-speed-fix-for-bt-homehub-5a/23643
>> https://bit.ly/2xypJqv
>>
>> ... and now I get the dongle admin page come up at 192.168.8.1, so I'm
>> reasonably certain that when I put the SIM in the dongle it should work.
>> Too late for that now, though, a job for tomorrow maybe.
>
> Oh, that's really old.

I know, but ...

> Were you on something even older?

18-06-1

> The current stable release is 22.03 and there's an 23.05-rc2 available.
> I'm using 22.03 reliably on a HH5a with no problems (although not using USB
> though). 23.05-rc1 has also been working fine for me on a Fritzbox 7530.
>
> Download links from here:
> https://openwrt.org/

I tried the current 22 and got a message that the file was in the wrong
format.

Currently I'm trying to create a single configuration that will work
with any of my dongles and my mobile. I think I'm nearly there, but my
original dongle, a Huawei E3372s, worked at first and then did not. The
only significant thing that I did in between the successful and the
unsuccessful attempt was to try altering the IP6 connections. Something
about doing this altered the way the E3372s came up, connecting the
interface thereafter produced an OpenWRT constructed virtual IP4
interface, which at first I couldn't assign to a firewall zone - the
vinterface only appeared when the dongle was connected and then it
wasn't editable. I got round this by hacking /etc/config/firewall and
rebooting, but even though the vinterface was now in the correct
firewall zone, I still couldn't connect to the internet. So I've just
gone back to factory defaults and started again.

I'm not very well up on IP6, so expect a question about that soon!

[Theo]

In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> I tried the current 22 and got a message that the file was in the wrong
> format.

There is typically a 'first install' kernel.bin, and a sysupgrade.bin for
upgrading a router that already has OpenWRT:

https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=22.03.5&target=lantiq%2Fxrx200&id=bt_homehub-v5a

You want the latter. I normally upgrade by something like:

$ scp sysupgrade.bin ro...@192.168.1.1:/tmp
$ ssh ro...@192.168.1.1
...
# sysupgrade /tmp/sysupgrade.bin

but you can also do it from the GUI.

> Currently I'm trying to create a single configuration that will work
> with any of my dongles and my mobile. I think I'm nearly there, but my
> original dongle, a Huawei E3372s, worked at first and then did not. The
> only significant thing that I did in between the successful and the
> unsuccessful attempt was to try altering the IP6 connections. Something
> about doing this altered the way the E3372s came up, connecting the
> interface thereafter produced an OpenWRT constructed virtual IP4
> interface, which at first I couldn't assign to a firewall zone - the
> vinterface only appeared when the dongle was connected and then it
> wasn't editable. I got round this by hacking /etc/config/firewall and
> rebooting, but even though the vinterface was now in the correct
> firewall zone, I still couldn't connect to the internet. So I've just
> gone back to factory defaults and started again.

I'm not sure I follow what's going on there, but just to say that
onemarcfifty on YouTube has a number of videos on configuring OpenWRT, and
you might find them helpful in understanding what's going on:

https://www.youtube.com/@OneMarcFifty/playlists

(in particular they changed the VLAN config in v21 and I found his video on
that useful in understanding what the differences were so I could port my
config to the new setup)

> I'm not very well up on IP6, so expect a question about that soon!

Fire away :-)

Theo

[Java Jive]

On 03/07/2023 17:46, Theo wrote:
>
> In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> I tried the current 22 and got a message that the file was in the wrong
>> format.
>
> There is typically a 'first install' kernel.bin, and a sysupgrade.bin for
> upgrading a router that already has OpenWRT:
>
> https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=22.03.5&target=lantiq%2Fxrx200&id=bt_homehub-v5a

Thanks, I've just tried that, but unfortunately now I can't get the
admin interface to load. I can only ssh into it. Struggling to roll it
back.

[Theo]

In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> On 03/07/2023 17:46, Theo wrote:
> >
> > In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
> >>
> >> I tried the current 22 and got a message that the file was in the wrong
> >> format.
> >
> > There is typically a 'first install' kernel.bin, and a sysupgrade.bin for
> > upgrading a router that already has OpenWRT:
> >
> > https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=22.03.5&target=lantiq%2Fxrx200&id=bt_homehub-v5a
>
> Thanks, I've just tried that, but unfortunately now I can't get the
> admin interface to load. I can only ssh into it. Struggling to roll it
> back.

It may be the Luci GUI isn't installed, as on some low memory images. You
may need to install it by hand:
https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/luci/luci.essentials

Theo

[Java Jive]

On 03/07/2023 22:45, Theo wrote:
> In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>> On 03/07/2023 17:46, Theo wrote:
>>>
>>> In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I tried the current 22 and got a message that the file was in the wrong
>>>> format.
>>>
>>> There is typically a 'first install' kernel.bin, and a sysupgrade.bin for
>>> upgrading a router that already has OpenWRT:
>>>
>>> https://firmware-selector.openwrt.org/?version=22.03.5&target=lantiq%2Fxrx200&id=bt_homehub-v5a
>>
>> Thanks, I've just tried that, but unfortunately now I can't get the
>> admin interface to load. I can only ssh into it. Struggling to roll it
>> back.
>
> It may be the Luci GUI isn't installed, as on some low memory images. You
> may need to install it by hand:
> https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/luci/luci.essentials

Last night I didn't seem able to even communicate with it via the LAN,
so I put it aside as potentially bricked, and concentrated on the other
two (three in total because I keep a spare as backup, and an old one was
out-of-use as possibly flaky). I managed to reconfigure both the other
two to use any of my dongles and/or my mobile phone. One of these is in
use ATM, but it's the potentially flaky one. However, as currently it's
downloading Wimbledon, I'll wait until either that's complete or the
router gives problems and loses the connection before swapping back the
one that was in use before, now also reconfigured as above.

I'll probably make a new thread to post exactly how I've accomplished
this reconfiguration, so that any information that may potentially be
useful to others can be found in one post, rather than trawling through
this entire thread.

Returning this lunchtime to the one partially bricked by installing 22,
I can now connect to it and ssh into it, but that's about all. I'm
getting consistent errors on trying to install luci or do anything else
useful with it:

root@OpenWrt:~# opkg update && opkg install luci
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/Packages.gz
Updated list of available packages in /var/opkg-lists/openwrt_core
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/Packages.sig
Signature check passed.
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/kmods/4.14.99-1-e1364da2397b9f1b7fd3b92933663f5d/Packages.gz
*** Failed to download the package list from
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/kmods/4.14.99-1-e1364da2397b9f1b7fd3b92933663f5d/Packages.gz
~
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/Packages.gz
Updated list of available packages in /var/opkg-lists/openwrt_base
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/Packages.sig
Signature check passed.
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/luci/Packages.gz
Updated list of available packages in /var/opkg-lists/openwrt_luci
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/luci/Packages.sig
Signature check passed.
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/packages/Packages.gz
Updated list of available packages in /var/opkg-lists/openwrt_packages
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/packages/Packages.sig
Signature check passed.
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/routing/Packages.gz
Updated list of available packages in /var/opkg-lists/openwrt_routing
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/routing/Packages.sig
Signature check passed.
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/telephony/Packages.gz
Updated list of available packages in /var/opkg-lists/openwrt_telephony
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/telephony/Packages.sig
Signature check passed.
Collected errors:
* opkg_download: Failed to download
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/kmods/4.14.99-1-e1364d
a2397b9f1b7fd3b92933663f5d/Packages.gz, wget returned 8.

If I try to install luci regardless of the above error, I get ...

root@OpenWrt:~# opkg install luci
Installing luci (git-23.051.66410-a505bb1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/luci/luci_git-23.051.66410-a505bb1_all.ipk
Installing luci-proto-ipv6 (git-21.148.48881-79947af) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/luci/luci-proto-ipv6_git-21.148.48881-79947af_all.ipk
Installing luci-app-firewall (git-23.174.36228-fbe1875) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/luci/luci-app-firewall_git-23.174.36228-fbe1875_all.ipk
Installing libubox20230523 (2023-05-23-75a3b870-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libubox20230523_2023-05-23-75a3b870-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing libubus20220615 (2022-06-15-9913aa61-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libubus20220615_2022-06-15-9913aa61-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing libjson-c5 (0.16-3) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libjson-c5_0.16-3_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing libblobmsg-json20230523 (2023-05-23-75a3b870-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libblobmsg-json20230523_2023-05-23-75a3b870-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing rpcd (2023-07-01-c07ab2f9-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/rpcd_2023-07-01-c07ab2f9-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing rpcd-mod-file (2023-07-01-c07ab2f9-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/rpcd-mod-file_2023-07-01-c07ab2f9-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing libnl-tiny2023-07-01 (2023-07-01-d433990c-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libnl-tiny2023-07-01_2023-07-01-d433990c-1_mi
ps_24kc.ipk
Configuring libjson-c5.
Configuring libubox20230523.
Configuring libblobmsg-json20230523.
Configuring libubus20220615.
Configuring rpcd.
Configuring luci-app-firewall.
Configuring rpcd-mod-file.
Command failed: Not found
Configuring luci-proto-ipv6.
Collected errors:
* check_data_file_clashes: Package libnl-tiny2023-07-01 wants to
install file /usr/lib/libnl-tiny.so
But that file is already provided by package * libnl-tiny
* opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package luci.

So now I'm trying to roll it back to a build that I know works, the
question is how? Particularly, how to get a retro image onto it?

I've tried ssh-ing in and mounting an NFS share on my NAS, which for
certain I can do from a Linux PC without any problem, but the router
gives a message along the lines of "device not available", which, as the
device clearly is available, probably means that the NFS networking
client is not installed by default. So I looked up how to install it,
but I get an error with that too:

root@OpenWrt:~# opkg install kmod-fs-nfs kmod-fs-nfs-common nfs-utils
Installing kmod-fs-nfs (5.15.111-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/kmod-fs-nfs_5.15.111-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing kmod-fs-nfs-common (5.15.111-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/kmod-fs-nfs-common_5.15.111-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing nfs-utils (2.6.2-3) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/packages/nfs-utils_2.6.2-3_mips_24kc.ipk
Multiple packages (libpthread and libpthread) providing same name marked
HOLD or PREFER. Using latest.
Multiple packages (libpthread and libpthread) providing same name marked
HOLD or PREFER. Using latest.
Multiple packages (librt and librt) providing same name marked HOLD or
PREFER. Using latest.
Multiple packages (libpthread and libpthread) providing same name marked
HOLD or PREFER. Using latest.
Configuring kmod-fs-nfs-common.
Collected errors:
* satisfy_dependencies_for: Cannot satisfy the following dependencies
for kmod-fs-nfs:
* kernel (= 5.15.111-1-cf66ca0b201d986f9127dda1b9bbc526)
* opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package kmod-fs-nfs.
* satisfy_dependencies_for: Cannot satisfy the following dependencies
for nfs-utils:
* kernel (= 5.15.111-1-cf66ca0b201d986f9127dda1b9bbc526)
* opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package nfs-utils.

So then I tried installing the packages for mounting a USB stick, but
that fails too, some of the errors being the same:

root@OpenWrt:~# opkg install block-mount e2fsprogs kmod-fs-vfat
kmod-usb2 kmod-usb3
Installing block-mount (2023-02-28-bfe882d5-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/block-mount_2023-02-28-bfe882d5-1_mips
_24kc.ipk
Installing e2fsprogs (1.47.0-2) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/e2fsprogs_1.47.0-2_mips_24kc.ipk
Multiple packages (librt and librt) providing same name marked HOLD or
PREFER. Using latest.
Installing libuuid1 (2.39-2) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libuuid1_2.39-2_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing libblkid1 (2.39-2) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libblkid1_2.39-2_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing libcomerr0 (1.47.0-2) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libcomerr0_1.47.0-2_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing libss2 (1.47.0-2) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libss2_1.47.0-2_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing libext2fs2 (1.47.0-2) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/packages/mips_24kc/base/libext2fs2_1.47.0-2_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing kmod-fs-vfat (5.15.111-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/kmod-fs-vfat_5.15.111-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing kmod-usb2 (5.15.111-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/kmod-usb2_5.15.111-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Installing kmod-usb3 (5.15.111-1) to root...
Downloading
http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/packages/kmod-usb3_5.15.111-1_mips_24kc.ipk
Configuring libuuid1.
Configuring libblkid1.
Configuring libcomerr0.
Configuring libss2.
Configuring libext2fs2.
Configuring e2fsprogs.
Collected errors:
* satisfy_dependencies_for: Cannot satisfy the following dependencies
for block-mount:
* libubox20220927
* libblobmsg-json20220927
* opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package block-mount.
* satisfy_dependencies_for: Cannot satisfy the following dependencies
for kmod-fs-vfat:
* kernel (= 5.15.111-1-cf66ca0b201d986f9127dda1b9bbc526)
* opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package kmod-fs-vfat.
* satisfy_dependencies_for: Cannot satisfy the following dependencies
for kmod-usb2:
* kernel (= 5.15.111-1-cf66ca0b201d986f9127dda1b9bbc526)
* opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package kmod-usb2.
* satisfy_dependencies_for: Cannot satisfy the following dependencies
for kmod-usb3:
* kernel (= 5.15.111-1-cf66ca0b201d986f9127dda1b9bbc526)
* opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package kmod-usb3.

Last night, when it had seemed to be totally bricked, I tried
reconnecting the serial lead that originally I had used to reflash it
with OpenWRT, but I think that perhaps the lead has developed a fault,
because keystrokes to break into the boot process were ignored.

I have a TUMPA as an alternative, but have completely forgotten how to
use it!

That's all I have time for ATM. Thanks & regards for the help so far.

[Andy Burns]

Java Jive wrote:

> Downloading
> http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/kmods/4.14.99-1-e1364da2397b9f1b7fd3b92933663f5d/Packages.gz
> *** Failed to download the package list from
> http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/kmods/4.14.99-1-e1364da2397b9f1b7fd3b92933663f5d/Packages.gz

Looks as though you may have installed a daily snapshot version, not a
release version?

IME the corresponding snapshot packages are only available for 24 hours,
after which you need to install a new snapshot and get the packages
while they're "hot"

[Java Jive]

Possibly, I followed Theo's link, but I may have clicked the wrong
download. I managed to get my USB-Serial lead working again, and now
have rolled it back to the same 18.06.4 version and configuration that
worked with the others.

[Theo]

In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:

> On 04/07/2023 17:19, Andy Burns wrote:
> > Java Jive wrote:
> >
> >> Downloading
> >> http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/kmods/4.14.99-1-e1364da2397b9f1b7fd3b92933663f5d/Packages.gz
> >>
> >> *** Failed to download the package list from
> >> http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/targets/lantiq/xrx200/kmods/4.14.99-1-e1364da2397b9f1b7fd3b92933663f5d/Packages.gz
> >>
> > Looks as though you may have installed a daily snapshot version, not a
> > release version?
> >
> > IME the corresponding snapshot packages are only available for 24 hours,
> > after which you need to install a new snapshot and get the packages
> > while they're "hot"
>
> Possibly, I followed Theo's link, but I may have clicked the wrong
> download. I managed to get my USB-Serial lead working again, and now
> have rolled it back to the same 18.06.4 version and configuration that
> worked with the others.

For the record, I've just done this with a Homehub 5a.

Currently they're not offering a 23.05 release candidate because of a
blocking bug:
https://patchwork.kernel.org/project/netdevbpf/patch/20220630212703.3280485...@googlemail.com/
via
https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/issues/10672

which as I understand is quite harmless - it spews a message in the
dmesg:

gswip 1e108000.switch: port 0 failed to add [mac address] vid 1 to fdb: -22

but that's easy to ignore. So I installed the snapshot build anyway.
That preserved config but wiped my packages, so I had to reinstall them.
For whatever reason the snapshot builds don't include luci by default.

First of all, connect the router to the internet. We need to install luci
via opkg, so opkg needs some networking. In the default config the WAN
ethernet port will work as an internet connection which would be sufficient.
If you have a different setup you'll need to set it up to get a route via
one of the ethernet ports - it may require use of 'ip addr add' and 'ip route
add' commands, and setting the DNS server in /etc/resolv.conf. I did
something like:

First udhcpd so the router doesn't offer DHCP responses
# ps
look for the process ID of udhcpd and kill it
# kill 12345

Then configure the interface with a temporary IP:
# ip addr add 192.168.99.245/24 dev br-lan
# ip route add default via 192.168.99.1 # (LAN IP of my internet-facing router)
# vi /etc/resolv.conf
(changed 'nameserver 127.0.0.1' to 'nameserver 8.8.8.8')
# ping 8.8.8.8
# ping example.com

Once it has internet, we need to set the time otherwise TLS certificates
will fail (your error above):

# ntpd -p pool.ntp.org

Then we can fetch luci:

# opkg update
# opkg install luci luci-ssl

and now Luci is available for further config on the GUI.

The HH5a looks to be working with the snapshot version, but I have yet to
test it thoroughly. I'm on:

Target Platform lantiq/xrx200
Firmware Version OpenWrt SNAPSHOT r22888-0779c47be6 / LuCI Master git-23.158.78004-23a246e
Kernel Version 5.15.111

Theo

[Java Jive]

On 25/06/2023 18:49, Java Jive wrote:
>
> Deliberate X-Post for reasons that will become apparent.
>

> [Big snip]

I now have the BT Home Hub 5a running 18.6.4 working with:
Alcatel_IK40 4G(?) dongle *
BT Assure/Huawei E3372h 4G dongle
Huawei E3372s 4G dongle
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 model SM-T719 tablet/mobile phone
ZTE MF823 4G dongle

* Not actually tested with this build, because I didn't want the bother
of pushing out the centre of the SIM to make a mini/micro-SIM and then
having to re-insert back to make up the full SIM card again. However,
it should work, because it takes the same settings as the mobile phone
and the ZTE.

As promised, I am preparing a document with how to get all these dongles
working, but have decided that I will make it a webpage rather than a
post here, but, also as promised, I have some questions about IP6

The original OpenWRT build for the BTHH5a has the following three
sections relating to the WAN in /etc/config/network ...

config interface 'wan'
option ifname 'dsl0'
option proto 'pppoe'
option username 'username'
option password 'password'
option ipv6 '1'

config device 'wan_dev'
option name 'dsl0'
option macaddr '<MAC Address>'

config interface 'wan6'
option ifname '@wan'
option proto 'dhcpv6'

... which, to get the above USB-attached devices working, I have
replaced with ...

config interface 'WAN_DSL'
option proto 'pppoa'
option encaps 'vc'
option atmdev '0'
option vci '38'
option vpi '0'
option macaddr '<MAC Address>'
option ipv6 'auto'
option metric '2'
option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_Ethernet'
option proto 'dhcp'
option ifname 'eth0.2'
option macaddr '<MAC Address>'
option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
option proto 'dhcp'
option ifname 'eth1'

config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372s'
option proto 'ncm'
option pdptype 'IP'
option apn '3internet'
option ipv6 'auto'
option device '/dev/ttyUSB0'
option delay '20'
option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_USB'
option proto 'dhcp'
option ifname 'usb0'
option auto '0'

... where the WAN_Huawei_E3372h section covers also a BT Assure 4G
unlocked dongle and the generic WAN_USB section covers the Alcatel and
ZTE dongles, and a Samsung mobile phone in USB Tethering mode.

The modules needed are as follows:
chat
comgt
comgt-ncm
kmod-mii
kmod-usb-net
kmod-usb-net-cdc-ether
kmod-usb-net-cdc-ncm
kmod-usb-net-huawei-cdc-ncm
kmod-usb-net-qmi-wwan
kmod-usb-net-rndis
kmod-usb-serial
kmod-usb-serial-option
kmod-usb-serial-wwan
kmod-usb-wdm
luci-app-mwan3
luci-app-sqm
luci-app-wol
luci-proto-3g
luci-proto-ncm
mwan3
procps-ng-ps
uqmi
usb-modeswitch
usbutils
wwan

The above all works fine in IP4, but I'm concerned that I have removed
the original WAN6 section. Following the pattern of that, I could
define a WAN6 section for each of the above, as per the following
example ...

config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
option ifname 'eth1'
option proto 'dhcp'


config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h_6'
option ifname '@WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
option proto 'dhcpv6'

... and similarly for the others, but this seems somewhat clumsy because
to swap dongles, I'd have to stop two connections and start two others,
instead of just the one as at present, and further I have no idea if it
will work - ATM the BT Assure 4G dongle is in use and is working well
downloading Wimbledon, so I'm not inclined to fiddle about testing just
now ...


How can I test whether IP6 is being supported properly?

Noting the lan_dev and wan_dev devices, is there a way, for example by
defining different devices rather than different interfaces for the
different dongles, that I can switch the system over to a different
dongle by just a single configuration change instead of the present two
or potentially four with IP6?

Note, I have searched about devices in /etc/config/network, but didn't
find much useful info.

[Theo]

In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:

> config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
> option proto 'dhcp'
> option ifname 'eth1'
>
> config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372s'
> option proto 'ncm'
> option pdptype 'IP'
> option apn '3internet'
> option ipv6 'auto'
> option device '/dev/ttyUSB0'
> option delay '20'
> option auto '0'
>
> config interface 'WAN_USB'
> option proto 'dhcp'
> option ifname 'usb0'
> option auto '0'
>
> ... where the WAN_Huawei_E3372h section covers also a BT Assure 4G
> unlocked dongle and the generic WAN_USB section covers the Alcatel and
> ZTE dongles, and a Samsung mobile phone in USB Tethering mode.

OK, so one group of dongles are pretend-ethernet cards and another
pretend-dialup modems.

> The above all works fine in IP4, but I'm concerned that I have removed
> the original WAN6 section. Following the pattern of that, I could
> define a WAN6 section for each of the above, as per the following
> example ...
>
> config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
> option ifname 'eth1'
> option proto 'dhcp'
>
>
> config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h_6'
> option ifname '@WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
> option proto 'dhcpv6'
>
> ... and similarly for the others, but this seems somewhat clumsy because
> to swap dongles, I'd have to stop two connections and start two others,
> instead of just the one as at present, and further I have no idea if it
> will work - ATM the BT Assure 4G dongle is in use and is working well
> downloading Wimbledon, so I'm not inclined to fiddle about testing just
> now ...

I think the reason for the above is IPv4 and IPv6 have different ways of
getting addresses. For IPv4 over ethernet it's DHCP, but for IPv4 over
dialup modems it's PPP. For IPv6 over ethernet it could be SLAAC
(stateless autoconfiguration) or DHCPv6. For IPv6 over modem I think it's
also PPP (not sure if SLAAC is also an option here).

So you would need multiple interface blocks defined depending on what each
protocol needs, and I think you'd need four interface blocks.

But what I'd do is keep everything set up, and just pick routing based on
which interface is up. ie if only one dongle is plugged in, only one
configuration block is going to be active. I think if only one is plugged
in, without any special config you'll get a default route and that's where
packets will go. If both are plugged in, one default route will win -
although fancier routing config is possible.

I think if you just configure both interfaces as appropriate and see if they
work if one or other dongle is plugged in.

I think you may need to put all your WAN_* interfaces in the WAN firewall
zone, so they're all treated as 'outside' your network. The defaults are
mostly there - on my Firewall setup I have in the 'wan' zone:

wan wan6 EthWAN EthWAN6

('wan' is the DSL interface in my settings, 'EthWAN' is the red ethernet port)

So I'd just create _6 versions of your interfaces and add them to this
zone.

> How can I test whether IP6 is being supported properly?

$ host example.com
example.com has address 93.184.216.34
example.com has IPv6 address 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946
example.com mail is handled by 0 .

$ ping6 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946
[should answer]

and then try an IPv6 test website:
https://ipv6test.google.com/
http://testmyipv6.com/
and plenty of others if you google for them

> Noting the lan_dev and wan_dev devices, is there a way, for example by
> defining different devices rather than different interfaces for the
> different dongles, that I can switch the system over to a different
> dongle by just a single configuration change instead of the present two
> or potentially four with IP6?

You should be able to just run the two devices completely in parallel,
without any config changes. At worst you'd need to adjust the default route
if both were plugged in together.

> Note, I have searched about devices in /etc/config/network, but didn't
> find much useful info.

OneMarcFifty has a video on using IPv6 in his OpenWRT playlist. I haven't
watched it, but it may be helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJPXz8eA3b8

- although bear in mind this is mostly focused on ethernet which is more
straightforward and has fewer quirks generated by whatever dongle you have.

On the 'Wifi, networking...' playlist he also has some introductory videos
on IPv6 concepts which may be useful for understand what's happening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oItwDXraK1M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlG_nrCOmJc

Theo

[Theo]

In uk.telecom.broadband Theo <theom...@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
> OneMarcFifty has a video on using IPv6 in his OpenWRT playlist. I haven't
> watched it, but it may be helpful:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJPXz8eA3b8
>
> - although bear in mind this is mostly focused on ethernet which is more
> straightforward and has fewer quirks generated by whatever dongle you have.

That reminds me of something. It's one thing for the interface to get an
address for the router, but what you want is to be able to get a block of
addresses for the rest of the network. Each local network takes up 2^64
addresses, so if your ISP gives you a /56 bit prefix meaning you have 2^8
networks each containing 2^64 addresses (128-64-8=56).

So it depends what you mobile network gives you. You hope it will issue you
a /64 or larger, which means you have a prefix for your network (the ISP
gives you the public 64 bits, machines on the network use the remaining 64
bits). SLAAC autoconfiguration works with at least a 64 bit local part.

But there's a risk the ISP will give you fewer bits. If you get a /128
they've only given you a single IP address so you'd have to do NAT. If they
give you something smaller like a /112 you can't use SLAAC to assign local
addresses, you'd have to use DHCPv6 like you would with v4.

That means your network configuration will depend on how your ISP configures
things. Regular ISPs do predictable things with IPv6 so you'd get a /64 or
bigger, but mobile networks may do something strange. You'll only find out
by connecting and seeing what address blocks you get given.

Theo

[Andy Burns]

Theo wrote:

> Each local network takes up 2^64 addresses, so if your ISP gives you
> a /56 bit prefix meaning you have 2^8 networks each containing 2^64
> addresses (128-64-8=56).

I've never understood why ISPs are *SO* profligate with IPv6 addrs, yes
I understand 128bits is very big, and billions of IP addrs per grain of
sand yada-yada, but 640KB was big once, and 4GB was big once ...

[Java Jive]

Many thanks for your continuing help, Theo ...

Yes, currently, without '_6' interfaces the relevant section in
/etc/config/firewall reads:

config zone
option name 'wan'
option input 'REJECT'
option output 'ACCEPT'
option forward 'REJECT'
option masq '1'
option mtu_fix '1'
option network 'WAN_DSL WAN_Ethernet WAN_Huawei_E3372h
WAN_Huawei_E3372s WAN_Huawei_E3372s_4 WAN_USB'

> ('wan' is the DSL interface in my settings, 'EthWAN' is the red ethernet port)
>
> So I'd just create _6 versions of your interfaces and add them to this
> zone.
>
>> How can I test whether IP6 is being supported properly?
>
> $ host example.com
> example.com has address 93.184.216.34
> example.com has IPv6 address 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946
> example.com mail is handled by 0 .
>
> $ ping6 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946
> [should answer]

So, as feared, I don't have IP6 support. From a Windows PC:

23:54:15 D:\Temp>ping -6 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946

Pinging 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946 with 32 bytes of data:
PING: transmit failed. General failure.
PING: transmit failed. General failure.
PING: transmit failed. General failure.
PING: transmit failed. General failure.

Ping statistics for 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

23:54:25 D:\Temp>ping -4 93.184.216.34

Pinging 93.184.216.34 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 93.184.216.34: bytes=32 time=152ms TTL=49
Reply from 93.184.216.34: bytes=32 time=141ms TTL=49
Reply from 93.184.216.34: bytes=32 time=157ms TTL=49
Reply from 93.184.216.34: bytes=32 time=138ms TTL=49

Ping statistics for 93.184.216.34:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 138ms, Maximum = 157ms, Average = 147ms

> and then try an IPv6 test website:
> https://ipv6test.google.com/
> http://testmyipv6.com/
> and plenty of others if you google for them

Thanks, but for now, given the results above, I'll have to note those
for later.

As Wimbledon is still ongoing and therefore still downloading, I'll wait
until either it's over or until there's another problem before trying to
fix IP6.

>> Noting the lan_dev and wan_dev devices, is there a way, for example by
>> defining different devices rather than different interfaces for the
>> different dongles, that I can switch the system over to a different
>> dongle by just a single configuration change instead of the present two
>> or potentially four with IP6?
>
> You should be able to just run the two devices completely in parallel,
> without any config changes. At worst you'd need to adjust the default route
> if both were plugged in together.
>
>> Note, I have searched about devices in /etc/config/network, but didn't
>> find much useful info.
>
> OneMarcFifty has a video on using IPv6 in his OpenWRT playlist. I haven't
> watched it, but it may be helpful:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJPXz8eA3b8
>
> - although bear in mind this is mostly focused on ethernet which is more
> straightforward and has fewer quirks generated by whatever dongle you have.
>
> On the 'Wifi, networking...' playlist he also has some introductory videos
> on IPv6 concepts which may be useful for understand what's happening:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oItwDXraK1M
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlG_nrCOmJc

I'll try and take a look at these over the next few days.

Thanks again.

[Theo]

In uk.telecom.broadband Andy Burns <use...@andyburns.uk> wrote:
>

It's because autoconfiguration works if you have a large enough namespace.
MAC addresses are 48 bits, so providing a namespace of 2^48+1 addresses
to ensures that any machine is able to generate its own unique IP (but
predictable) from its MAC.

Actually there are some other things you might want to use as local
addresses that don't clash with the MAC namespace (eg randomly changing IPs
for privacy purposes) so you need a few more than 48 bits. The next block up
is 64 so that's what you get.

That's basic IPv6: 64 bits of local addresses = one subnet. Measly
ISPs can give you a /64, but better ones give you a /56 or larger (256
subnets), which allows multiple globally-routable subnets without needing to
NAT.

Basically you need to change mindset from the ideas that IPs are handed out
one by one and need a central authority to manage clashes. It just gets
easier if everything is able to figure out its own IP without the central
authority managing a database.

(of course there are other reasons why you might want to a central authority
- eg in a business scenario - so you can have that if you want)

Theo

[Andy Burns]

Theo wrote:

> Actually there are some other things you might want to use as local
> addresses that don't clash with the MAC namespace (eg randomly changing IPs
> for privacy purposes) so you need a few more than 48 bits.

I thought they were already planning for 64bit MAC addrs, instead of 48bit

[NY]

I still can't get my brain around why IPv6 addresses present the large
number of device addresses to the internet. I can see that the world is
running out of public IP (WAN) addresses for routers. But why do we need
so many private addresses? What is wrong with a 6-byte rather than
4-byte WAN address, with a private LAN of 256 addresses - or for larger
organisations, maybe 512, 1024, 2048 etc addresses - all multiplexed
onto the same WAN address by the power of NAT as we do with IPv4.

If private addresses are propagated onto the WAN, that places the onus
on every single device, even cheap security cameras etc, having its own
secure firewall, rather than the router being the thing with the
firewall, behind which there are devices that don't have and and don't
need their own firewalls.

[John]

NY <m...@privacy.net> writes:
> If private addresses are propagated onto the WAN, that places the onus
> on every single device, even cheap security cameras etc, having its
> own secure firewall, rather than the router being the thing with the
> firewall, behind which there are devices that don't have and and don't
> need their own firewalls.

There's no reason you can't have routable IPs on your internal network
and still implement a firewall at the border.

It's what I do at home: every device on my LAN gets a routable IPv6
address, but my router (a Linux box) has a firewall configured to block
incoming connections.

john

[Carlos E.R.]

My ISP is betatesting IPv6, and I volunteered, so I got IPv6. To my
surprise, all IPv6 hosts inside my lan became accessible from Internet.
Despite the (ISP suplied) router saying that the firewall was active and
blocking all incoming connections on IPv6, it was not happening.


I told them, they did not answer, but days later the incoming connection
to IPv6 stopped connecting. They had silently done something. However,
they messed with the "virtual server" IPv4 config, so that the incoming
external connections that I had allowed stopped working as well. I have
to periodically enable them back.


So beware, routers may fail to work properly on IPv6.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Graham J]

Carlos E.R. wrote:

[snip]

>
> My ISP is betatesting IPv6, and I volunteered, so I got IPv6. To my
> surprise, all IPv6 hosts inside my lan became accessible from Internet.
> Despite the (ISP suplied) router saying that the firewall was active and
> blocking all incoming connections on IPv6, it was not happening.
>
>
> I told them, they did not answer, but days later the incoming connection
> to IPv6 stopped connecting. They had silently done something. However,
> they messed with the "virtual server" IPv4 config, so that the incoming
> external connections that I had allowed stopped working as well. I have
> to periodically enable them back.
>
>
> So beware, routers may fail to work properly on IPv6.

I suspect lots of cheap routers have a very primitive firewall, and
effectively they only block incoming connections by virtue of NAT.


--
Graham J

[Carlos E.R.]

It doesn't seem the case, but rather a bug. This telco uses customized
routers to their specs, and as they haven't deployed IPv6 no one was
actually testing IPv6 related features. Now they appear with betatesting.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Java Jive]

On 09/07/2023 14:06, Java Jive wrote:
>
> Many thanks for your continuing help, Theo ...
>
> On 08/07/2023 22:45, Theo wrote:
>>
>> In uk.telecom.broadband Java Jive <ja...@evij.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>> config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
>>>          option proto 'dhcp'
>>>          option ifname 'eth1'
>>>

>>> [snip]

>>>
>>> The above all works fine in IP4, but I'm concerned that I have removed
>>> the original WAN6 section.  Following the pattern of that, I could
>>> define a WAN6 section for each of the above, as per the following
>>> example ...
>>>
>>> config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
>>>          option ifname 'eth1'
>>>          option proto 'dhcp'
>>>
>>>
>>> config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h_6'
>>>           option ifname '@WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
>>>           option proto 'dhcpv6'
>>>
>>> ... and similarly for the others, but this seems somewhat clumsy because
>>> to swap dongles, I'd have to stop two connections and start two others,
>>> instead of just the one as at present, and further I have no idea if it
>>> will work  -  ATM the BT Assure 4G dongle is in use and is working well
>>> downloading Wimbledon, so I'm not inclined to fiddle about testing just
>>> now ...
>>

>> [snip]

>>
>> But what I'd do is keep everything set up, and just pick routing based on
>> which interface is up.  ie if only one dongle is plugged in, only one
>> configuration block is going to be active.  I think if only one is
>> plugged in, without any special config you'll get a default route and that's
>> where packets will go.  If both are plugged in, one default route will win -
>> although fancier routing config is possible.
>>
>> I think if you just configure both interfaces as appropriate and see
>> if they work if one or other dongle is plugged in.
>>
>> I think you may need to put all your WAN_* interfaces in the WAN firewall
>> zone, so they're all treated as 'outside' your network.  The defaults are
>> mostly there - on my Firewall setup I have in the 'wan' zone:

Today I turned off and disconnected from the mains all my electronic kit
to protect it while some thunderstorms passed, so on bringing it back up
I've just had a go at this. The relevant sections from the config files
now read:

/etc/config/network:

config interface 'WAN_DSL'
option proto 'pppoa'
option encaps 'vc'
option atmdev '0'
option vci '38'
option vpi '0'
option macaddr '<MAC Address>'
option ipv6 'auto'
option metric '2'

option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_DSL_6'
option ifname '@WAN_DSL'
option proto 'dhcpv6'
option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_Ethernet'
option proto 'dhcp'
option ifname 'eth0.2'
option hostname 'MacFH-HH5a-T3'
option macaddr '<MAC Address>'
option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_Ethernet_6'
option ifname '@WAN_Ethernet'
option proto 'dhcpv6'
option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
option proto 'dhcp'
option ifname 'eth1'

config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372h_6'
option ifname '@WAN_Huawei_E3372h'
option proto 'dhcpv6'

config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372s'
option proto 'ncm'
option pdptype 'IP'
option apn '3internet'
option ipv6 'auto'
option device '/dev/ttyUSB0'
option delay '20'
option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_Huawei_E3372s_6'
option ifname '@WAN_Huawei_E3372s'
option proto 'dhcpv6'

option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_USB'
option proto 'dhcp'
option ifname 'usb0'
option auto '0'

config interface 'WAN_USB_6'
option ifname '@WAN_USB'
option proto 'dhcpv6'
option auto '0'

/etc/config/network:

config zone
option name 'wan'
option input 'REJECT'
option output 'ACCEPT'
option forward 'REJECT'
option masq '1'
option mtu_fix '1'

option network 'WAN_DSL WAN_DSL_6 WAN_Ethernet WAN_Ethernet_6
WAN_Huawei_E3372h WAN_Huawei_E3372h_6 WAN_Huawei_E3372s
WAN_Huawei_E3372s_6 WAN_USB WAN_USB_6'

[no line wrap in original]

In the admin pages each IP6 interfaces come up as an alias of its
corresponding IP4 interface, as one might expect. If the corresponding
IP4 is not connected, but the IP6 is, then there is a message saying
'Device not present', which again makes sense.

Concerning behaviour, the first thing of note is that unfortunately I
have to have the '_6' devices that aren't being used
stopped/disconnected, otherwise nothing works, not even IP4.

So currently I have just the WAN_Huawei_E3372h & WAN_Huawei_E3372h_6
interfaces connected, but the results are as the same as before ...

>>> How can I test whether IP6 is being supported properly?
>>
>> $ host example.com
>> example.com has address 93.184.216.34
>> example.com has IPv6 address 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946
>> example.com mail is handled by 0 .
>>
>> $ ping6 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946
>> [should answer]

15:57:26 D:\Temp>ping -4 93.184.216.34

Pinging 93.184.216.34 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 93.184.216.34: bytes=32 time=132ms TTL=49
Reply from 93.184.216.34: bytes=32 time=139ms TTL=49
Reply from 93.184.216.34: bytes=32 time=137ms TTL=49
Reply from 93.184.216.34: bytes=32 time=132ms TTL=49

Ping statistics for 93.184.216.34:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 132ms, Maximum = 139ms, Average = 135ms

15:57:33 D:\Temp>ping -6 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946

Pinging 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946 with 32 bytes of data:
PING: transmit failed. General failure.
PING: transmit failed. General failure.
PING: transmit failed. General failure.
PING: transmit failed. General failure.

Ping statistics for 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

15:58:58 D:\Temp>ping -4 bbc.co.uk

Pinging bbc.co.uk [151.101.128.81] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 151.101.128.81: bytes=32 time=72ms TTL=54
Reply from 151.101.128.81: bytes=32 time=86ms TTL=54
Reply from 151.101.128.81: bytes=32 time=81ms TTL=54
Reply from 151.101.128.81: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=54

Ping statistics for 151.101.128.81:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 64ms, Maximum = 86ms, Average = 75ms

15:57:58 D:\Temp>ping -6 bbc.co.uk
Ping request could not find host bbc.co.uk. Please check the name and
try again.

[Theo]

I think we're missing a lot of details:

1. Does the mobile network support IPv6?
2. How are addresses handed out?
3. What address ranges do they allocate you?
4. Does the stick support IPv6?
5. How does the stick convey those addresses to the host?
6. Is the network addressing different from the address for the router

For a traditional wired ISP the answers would be:
1. Yes or no, depending on the ISP
2. Depends on the connection to the modem, eg ethernet (DHCPv6 or SLAAC) or
PPPoE (PPP address allocation)
3. At least a /64 for the router, and an additional /56 or larger range is
common
4. Most modern routers have IPv6 support
5. Either SLAAC or DHCPv6
6. Often the router gets its own IP via SLAAC and then is able to DHCPv6 to
get the subnet range(s)

But I have no idea of the answers for specific mobile networks, and I have
even less of an idea how random LTE sticks choose to mangle them, with their
own kinds of weird implementations like pretending to be a dialup modem or
pretending to be an ethernet card or whatever - which may and often are
buggy and broken.

If it 'doesn't work' then we don't have anything to go on, and some analysis
of logs and interaction with the connection is going to be needed to
understand what is actually going on.

As a first step, I'd be looking to make sure the stick's interface on the
router can get a global IPv6 address, as if that isn't working there is no
v6 connectivity and nothing will work. Once there is a global address, then
you need to find out whether there is a prefix being delegated (and if so,
you can apply that to the LAN), or doing something else if you only get a
single address.

Theo

[Java Jive]

On 10/07/2023 17:58, Theo wrote:
>
> I think we're missing a lot of details:

Fair point, I was in a bit of a hurry earlier ...

> 1. Does the mobile network support IPv6?

Can't find a definitive pronouncement, but I'm beginning to suspect not,
at least not here out in the sticks, for example this report dates from
2020 ...

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/three-ipv6-rollout.36873/

"We’ve started to migrate traffic onto our new core network. These
customers are currently using our new core network intermittently
resulting in some browsing occurring on IPv6. This will gradually
increase as we migrate more traffic"

... and when I was first on Three here in early 2021 I could barely get
4G, connections usually defaulted to 3G. However, for some while now
they have been and are nearly always 4G, and one might have thought that
upgrading to 4G might be the obvious time to upgrade to IP6 as well.

However, against that supposition, in support of 'No IP6':

:-( The mobile phone is Android 7.0, several versions later than the
beginning of IP6 support, but it doesn't have an IP6 address listed
alongside its IP4 address.

:-( I don't know if the dongle supports IP6 or not, but in its web
interface it too has no IP6 address listed with its IP4 address.

:-( Ditto in the interfaces section of the router, the IP4 connection
shows an IP4 address, but the IP6 connection shows no IP6 address.

So I guess that's it, unless I can find a test SIM from another network
that supports IP6 in this area.

> 2. How are addresses handed out?
> 3. What address ranges do they allocate you?
> 4. Does the stick support IPv6?
> 5. How does the stick convey those addresses to the host?
> 6. Is the network addressing different from the address for the router

[Java Jive]

On 10/07/2023 22:43, Java Jive wrote:
> On 10/07/2023 17:58, Theo wrote:
>>
>> I think we're missing a lot of details:
>
> Fair point, I was in a bit of a hurry earlier ...
>
>> 1. Does the mobile network support IPv6?
>
> Can't find a definitive pronouncement, but I'm beginning to suspect not,
> at least not here out in the sticks, for example this report dates from
> 2020 ...
>
> https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/three-ipv6-rollout.36873/
>
> "We’ve started to migrate traffic onto our new core network. These
> customers are currently using our new core network intermittently
> resulting in some browsing occurring on IPv6. This will gradually
> increase as we migrate more traffic"
>
> ... and when I was first on Three here in early 2021 I could barely get
> 4G, connections usually defaulted to 3G.  However, for some while now
> they have been and are nearly always 4G, and one might have thought that
> upgrading to 4G might be the obvious time to upgrade to IP6 as well.
>
> However, against that supposition, in support of 'No IP6':
>
>  :-( The mobile phone is Android 7.0, several versions later than the
> beginning of IP6 support, but it doesn't have an IP6 address listed
> alongside its IP4 address.
>
>  :-( I don't know if the dongle supports IP6 or not, but in its web
> interface it too has no IP6 address listed with its IP4 address.

Apparently it does (in apparently machine translated in English):

https://consumer.huawei.com/en/community/details/E3372h-320-IPV6-support-4gLTE-access-and-issues-with-microsoft-KB5003637/topicId_157767/

"Regarding your inquiry, please be informed 4G LTE and IPV6 do supported
by it. Besides, IPV6 will be supported by default and you are not
required to enable it manually."

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2023-07-10 23:43, Java Jive wrote:
> On 10/07/2023 17:58, Theo wrote:


> However, against that supposition, in support of 'No IP6':
>
>  :-( The mobile phone is Android 7.0, several versions later than the
> beginning of IP6 support, but it doesn't have an IP6 address listed
> alongside its IP4 address.
>
>  :-( I don't know if the dongle supports IP6 or not, but in its web
> interface it too has no IP6 address listed with its IP4 address.
>
>  :-( Ditto in the interfaces section of the router, the IP4 connection
> shows an IP4 address, but the IP6 connection shows no IP6 address.
>
> So I guess that's it, unless I can find a test SIM from another network
> that supports IP6 in this area.

For example, with my mobile provider (Movistar, Spain), I had to do a
config change. I had to select an alternate APN or edit it.

https://www.xataka.com/basics/como-activar-protocolo-ipv6-tu-movil-eres-cliente-movistar-u-o2

Android only at the date of publication of the article; iPhone needed an
iOS update first, adding APN dual stack as used by Telefónica/Movistar.



--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Ghulam Abbas]

https://rk-77-rk.blogspot.com/