Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => Broadband Hardware => Topic started by: Weaver on May 06, 2022, 08:32:38 AM
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I’m trying to work out how to configure my Firebrick FB2900 to a Mikrotik 4G device. I can of course get some help from AA about this but they are going to say, sorry don’t speak Mikrotik. Various problems:
- I’m used to setting up FB config for PPPoE devices, but I haven’t any experience with other types of interface
- Mikrotik config :no: ??
- This is to be used as a failover device only. A Firebrick supports 3G USB ‘dongle’-type devices with automagical failover; it just works - and with trivial config. Doing failover with any other type of device will entail complex FB config, although AA may be able to help me with this. I have some ideas.
Meritez gave me this device last year but due to grave illness of my wife and relatively minor more recent illness of myself we haven’t yet been able to test the device. I have the following docs and resources- Mikrotik docs:
https://mikrotik.com/product/RBSXTLTE3-7
https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/LTE - FB2900 docs https://download.firebrick.co.uk/manuals-plain.php?PRODUCT=2900
- AA support website Mikrotik config web page: https://support.aa.net.uk/Router_-_RouterOS_and_Routerboard
- Mikrotik setup video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KNo1B7K-YY
Regarding Firebrick failover behaviour, this is something that AA will be able to help me with. I have an idea though; use Firebrick ‘profiles’ - these are predicates / tests / if-conditional config attrib attributes. You define a named predicate or ‘profile’ and mark certain config elements with an XML attribute that reads <some_element profile=‘profile_name’/> and that makes the element become active if the predicate becomes true. A very clumsy way of doing failover would be to define a predicate that is true if all of the lines are down, done by ANDing several individual predicates. I have done something vaguely like this before and I can get help as needed.
I next need to understand the architecture of the Mikrotik network interface, so some reading to do.
Burakkucat gave me some tips concerning minimal tests to see if I have coverage and tests that the SXT works.
I have an AA SIM that I can steal from my 3G USB NIC, or I could order another one for convenience.
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Hi Weaver,
I cannot help with the FB configuration, but to access the Tik, I would recommend https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1323064830 on your iPad.
The above app should allow you to connect to the Tik via Mac Address, if it's plugged into your local network.
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Wow, thanks. I can use that to test, immediately.
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Wow, thanks. I can use that to test, immediately.
Hi Weaver, have you been able to access the Tik?
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My wife and I have still been too ill, although we’re improving. I have to pick a day when she’s not too ill and not too busy. Played her the video the other day so now she ‘gets it’.
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I’ve now set the Tik up physically but have just realised I don’t have a SIM that fits. The socket looks much larger than that for any of the microSIMs that I have so I can’t just steal a SIM out of something. I’ve ordered a SIM from AA that comes with one real static global IPv4.
I ran the iOS app hoping that it might do something without any SIM installed, but I didn’t get anywhere. It mentioned some random IPv4 address 192.168.88.1 which I suppose I could use temporarily. I’m confused that it’s not just finding the Tik by MAC address as mentioned earlier (is that right?), or using my DHCPv4 server to get an IPv4 address.
What should I be doing - setting my iPad to something in 192.168.88.*/24 temporarily or trying again when I have a SIM, or getting find-by-MAC to work?
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I ran the iOS app hoping that it might do something without any SIM installed, but I didn’t get anywhere. It mentioned some random IPv4 address 192.168.88.1 which I suppose I could use temporarily.
I believe the IPv4 address 192.168.88.1 is that of the SXT itself . . .
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Agreed. Sorry, I didn’t mean to use that specific address for my iPad, but rather to use an address in that /24 as my iPad, as normal. I don’t understand the choice of address - can I just overwrite that with something of my choosing? - something in my existing /24 which would not then need to be very very short-term. I have no idea about choice of addresses longer term.
Is that address supposed to be an admin UI IPv4 address long term? Or is it just used very short term and then discarded?
The instructions that I read don’t make much sense if they are aimed at users who don’t have the experience to set up routing from whatever LAN IPv4 range they’re currently using to 192.168.88.1.
I was assuming that as far as routing (not admin UI) goes, I would want to get an additional single additional IPv4 address maybe, I’ll have to check what I did before.
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Hi Weaver, it takes a standard mini SIM.
Looking at the mikrotik iOS app compared to the android app, it looks like something has changed in iOS to prevent connection via mac address.
The 192.168.88.1 address is designed as access for quick setup, connect to it, change IP to something else, save and apply,
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For the very first test you do not need to establish an IP connection with the SXT. Just --
- Insert the SIM card.
- Connect an Ethernet cable to the SXT.
- Connect the other end of the Ethernet cable to the power injector and energise the SXT.
- Slowly pan the SXT in the general direction of the cell tower whilst watching the LEDs on the SXT.
If you get a three LED response then you will know that there is good signal strength through the window pane. In that case, commission "Duncan McBeth" to manufacture an appropriate bracket to mount the SXT with a view through the window. (You would obviously need to obtain clearance from "Senior Management" for such an addition to be made in the office.)
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Thankyou, good advice. Waiting for the SIM card to be delivered because all others that we could steal temporarily were cut down to micro sim size, and we don’t still have adaptors to ‘enlarge’ them back again. Senior management has found a good place to mount the SXT where it looks straight through the window at the basestation.
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So good progress is being made. I look forward to reading the result(s) of the test(s).
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It has taken, what, an incredible nine months or so until both Janet and I have been feeling sufficiently well at the same time to be able to accomplish a simple task such as this, but at least we’re getting there now. Janet’s still having a number of problems long-term after her breast cancer treatment.
Janet now knows her way round the inside of an SXT.
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Thankyou, good advice. Waiting for the SIM card to be delivered because all others that we could steal temporarily were cut down to micro sim size, and we don’t still have adaptors to ‘enlarge’ them back again. Senior management has found a good place to mount the SXT where it looks straight through the window at the basestation.
They are usually multi-sized and you snap out the size you want. I always keep one or two of the outer pieces knocking around for this reason as you can carefully snap it back in place to go back to a larger size.
I've also sketchily placed a mini/micro-SIM in a larger SIM slot in a phone before WITHOUT an adapter, getting it back out again sure is fun. ;)
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Have finally [!] got a SIM plugged into the MikroTik. There was some cockup with AA getting the SIM activated, when I spotted something odd showing in clueless.aa.net.uk regarding the SIM, I got AA tech support on to it who fixed it in a few minutes this morning.
This afternoon will try and get the MikroTik App running. Requires a small amount of fiddling around with things letting the SXT be a DHCP server to my iPad, I think ?
Cannot see any signal strength bars at all on the back of the SXT.
When the SXT is powered up, the signal strength display shows a quick flash.
On my main switch, where the SXT is plugged in every roughly 3 s Janet sees two LAN activity flashes, so there is some life. There is a light-blue power light leaking out from the inside of the SXT.
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How are you powering it?
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Janet has a DC power supply. Is that the good thing?
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Stepwise --
- One end of a Cat5e Ethernet cable is plugged into the MikroTik SXT device.
- The other end of the Ethernet cable is plugged into the MikroTik power injector.
- The MikroTik PSU is plugged into the MikroTik power injector.
- The MikroTik PSU is plugged into the mains electricity supply.
As for the signal strength LEDs on the SXT, do the two attached images (cropped screen-scrapes from the YouTube installation video) help?
Next day edit: The attached images have now been deleted, as they have served their purpose.
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Not sure how you supply a Poe device (48 v) with a DC PSU ?
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Not sure how you supply a Poe device (48 v) with a DC PSU ?
Usually there will be a injector with ethernet and DC in and just ethernet out. Often these devices support passive PoE to allow this, it just injects it on specific wire pairs.
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Not sure how you supply a Poe device (48 v) with a DC PSU ?
https://mikrotik.com/product/RBPOE
@Weaver what power supply are you using for the RBPOE?
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Janet reminds me that she has already plugged the PoE injector in. I’ll send a photo. We’ve used PoE injectors before.
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I'm aware that you may have used Passive POE injectors before, what is the voltage on the DC power supply as the flashing ethernet green LEDs and flashing signal strength are indicative of a lack of voltage, Mikrotik recommend at least 18v to power the RBPOE.
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Sorry for the confusion. :-) I’m pretty sure that Janet didn’t use a random PSU, because she managed to help me get to the office across the landing from my bedroom and I supervised while she put things together. Did you include a PSU in the box with the SXT? I don’t recall going digging for PSUs. I can take photos of course. And we can measure the voltage.
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Sorry for the confusion. :-) I’m pretty sure that Janet didn’t use a random PSU, because she managed to help me get to the office across the landing from my bedroom and I supervised while she put things together. Did you include a PSU in the box with the SXT? I don’t recall going digging for PSUs. I can take photos of course. And we can measure the voltage.
Yes there was one in the box, I'm concerned it's not outputting the correct voltage, can we have photos.
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I don’t think I can photograph the PSU because of the black shiny reflective black-on-black lettering. It says: Output: 24V @ 800mA ; Input 100-240 V 50/60 Hz; Model: C[?]ullPower SAW30-240-0800G. It has the wrong type of mains plug on it, not a UK mains three-pin plug, but a twin-round plug.
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A quick search finds --
MIKROTIK 24V 1.2A PSU for RouterBoard products, UK type (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174238523003?hash=item28916cde7b)
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LAEAAOSwKpdehcdM/s-l1600.jpg) (https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LAEAAOSwKpdehcdM/s-l1600.jpg)
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The SXT was purchased from the Republic of Ireland, I've never used that power supply as I have a mikrotik rb750up:
https://mikrotik.com/product/RB750UP
I can hunt down a UK power supply, there £9 new on eBay with a rbgpoe adapter:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144201275943
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I can hunt down a UK power supply, there £9 new on eBay with a rbgpoe adapter:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144201275943
A good price for the identical model PSU to that which I found (and with a PoE injector included).
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We just put a foreign-to-uk plug adaptor in, which we had in stock anyway. Do you think this PSU is the bad thing then guys?
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Do you think this PSU is the bad thing then guys?
I would certainly suspect it, given your report of the SXT's LEDs behaviour.
Before shipping it to you, meritez had used the SXT device and it was known to be good. The MikroTik PSU and MikroTik power injector were not used, so their status is unknown. The Ethernet cable is one of your own, from your extensive stock-holding.
Of the four physical entities named in the above paragraph I would be suspicious of the following (in decreasing order of probability):
- The PSU.
- The injector.
- The Ethernet cable.
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Weaver's PSU, as he described it, is the SAW30-240-0800G 24V 800mA. The PSU supplied with the SXT according to the MicroTik website is an SAW-240-1200B 24v 1.2A (like the one in the eBay links).
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Weaver's PSU, as he described it, is the SAW30-240-0800G 24V 800mA. The PSU supplied with the SXT according to the MicroTik website is an SAW-240-1200B 24v 1.2A (like the one in the eBay links).
Thank you for spotting that. :)
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Thanks to Meritez, Burakkucat and Digbey for sorting that out! ebay ordered.
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eBay still hasn’t turned up yet. I’ve just remembered- I could use my Cisco POE injector for now but I’d have to check that the output voltage is correct.
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eBay still hasn’t turned up yet.
I guess that is the "Highlands and Islands" effect in operation. :(
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We get fantastic royal mail deliveries, other carriers can be iffy. The ebay guy told us it would be late. I’m not well at the moment, and J is worked off her feet, so might get a chance to resume operations at the weekend if she’s available.
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After a further couple of weeks of eBay delays then crippling overwork for Janet and horrible fatigue and pain on my part we’ve finally got back to testing the SXT.
Plugged in the new POE injector and PSU from eBay, exactly the same failure result. Same [doubleflash—wait] on the relevant port on my main switch. No signal-strength bars showing on SXT. As before, LEDs are on inside the SXT housing by the POE-in RJ45, so there are Volts coming in.
Also tried the old POE injector with new eBay PSU, same story. I ought to check that our eBay man has not sent the wrong part. Will try and squint to see the model number on the PSU in the morning. In my earlier post, I wrote that I thought a photo wouldn’t be successful because before it was fairly dark grey, small text on reflective black plastic. The new PSU is a UK, three-pin plug model, so that’s as expected.
What are we missing?
I have a couple of Cisco active POE injectors, btw, untested, so not ‘known good’, but don’t want to blow anything up - forgive my ignorance about the variety of power standards.
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Hmm . . . I'm not sure what to suggest for the next step. Perhaps it would be best to wait for meritez' input.
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I’m sure those POE devices are 24v which I believe is what you need.
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@Burakkucat - Indeed, agreed.
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Just two quick questions. Exactly what type of Ethernet cable are you using between the SXT and the PoE injector? Is the plug fully home in the socket on the SXT?
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Janet checked the fit of the RJ45 plug inside the SXT last night. It’s getting some power because there’s that LED lit inside the SXT. The ethernet cable is a CAT6 good quality one. I can soon swap it out for another, should have plenty in the oak box that for some reason Janet calls "Bert’s Barrow" where all the spare kit lives, spare modems, cables and so on. Have ordered a load more ethernet cables of various short-medium lengths to top up stocks and they should be here tomorrow.
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Could you just use an ordinary Cat5e patch cable for a temporary test?
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After a further couple of weeks of eBay delays then crippling overwork for Janet and horrible fatigue and pain on my part we’ve finally got back to testing the SXT.
Plugged in the new POE injector and PSU from eBay, exactly the same failure result. Same [doubleflash—wait] on the relevant port on my main switch. No signal-strength bars showing on SXT. As before, LEDs are on inside the SXT housing by the POE-in RJ45, so there are Volts coming in.
Also tried the old POE injector with new eBay PSU, same story. I ought to check that our eBay man has not sent the wrong part. Will try and squint to see the model number on the PSU in the morning. In my earlier post, I wrote that I thought a photo wouldn’t be successful because before it was fairly dark grey, small text on reflective black plastic. The new PSU is a UK, three-pin plug model, so that’s as expected.
What are we missing?
I have a couple of Cisco active POE injectors, btw, untested, so not ‘known good’, but don’t want to blow anything up - forgive my ignorance about the variety of power standards.
can you see the mac address via arp?
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Hmm . . . I'm not sure what to suggest for the next step. Perhaps it would be best to wait for meritez' input.
hang it out the first floor window and point it at the nearest mobile mast?
The thing to be aware of, it's only capable of seeing LTE bands 3 & 7, if Three are transmitting LTE band 1/20/28/32 locally it will not see anything.
The lack of signal is suggesting @Weaver may be in a band 1 or band 20 coverage area, while band 3 may exist, the SXT may require a professional installation to pick up the signal.
At which point, Weaver would be better off picking up a CAT12 ZTE mf286d for £45 from CEX:
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=saccztemf286dr&categoryName=wireless-routers&superCatName=computing&title=zte-mf286d-4g-hub-wifi-router-%28unlocked%29&referredFrom=category
The SXT is CAT 3 and can only see bands 3 & 7
The mf286d is CAT 12, and can aggregate the following bands, 1/3/20/28/32 supports bridge mode, passthrough and could have an external antenna connected to it.
There's my two cents.
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Looks like bands 3 and 20 on Three if I've got Weavers neck of the woods right on cellmapper:
https://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=234&MNC=20&type=LTE&latitude=57.18666592330695&longitude=-5.817383664025437&zoom=11.18916856155636&showTowers=true&showTowerLabels=true&clusterEnabled=true&tilesEnabled=true&showOrphans=false&showNoFrequencyOnly=false&showFrequencyOnly=false&showBandwidthOnly=false&DateFilterType=Last&showHex=false&showVerifiedOnly=false&showUnverifiedOnly=false&showLTECAOnly=false&showENDCOnly=false&showBand=0&showSectorColours=true&mapType=roadmap
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It’s pointing directly at the basestation a couple of miles to the east. Don’t get any ‘bars’ at all.
Will look at the ARP table in the Firebrick - good suggestion. I’ll check that Janet plugged the SXT into the main LAN switch.
@burakkucat Re cable - Unfortunately it is a ‘no’ to Cat5e until I can order one, as I only ever buy Cat6 cables, don’t have a Cat5e one at hand. Are you thinking about the fit of the plugs possibly? NB - The SXT is definitely not ‘dead’ as there’s that LED shining inside, so it is getting some Volts.
Have used these for PoE with TP-Link WAPs before though with no problems. I can soon swap out this cable for another one, to rule out the cable being faulty. (I don’t ever keep any random ethernet cables of unknown quality that are sent accompanying other devices; I just bin them. Every one I buy is supposedly of good quality.)
In fact I was planning to convert two of my current WAPs to PoE using these same kind of Cat6 cables, much longer ones, and use the Cisco PoE injectors that I have, so that will be a current test of PoE in general with these exact same cables. Can’t do it tomorrow as Janet isn’t available to help me.
The SXT has an A&A/Three SIM in it and I use those with my iPad so Three coverage is great here. So is EE. Sanity check: I’ve just checked that the SIM is ‘activated’ on A&A’s clueless.aa.net.uk control server, and it is, so sanity intact.
A thought. A&A will show whether or not the SXT is up on the mobile network, I think. They PPP-LCP-ping the device constantly but of course there will be no PPP connection in existence yet, because I haven’t interfaced the SXT to the Firebrick, so clueless.aa.net.uk should show the PPP link as failing LCP-pings by a distinctive coloured background in the CQM graphs. But anyway, I should possibly be able to see something showing on the AA mobile side, even without PPP.
A couple of questions: Did you say it acts as a DHCPv4 server when it starts up? I forget the IPv4 address, but it’s mentioned earlier further back in this thread somewhere, no? Does it also look for existing DHCPv4 servers? Does it also try to set up IPv6 addresses via the usual zeroconfig and acquire a public IPv6 address via ND when it starts?
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. . . if I've got Weavers neck of the woods right on cellmapper:
Yes, you have it spot on.
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@burakkucat Re cable - Unfortunately it is a ‘no’ to Cat5e until I can order one, as I only ever buy Cat6 cables, don’t have a Cat5e one at hand.
I was thinking about the limited access under the flap, the relative rigidity of Cat6 cable and arthritic fingers.
Are you thinking about the fit of the plugs possibly? NB - The SXT is definitely not ‘dead’ as there’s that LED shining inside, so it is getting some Volts.
In that case, I will say that the SXT is powered up but is not seeing a signal from the tower. :(
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A couple of questions: Did you say it acts as a DHCPv4 server when it starts up? I forget the IPv4 address, but it’s mentioned earlier further back in this thread somewhere, no? Does it also look for existing DHCPv4 servers? Does it also try to set up IPv6 addresses via the usual zeroconfig and acquire a public IPv6 address via ND when it starts?
I've just seen the added questions. Without going and looking, I believe that in the default configuration one could connect the SXT to an Ethernet port of a computer and if that computer's interface is configured as a DHCPv4 client then all will "just work". Which is no help to you, of course.
I've now looked --
The 192.168.88.1 address is designed as access for quick setup, connect to it, change IP to something else, save and apply,
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Re arthritic fingers. Very true, good point, but Janet assures me that she was successful, and I tried the fit of the RJ45 plug myself some while back.
Re IPv4 address of SXT. Indeed, now I remember. I hand configured the iPad’s WLAN interface to a nearby IPv4 address, in the same /24 and tried to ping that address for the SXT. Will try that again when I’m less tired.
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Just skimmed the thread so might of missed something, but is the mikrotik not responding on its admin IP (192.168.88.1 from https://i.mt.lv/cdn/product_files/SXT-LTE_181002.pdf)?
Regarding signal, with bands 3 (1800mhz) and 20 (800mhz) available and a few miles the to the tower, I’d expect 800mhz to be primary (only?) received by ipads/phones in the house. The mikrotik only supports band 3, which will be weaker but I guess its 9db gain could make up for that.
I’m pretty new to 4G stuff so could be totally wrong, I’m just extrapolating from my experience with band 1 (2100mhz) and 20 here less than half a mile from a tower.
Edit:
A couple of questions: Did you say it acts as a DHCPv4 server when it starts up? I forget the IPv4 address, but it’s mentioned earlier further back in this thread somewhere, no? Does it also look for existing DHCPv4 servers?
I assume it will start with DHCP on 192.168.88.0/24 (given its stated 192.168.88.1 admin address) regardless of anything else on the network.
Apologies for butting in.
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@johnson hello Mr johnson, sir. :) Yes, will retest pinging that 192.168.88.1 admin address, iPad hand-configured to be in the same /24. I might as well set the IPv4 default gateway to that same address.
Re basestation, you are spot on. And I am IV49 9BN. What three words = pies.socialite.culling.
We don’t want the SXT to always be a DHCPv4 server though, do we? Have you all managed to work the other way round, so as to assign the SXT an IPv4 address from a DHCP server?
And may I ask about IPv6 support?
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We don’t want the SXT to always be a DHCPv4 server though, do we? Have you all managed to work the other way round, so as to assign the SXT an IPv4 address from a DHCP server?
And may I ask about IPv6 support?
No, its just for initial configuration.
I don’t have any mikrotik gear, but its user interface should allow you to assign it a different IP and put it into bridge mode, then your firebrick should get a public IPv4/6 IP over the cell tower (afaik AA don’t use CGNAT).
But first thing is establishing communication with the SXT.
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Agreed. Yes AA hands out one public routable static IPv4, or more if you need it, I suspect. When I get the SXT sorted out, I’ll set things up on the AA website to route my existing IPv4 /26 and IPv6 /64 blocks to the SXT in secondary ‘failover’ mode, as I currently do with my 3G USB ‘dongle’ NIC into the Firebrick. (Meaning that if all DSL lines go down, it switches to the nominated failover link, which will be the SXT.)
[digression] IPv6. Because the AA/AQL/Three mobile network (embarrassingly) doesn’t support IPv6, I currently have to use AA’s IPv6 over IPv4 tunnel, and I will continue with that as is. I don’t know why there’s no IPv6 because it’s presumably all just PPP, so why should AQL or Three care what’s inside the PPP connection? Maybe it’s to do with the kinds of traffic in the various PPP setup phases ?
A thought: AA can do their own clever ‘data over PPP-LCP’ thing in Firebricks, so maybe that would stop Three/AQL from snooping / knowing / caring what’s in the PPP PDUs? It works successfully in confusing BT; AA has fixed customers’ problems with certain exchanges by using it iirc. So I wonder if that would make IPv6 work?
[/digression]
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Looks like bands 3 and 20 on Three if I've got Weavers neck of the woods right on cellmapper:
https://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=234&MNC=20&type=LTE&latitude=57.18666592330695&longitude=-5.817383664025437&zoom=11.18916856155636&showTowers=true&showTowerLabels=true&clusterEnabled=true&tilesEnabled=true&showOrphans=false&showNoFrequencyOnly=false&showFrequencyOnly=false&showBandwidthOnly=false&DateFilterType=Last&showHex=false&showVerifiedOnly=false&showUnverifiedOnly=false&showLTECAOnly=false&showENDCOnly=false&showBand=0&showSectorColours=true&mapType=roadmap
Cell 0 listed is the primary and that's band 3, decent speeds show as possible on that reading from the 11th July 2022, 63 down and 18 up.
decent pictures here of how the rj45 connects and the size of the unit:
https://www.avito.ru/pyatigorsk/tovary_dlya_kompyutera/mikrotik_sxt_lte_3_7_band_rbsxtlte3-7_4g_4_g_2493682934
Yes in default configuration, it should turn up as 192.168.88.1 with a dhcp range of 192.168.88.2-254
internal photos of the unit in case anyone wants to see them:
https://www.unisi.ru/news/RBSXTLTE3-7/
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Just connected successfully to the SXT at the default admin address 192.168.88.1. :)
I think I’ve found where to change to a different static IPv4 address.
I’ve deleted the DHCPv4 server object as that’s potentially a really bad thing later on. I hope that was ok?
I’m wondering about IPv6 support.
Dammit! >:( I’ve just locked myself out trying to change the IPv4 address of the SXT’s ethernet i/f to something in my LAN range. Setting my own i/f parameters back appropriately for the 192.168.88.xx/24, I now can’t talk to the original 192.168.88.1 ! (I have remembered ever time to set my own IPv4 address et al. )
I can’t seem to find out anything useful about the state of LTE. Before I locked myself out, I took a couple of screen shots, and there was a noticable red message which said "changing band" whatever that means. I had a go at correcting the APN, which was vodafone-related. I couldn’t get the ‘Scan’ LTE feature work: error: "not supported! (6)".
I should have asked for a bit of handholding before trying to set the IPv4 address. I wanted to give it two IPv4 addresses: the original admin one, and a static routable one that’s in my LAN range.
Janet did a button reset-to-factory-settings for me. I’ve now successfully set the WLAN i/f IPv4 address to what I want. :) Yay!
I have also set the APN to m2m.aql.net - although I suspect that "" is ok; from some mention somewhere in a page at support.aa.net.uk, I don’t really need to specify anything.
I discovered this page, item #3 : https://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?t=162831 - is this true ?
I will need to prevent the device from being a router or firewall or NAT translator any such horrors. Instead we just make it into an L2 bridge.
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I will need to prevent the device from being a router or firewall or NAT translator any such horrors. Instead we just make it into an L2 bridge.
Yes, that is my understanding. Back in Reply #50 I said --
. . . I believe that in the default configuration one could connect the SXT to an Ethernet port of a computer and if that computer's interface is configured as a DHCPv4 client then all will "just work". Which is no help to you, of course.
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To clarify, do you think it will bridge LTE traffic to the ethernet i/f now ?
I just realise - I need to set PPP up on the LTE side.
Probably I also need to configure its LTE i/f’s static IPv4 address, which I will set up in clueless.aa.net.uk. The SXT might be told its IPv4 address via PPP anyway. I can give the SXT one LTE single IPv4 address for itself and also route my existing /26 to it in failover mode in clueless too.
I managed to get it to talk to the internet, but only by temporarily setting up a DHCP client. It then successfully did a scan for software updates. When I just define a static IPv4 address, no DHCP, I see that I haven’t specified a default gateway, so no wonder it initially couldn’t talk to the internet, not until I let it acquire this info from DHCP. To set the default gateway without DHCP, do I just define a static route instead?
I mustn’t get drawn into all that fun though, wrecking the device and locking myself out several times more in future. I’d better find out how to save the config so I can keep a copy of my progress in good_so_far snapshots. I need instead to assess the LTE side of things.
What does "PLMN search in progress" mean? That’s what I see when I look at the LTE interface.
The "bands" [ ] 3 and [ ] 7 tickboxes were not ticked, so I ticked them, in the hope that that was a good thing.
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The way I view it - and it may of help to you - is the regard the SXT, in its factory default state, as similar to a VMG1312-B10A in its factory default state. (A modem/router/NATer/firewall/DHCPserver/etc.)
So think of the steps that need to be performed to switch the VMG1312-B10A to a bridging modem and perform the equivalent on the SXT.
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Agreed. Mind you, I never configured a B10A to be a straight modem, because AA did the config for me. I first of all, bought one from AA, so that I would get some support initially. I then did fairly minimal changes to that config.
I think I need to find out how to expose an ethernet interface bound to LTE, and then bind a PPP client to it. I have found the latter but not the former. In the PPP client it doesn’t list any ethernet interfaces and indeed seems to be talking about devices that emulate a serial port and even understand Hayes modems (mentions ATDT commands) as in real genuine old dialup, such as I remember all to well from 30 years ago. Mind you some radio devices are configurable using exotic non-standard AT-commands. (Noted that when I was working on a radio that could send SMS packets over GSM.)
I upgrade the o/s to v7.4.1 (in the ‘stable’ sequence) and it now shows IPv6, yay! :) I may need to configure the IPv6 prefix if it isn’t going to discover it.
I haven’t yet discovered how to set an IPv4 default static route ie. to 0.0.0.0/0. It really really wants to be a DHCPv4 client, understandable, and that’s already working, although it gets some random IPv4 from DHCP still because I just haven’t got round to setting up the Firebrick with a static MAC-to-IPv4 binding yet. That will do it. It has two IPv4 addresses for its ethernet i/f right now: one configured statically and one obtained from DHCP. And it all works. I just like to know exactly what the IPv4 addresses of everything are.
I need to stop all this happy faffing about and a) RTFM, and b) concentrate on LTE as I’m not getting anywhere with that. I need to find out how to assess the state of LTE next.
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It really really wants to be a DHCPv4 client,
I'm surprised as, from my reading, I thought the SXT's default state was as a DHCPv4 server. Continuing the analogy with a VMG1312-B10A, substitute LTE for the xDSL interface and that is what I expect you to experience.
I need to stop all this happy faffing about and a) RTFM, and b) concentrate on LTE as I’m not getting anywhere with that. I need to find out how to assess the state of LTE next.
A good idea. As I have never used nor handled such a device there is very little that I can add. I'll just keep watching for you updates.
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You’re absolute correct. The default config is with the device set as a DHCP server. I of course immediately deleted that object before it could start seizing other devices on my main LAN, as this isn’t a private link with just two nodes on it as a mere straight ethernet cable would be. It’s via ethernet into my main switch, and is then wirelessly talking to my iPad.
If you then add a DHCP client object, it seems much happier. The reason for unhappiness - if you don’t have a DHCP client object and just set a static hand-configured IP address - is that although you can set the size of the prefix, there’s not the usual field to specify an IPv4 default gateway. I haven’t found anywhere at all where I can do so. Some sort of routing rule to redirect 0.0.0.0/0 would do it but that’s going to be hard to find unless I do the right thing and get reading first. It really doesn’t matter though if I don’t solve this, as I’m fine using static DHCPv4 mappings determined by MAC address.
I’m reading https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/First+Time+Configuration#FirstTimeConfiguration-RouterwithoutDefaultConfiguration
One annoyance is that I can’t use the web CLI (called "Terminal" in the web ui) because I get a window and a command prompt but the web page doesn’t tell Safari that the page is waiting for keyboard input which would make the iOS virtual keyboard pop up. I can’t engage the virtual keyboard by hand either in this case; there’s sometimes a button that you can click on to make the keyboard pop up.
I googled this "PLMN search" thing and the answer I found was "can’t find any cell towers" - i.e. basestations, in English. I don’t understand that at all, and that’s not good.
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PLMN search in progress" means the device does not see any compatible cell towers in the vicinity. SXT LTE supports only bands 3 and 7. Even if your operator claims they use these bands, they might not use it specifically on your tower.
https://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?t=108619
A&A/3 don't use band 7, so only band 3 needs ticking.
We need to find band 3, where can you place the SXT, I used to put it on a window sill.
There may be another mast in the opposite direction to the way you are currently pointing it that transmits band 3.
Webfig not working sounds utterly annoying, you can telnet or ssh into the SXT if that's any help, though RouterOS terminal is a steep learning curve.
https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/Console
Safe Mode
It is sometimes possible to change router configuration in a way that will make the router inaccessible (except from local console). Usually this is done by accident, but there is no way to undo last change when connection to router is already cut. Safe mode can be used to minimize such risk.
Safe mode is entered by pressing [CTRL]+[X]. To save changes and quit safe mode, press [CTRL]+[X] again. To exit without saving the made changes, hit [CTRL]+[D]
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The thing is, my iPads use AA/AQL/Three SIMs exactly the same as in the SXT and I can see the basestation three miles away across the glen, straight line of sight and the SXT is right in the upstairs office window pointing at that basestation. I currently have a 3G USB NIC with a SIM of the exact same type and that is on AA/Three; this works fine with the same view eastwards. My iPad has been on 4G with AA/Three this afternoon (so I could still access the internet via 4G while wifi was stuffed because I’d set my iPad’s WLAN i/f to 192.168.88.xx) and works fine even though it’s not near the east facing window, but in the back (west end) of the bedroom. My iPad gets 3 bars out of 4 even though it’s not near the good east-facing window.
I notice it refuses to do an LTE scan (? channel scan?) with an error message that sounds as if this model doesn’t support that feature, or current particular hardware doesn’t support it. (Well they should have just displayed it as unavailable in the ui, with a very brief keyword to serve as an explanation, rather than letting you click it and then telling you you did a bad thing.)
I’ve just locked myself out again foolishly and Janet, my chief button presser, is asleep, so no more exploring until the morning. Will read manual instead.
Janet uses AA/Three in her iPad and EE in her iPhone. She has unlimited data, whereas AA SIMs are mind-bogglingly expensive per byte but since I’m using it for backup it’s fantastic, because there’s no huge standing charge every month, it’s only couple of pounds plus the cost of traffic, so it’s ideal.
I see this ‘bridge’ object, and happily following a random webpage of instructions, I deleted it and that was how I locked myself out just now. I thought I needed to find out exactly what this thing is; I assumed I’d be able to connect more interfaces to it (somehow, in the UI) and thus bridge the LTE interface to the ethernet. I realise now that that’s all nonsense; I need to create a PPP object and then associate that with LTE and then bridge-connect the PPP object to the ethernet i/f.
I noticed that it mentions a 1450 byte (L3 PDU ?) MTU for LTE, iirc. This is roughly the same unwelcome nonsense that I get from my current 3G USB ‘dongle’ NIC -1450 or 1440 bytes, I forget which. I think the mobile network as presented by AA/AQL has an IP PDU of 1500, perhaps no more, but that seems uncertain. It has to be larger than that at L2 because there is the 2 byte overhead of PPP, so that makes it 1502 PPP MTU, or if it’s PPP+PPPoE that would be a 1500+2+6=1508 byte PPP MTU. Am I correct, does the L2 MTU have to be at least 1502 bytes? If it’s greater than 1500, won’t it perhaps be L2 MTU=1600, or could it just be a (mere) 1508?
The reason that I’m thinking about this is that I wonder if I could keep the IP MTU at 1500 even though I’m using PPP? Another thought occurs to me; what about the overhead of ethernet MAC framing if you’re doing IP+ethernet over the LTE i/f ? That’s way, way greater than 1508.
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The SXTLTE3-7 does not support 3G.
Your iPad etc are probably connecting to Band 20.
It would be interesting picking up both the Lyca and Lebara 1p sims to see what coverage you see from O2 and Vodafone.
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I asked Janet for definitive info on all the networks, as she gets reports of woe or non-woe from her friends and from the many arriving B&B guests.
O2 is garbage here. We’re not sure about Vodafone, risky. Perhaps ok, perhaps not, as a friend might be using Voda in Heasta but Janet can’t remember for certain.
EE or Three are certainly the known good ones to go for here.
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Ok,
I would consider picking up the ZTE mf286d, it's got a proper bridge mode, it's cat12, supports all the necessary 3 bands you require and is £45 from cex.
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Thanks, I will do so. Excellent. I read about the ZTE recently in a thread. Yay ! Bridge mode ! ;D
I get the feeling that I’m out of ideas with the SXT. Do we all agree?
If so, can I put the MikroTik SXT to some good use? I can of course return it to you, but that’s probably not what you want, as it may make little sense circling round to where we started. And me wasting your time for nearly a year, for which I sincerely apologise. :( Breast cancer, pre-existing major depression, and my own ill health played their part in wasting time.
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@Weaver, you have not wasted my time, I hate seeing good technology go to waste.
It's designed for a rural connection.
Put it for sale in the for sale forum and donate the money to Kitz website for running costs if you want.
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Have ordered that (unlocked) ZTE from CEX.
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Have ordered that (unlocked) ZTE from CEX.
Good, it's £69.99 from Amazon, but I do not see any reason to pay more than £45:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MF286D-600mbps-External-Antennas-Renewed/dp/B09HHJHFL2
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVjSlpWnE-8