Securifi Community Forum

Securifi Products => Almond+ => Topic started by: singhna1 on August 20, 2014, 12:44:27 am

Title: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: singhna1 on August 20, 2014, 12:44:27 am
I get lousy cell reception in my apartment and my provider, Sprint, sent me an Airave 2.5 device to boost my signal strength.  I had an earlier Airave connected to my Air Port Extreme base station, which worked fine.  When I got my Almond+ this past weekend, everything seemed to work properly (wifi, hardline Ethernet connection, etc.), except for my Airave. 

Thinking there was a malfunction with the Airave device, I asked Sprint to send a replacement (the new 2.5 model -- which I just received and set-up tonight), but that is not working with my Almond+ either.  Is there a mode that I need to have my Almond+ in for devices like the Airave to work?  I don't recall having to do anything with the Airport Extreme in terms of any special settings… I just plugged in the Airave and it was good to go.

I just want to make sure there isn't something broken with the Almond+ (the on-screen status indicates that it is getting throughput via the ethernet port, for what it's worth).

I'm a total luddite with this kind of stuff, so apologies if I'm not using the lingo properly.

Appreciate whatever insights I can get.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: dbuttke on August 20, 2014, 08:06:10 am
There is still something strange with the almond and these things.  My voip still isn't working right either so I'm using access point mode.
Not sure what it is and I haven't had much time to troubleshoot lately.
My voip can make a call and hear one side but not the other. So the almond. Isn't passing some sort of info somewhere.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: singhna1 on August 20, 2014, 11:25:48 am
Thanks for the response.

If you do troubleshoot your VoIP issues, please update this thread.  In the meantime, I'll look for a workaround, too.  I'd hate to have to go back to the Air Port Extreme (it's a solid router, but I'd rather just use the Almond+), but I also need to be able to use my cell phone while I'm at my apartment, as it's my only phone. 

I wish this aspect worked right out of the box...
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: Ashok on August 20, 2014, 12:28:24 pm
Hi singhna1,

I am sorry to hear about the trouble you faced with the Almond+. Rest be assured we are there to assist you and in order to diagnose and resolve the issue completely, we need some additional information and possibly a quick phone support session would be more fruitful. Hence, please do let us know your status and for any further communication you can send an email to [suspicious]ashok.kumar@securifi.com and cc to joe.john@securifi.com. [/suspicious]

Best Regards,
Ashok Kumar,
Securifi Technical Support,





Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: gergles on August 20, 2014, 06:31:20 pm
Thanks for the response.

If you do troubleshoot your VoIP issues, please update this thread.  In the meantime, I'll look for a workaround, too.  I'd hate to have to go back to the Air Port Extreme (it's a solid router, but I'd rather just use the Almond+), but I also need to be able to use my cell phone while I'm at my apartment, as it's my only phone. 

I wish this aspect worked right out of the box...

For the VOIP issue, I found removing the nf_nat_sip module helped (though it still isn't perfect, I often will lose the connection halfway through a call which suggests there's still something mangling packets). If you are comfortable SSHing to your almond, doing so as root and running "rmmod nf_nat_sip" will disable it until your device reboots.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: singhna1 on August 20, 2014, 08:06:26 pm
Thanks to everyone who responded.  I tried the steps outlined here, where someone else was having trouble making calls via their Vonage modem:

http://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,1173.msg3195.html#msg3195

But it was to no avail.  I have send an e-mail to Ashok and Joe.

Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: thaddeus1 on August 20, 2014, 08:37:22 pm
I have found that my ATT 3G micro cell stops broadcasting a signal every once and a while, and the broadcast signal blinks red. I just have to power cycle it and it fixes, but it didn't do it before RO65.
Title: MicroCell is not working since I started using Almond Plus
Post by: hjobanpu on August 21, 2014, 03:04:03 am
Yay, I got my almond plus yesterday. Set it up. It has better range than my prior N router. Great start,

Ran into issues with Vonage calls not working properly. Found answer in this forum and set it up....it works.

Now next problem, could not find answer for this.

I have Cisco MicroCell DPH-153AT and it worked just fine with prior netgear router. Since I have connected it on Almond+, it does not work, it has Signal Bar indicator blinking.


I presume it has to do with some setup and port forwarding. I am not core network guy so help. please.  I found following info on AT&T microcell DPH-153AT support site. I don't know what/where to configure this.


AT&T Microcell Firewall and Router Settings for Advanced Installations

Instructions:
 
Overview

If the AT&T Microcell is not working after it's connecting to the router/gateway, first try the basic troubleshooting steps contained in the User Guide.  If the MicroCell still will not connect to the AT&T network (as indicated by a continuous blinking network light), then use the following instructions to check the router settings and change them, as needed.   Please contact the router manufacturer or the ISP provider to obtain assistance with configuring the router settings.
 
Normally, just plugging the Microcell into the router/gateway is all that is required. However, sometimes router/gateway settings have been changed or the Microcell will not connect properly.  This section will show how to change the settings for some popular modems/routers to enable the Microcell to connect successfully.
   
Procedure
NOTE:  Please be advised that the router manufacture or the ISP provider will not provide support for AT&T Microcell, but they can assist with configuring the router settings.
DHCP is on
Data is not restricted from passing through ports 4500 and 500 (AKA Port Blocking).
MTU size is set to 1492
MAC address filtering is either turned off or allowing the MAC address of the AT&T Microcell
IPSec Pass-Through is Enabled
Block Fragmented Packets is Disabled
If using multiple routers, the Microcell must be connected to the first router connected to the broadband modem
If the Microcell is connected to a router that is connected to a modem and both the router and the modem have NAT (Network Address Translation) enabled, disable NAT either in the router or the modem.
Ensure the modem / router is using the latest software (firmware). Please see the manufacturer's documentation.
TCP/UDP Ports
NOTE:  All ports listed need to be configured for inbound and outbound connections.
123/UDP: NTP timing (NTP traffic)
443/TCP: Https over TLS/SSL for provisioning and management traffic
4500/UDP: IPSec NAT Traversal (for all signaling, data, voice traffic)
500/UDP: IPSec Phase 1 prior to NAT detection (after NAT detection, 4500/UDP is used)
4500/UDP: After NAT detection, 4500/UDP is used


Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: LGNilsson on August 21, 2014, 03:42:59 am
I've forwarded this issue to the software team so we can investigate what's going as this is clearly an issue from our side.

Also merged the above post as it's about the same issue.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: DarrenH on September 10, 2014, 12:57:14 am
I have an Airave that, like the OP's, has not worked since I connected it to my Almond. I called Spirnt and they went through their debugging script without getting things working.

The only useful thing they mentioned is that the Airave relies on VPN passthrough by the router. I found another message here mentioning that disabling the IPSec ALG helped with their VPN problems.

So I disabled the IPSec ALG (clicking advanced, then OpenWRT, login to OpenWRT, then select services->ALG, deselect the IPSec and save), powered off the Airave and reset the Almond+

When I powered up the Airave after waiting for the Almond+ to restart, the Airave started working in about 5 mins. I had noted with my previous router that the Airave start up can sometimes fail, so it if doesn't work restart the Airave again.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: DarrenH on September 10, 2014, 01:32:29 am
So close... I did this with firmware revision R064. Then I saw firmware R065 and installed that...

Bad move - now the Airave isn't working, and there's no longer an ALG page to disable IPSec ALG  :(

I guess I need a new solution, but if you keep the R064 firmware you should be OK...
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: DarrenH on September 10, 2014, 02:32:37 am
Final followup for this evening....

If I open a ssh session to the Almond+ and use the following rules from http://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,1135.msg3016.html#msg3016 (http://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,1135.msg3016.html#msg3016) with the R065 firmware the Airave starts working again.

# This file is sourced as a shell script
#
# Rules for opening the firewall for IPSec
#
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -p udp --dport 500 --sport 500 -j ACCEPT 2>/dev/null
iptables -A FORWARD -p udp --dport 500 --sport 500 -j ACCEPT 2>/dev/null
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -p udp --dport 4500 --sport 4500 -j ACCEPT 2>/dev/nullT
iptables -A FORWARD -p udp --dport 4500 --sport 4500 -j ACCEPT 2>/dev/null
iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -p 50 -j ACCEPT 2>/dev/null
iptables -A FORWARD -p 50 -j ACCEPT 2>/dev/null
iptables -A FORWARD -p 51 -j ACCEPT 2>/dev/null
iptables -A FORWARD -p 51 -j ACCEPT 2>/dev/null
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: MrAkai on September 13, 2014, 06:34:13 pm
Does the booster support uPNP?  You might want to try turning that on in the openwrt settings under advanced.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: hjobanpu on September 14, 2014, 06:41:57 pm
Hello,

I added following changes in Firewall - Port Forwards, which made my ATT Microcell work. Hope this works for others.

ATT MCell 1
UDP
From any host in wan
To any router IP at port 123
Forward to IP XX.XX.XX.XXX, port 123 in lan

ATT MCell 2
UDP
From any host in wan
To any router IP at port 500
Forward to IP XX.XX.XX.XXX, port 500 in lan

ATT MCell 3
UDP
From any host in wan
To any router IP at port 4500
Forward to IP XX.XX.XX.XXX, port 4500 in lan

ATT MCell 4
TCP
From any host in wan
To any router IP at port 443
Forward to IP XX.XX.XX.XXX, port 443 in lan
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: DarrenH on September 29, 2014, 03:11:04 am
So I took another look this weekend. I updated to the R066 firmware. I tried both the port forwarding and enabling UPNP (and the UPNP/NAT option) without success. Occasionally it would come up when I'm changing settings (perhaps the firewall is being temporarily disabled?) but it only lasted a few minutes before stopping again.

I decided to dig out my old router (a WNR3500) and put the latest dd-wrt on it - and the Airave started working again! The key option in dd-wrt that needs to be enabled is the IPSec passthrough. Using iptabes-save I checked to see what the difference was, and the rules with and without IP passthrough enabled seem to be the same.

Anyway I went looking for the OpenWRT setup for IPSec passthrough and found it at http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/uci/firewall#ipsec.passthrough (http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/uci/firewall#ipsec.passthrough). It seems that adding it to the end of /etc/config/firewall would work, but there might be a better way to do it. I need to revert to using the Almond+ as the router and see if I can get it to work.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: joltdude on September 29, 2014, 09:02:14 am
The Almond+ tends to have problems with SIP/VOIP devices..... think its a known issue.. That aside, the Airave(even the 2.5) devices tend to try to suck up all available bandwidth if they are connected in line before the router .... your better off plugging it into the router itself as a lan device... I tend to consider them a very poor net.citizen on a home network....
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: fillibar on September 29, 2014, 09:11:20 am
It seems to vary a bit also... I got my Sprint AirRave working with 65 by adding a bunch of Port Forwards as someone already noted. However since 66 the AirRave has been non-functional. Forwards and everything else I could think to check still seem in place. The only plus side is our new phones have Wifi-calling which seems to work... So there is also the debate about dumping the AirRave.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: jjoepaulines on September 29, 2014, 10:41:41 am
can you please reach our support team.. they will help you on this ..
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: DarrenH on September 30, 2014, 11:36:00 pm
Nope that didn't help.  In retrospect that's not too surprising as when you add a port forward for port 4500/udp the software automatically adds the AH and ESP entries detailed in the openwrt ipsec passthrough page to /etc/vonfig/firewall.

I don't have any problems with a SIP gateway attached to the same LAN, but it doesn't look like it tries to set up a VPN the way the Airave does.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: fillibar on October 03, 2014, 06:51:14 pm
I have a whole slew of ports forwarding to the Airvana (53, 67, 68, 123, 443, 500 & 4500). I restarted the firewall, disabled IPSEC and my Airvana has been up (supposedly) for about an hour now. In case this works for anyone.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: singhna1 on October 07, 2014, 09:37:22 am
Just replying to this thread: I have R066 and performed a hard reset on my Almond+ as directed in a one-on-one e-mail with one of the developers... and I still have issues with my Airave 2.5.  I haven't been able to make calls from inside my home for nearly two months.  The post above me lists some ports sent up for forwarding, but as mentioned in my initial post, I don't really have a clue as to what I'm doing with respect to the port forwarding/web UI stuff... So, does anyone have step-by-step instructions on how to set up port-forwarding? 

I like my Almond+ a lot, but it's reaching a point where I can't conduct business without having to go outside and that's not sustainable for me.

@fillibar: how is your Airave responding since you changed/updated your port settings?

Thanks, all. 
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: LGNilsson on October 07, 2014, 09:50:09 am
Did you check the wiki?  ;)
http://wiki.securifi.com/index.php?title=Port_forwarding_-_Almond%2B_2014
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: fillibar on October 07, 2014, 10:19:15 am
Mine is still working fine. All status lights have remained green and it even came back properly when I unplugged it (I need to replace the outlet it was in) and moved it to another. No issues at all. Hope the port forwarding wiki from Lars helps. Like I said I also disabled IPSEC. The port forwarding was added before that and I have not gone back to remove ports and test which ones mine really needs. Maybe tonight... But no promises there.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: hjobanpu on October 08, 2014, 02:00:51 am
Pust R66 upgrade, I had to redo my Vonage and ATT Microcell port forwards to make Vonage calls and cell signal booster work.

Also, found one defect in Port Forwarding WEB UI --- it did not allow port numbers with "-" entry. Then I used OpenWRT to enter those port forwards and it worked.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: fillibar on October 09, 2014, 10:12:57 am
So I did try to check the ports last night. But before that I decided to set a couple static leases... That was a huge mistake. Suffice it to say it all resulted in a full reset to defaults and starting from scratch. I managed to get my network operational again but not the AirRave before I called it a night. When I get it working again I will try to give an update.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: tknx on October 14, 2014, 08:23:12 pm
I am going through the same headache with my Verizon Network Extender. I have set a static lease for the extender.

1. I forwarded ports 4500 UDP, 500 UDP, 53 TCP / UDP, 52428 TCP / UDP to the extender.
2. I enabled IPSec under OpenWRT > Services > ALG
3. I enabled QoS under Network > G2 QoS > Enable WAN QoS

Still no luck. The extender works fine if directly plugged into my cable modem, so it is definitely the router.

Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: jjoepaulines on October 14, 2014, 08:50:49 pm
@tknx : our support team [ support@securifi.com ] can help you with this ..
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: fillibar on October 15, 2014, 08:53:09 pm
I will be emailing support... but it would be nice if we can get a wiki page added somewhere. Although we had what appears to have been communal learning here about it.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: tknx on October 15, 2014, 09:00:55 pm
So I got it working actually based on this thread: http://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,2060.msg7686.html#msg7686

1. ssh into your router
2. type "mv /etc/alg-rules/ipsec.rules /etc/alg-rules/ipsec.rules.disabled"
3. type "reboot"

and you should be good to go.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: fillibar on October 15, 2014, 09:34:33 pm
tknx... THANKS. I did that (not interested in Forza so never paid attention to that thread) and my Airvana is happily showing 4 green LEDs... about 5 minutes after I emailed support. Oh well. For those that might read this and want to reverse the command change step 2 to be:
mv /etc/alg-rules/ipsec.rules.disabled /etc/alg-rules/ipsec.rules

Thanks again tknx.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: jmecherul on October 16, 2014, 09:33:25 pm
So I got it working actually based on this thread: http://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,2060.msg7686.html#msg7686

1. ssh into your router
2. type "mv /etc/alg-rules/ipsec.rules /etc/alg-rules/ipsec.rules.disabled"
3. type "reboot"

and you should be good to go.

thanks

this helped with my verizon extender.  ever since R66, my network extender was not working.  i even had verizon send me a new one.  spent 3 hours today messing with this thing before ssh-ing into it.  by the way i added the port forwards first and then disabled ipsec with the command in ssh. 

i am not sure what you guys at securifi did, but the webui is kind of junk and not updating properly.  i mean, disabling the ipsec in openwrt did not do anything.  i disabled it using ssh and still shows enabled under the webui of openwrt.  kind of messed up.  also, giving static addresses to things does not always take either especially my foscam cameras (might be something with the cameras but who knows) whether in almond+ webui or openwrt. 

as an update, i was talking to the verizon tier2 support, and they have mentioned that starting in january they will implement voip, so no more of this extender junk (just like tmobile has had for years), but need a phone update (figures greedy bastards).  hope that will work just fine with the almond+ (tmobile one does)
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: LGNilsson on October 16, 2014, 09:37:36 pm
We're aware of these issues and we're working on fixing them. Apologies fur the poor user experience, it's not something done on purpose.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: jmecherul on October 16, 2014, 09:42:05 pm
We're aware of these issues and we're working on fixing them. Apologies fur the poor user experience, it's not something done on purpose.

i am wondering why the changes in R66.  i am not sure if i had R65 or R64 before this latest update, but it was working without fiddling with it.  seems people had issues with R65 too and these microcells.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: LGNilsson on October 16, 2014, 09:44:12 pm
There will be even more changes in the next release. Something was broken when the software team made some changes, not sure exactly what, but it'll hopefully be fixed in the next release.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: jmecherul on October 16, 2014, 10:08:06 pm
There will be even more changes in the next release. Something was broken when the software team made some changes, not sure exactly what, but it'll hopefully be fixed in the next release.

seems like ALG was added to the R66 according to this thread http://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,1889.0.html something that was not in the previous firmware.  what does that do and why is it so important to add it to firmware?

this is off topic (sorry), but i hope the next firmware will fix the schlage locks issues as in i have them registered but will not lock or unlock from either the screen ui nor the phone app.  both methods will just hang.  also, there is some pin function that i do not understand as schlage locks have 4 digit pins and the almond is asking for a 5 digit pin that will not save.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: coreygator on October 20, 2014, 10:40:23 pm
I am going through the same headache with my Verizon Network Extender. I have set a static lease for the extender.

1. I forwarded ports 4500 UDP, 500 UDP, 53 TCP / UDP, 52428 TCP / UDP to the extender.
2. I enabled IPSec under OpenWRT > Services > ALG
3. I enabled QoS under Network > G2 QoS > Enable WAN QoS

Still no luck. The extender works fine if directly plugged into my cable modem, so it is definitely the router.


Cant tell you how excited I am that this worked. I tried changing it through the OpenWRT tab but it still didnt work. I had also done all the port forwarding as well.
Title: Re: Almond+ and cell phone signal booster
Post by: thaddeus1 on November 23, 2014, 01:29:54 pm
Update RO69 fixed my AYY Microcell issues.