[ANSS-netops] cell modems and first of the month
David Slater
davideslater at gmail.com
Fri Dec 2 18:51:16 UTC 2011
At the Nevada Seismo Lab we used to use Cradlepoint MBR1000 but now we
use Mikrotik RB433UAH and RB433G routers that have a USB port.
Verizon is the only decent provider out in the rural areas of Nevada
and eastern CA. We use the VZW USB760 modem by Novatel. Current
USB760 firmware is Dragonfly V167.
I haven't seen the monthly reboot or first of the month issues but
from our logs all of our cell modems are forced to reinitialize and
get a new dynamic IP adress typically once every 24 hours. (see
attached graphic).
**On the Mikrotik we don't use NAT for cellular sites at all.**
With multiple PPTP tunnnels and OSPF routing it makes the small
mobile subnet look like its just another site on our private network.
If we wanted to we could even use Q330 data loggers and have other
IP devices at the site. The system watchdog feature of RouterOS on
the mikrotik automatically reboots the entire router and resets the
cell modem if the data connection is lost.
[dslater at mikrotik-mobile8] > /system watchdog print
watch-address: 192.168.1.4
watchdog-timer: yes
no-ping-delay: 30m
automatic-supout: yes
auto-send-supout: no
[dslater at mikrotik-mobile8] >
Putting aside the possible issues that certain RT130 firmware revision
have had in the past utilizing NAT, a NAT configuration can NEVER be
as reliable as a multiple VPN tunnel configuration. Several times a
year we lose our primary UNR internet feed. Sometimes for hours,
sometimes for days.
With the multiple PPTP tunnels configured on our cellular routers the
data from the cellular sites automatically fails over to our secondary
ISP at our data center site. Having a third tunnel to another
Internet drop on our private network would add even more redundancy.
e.g.
RT130 IP Config
IP: 192.168.100.57
Mask: 255.255.255.248
Gateway: 192.168.100.62
RTPD: 192.168.1.4
[dslater at mikrotik-mobile8] > /ip address print
Flags: X - disabled, I - invalid, D - dynamic
# ADDRESS NETWORK INTERFACE
0 ;;; default configuration
192.168.88.28/24 192.168.88.0 ether1
1 192.168.127.28/32 192.168.127.28 loopback0
2 192.168.100.62/29 192.168.100.56 bridge1
3 D 75.247.176.84/32 66.174.217.64 ppp-out1
4 D 192.168.120.8/32 192.168.120.254 pptp-out2
5 D 192.168.126.8/32 192.168.126.254 pptp-out1
[dslater at mikrotik-mobile8] >
Let me know if anyone has questions.
-Dave
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Robert Wurth <wurthrs at slu.edu>
> Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 8:19 AM
> Subject: Re: [ANSS-netops] cell modems and first of the month
> To: Philip Crotwell <crotwell at seis.sc.edu>
> Cc: "Thomas J. Owens" <owens at seis.sc.edu>, anss-netops at geohazards.usgs.gov
>
>
> Hi all
>
> I am using both sprint and verizon modems and they have worked very well for
> us. I do have a dsl router behind all the modems we are using and I am not
> using any of the advanced features of the modem ie the nat and such. I do
> see something strange in the router logs of the router behind the sprint and
> verizon modems. They seem to force a reconnect to the internet every 2
> hours. The verizon modems do it approx every 4 hours but the systems seem
> to not really care and continue to run.
>
> I am just wondering if the lockup problems with some of the modems is due to
> the nat software in the modems. I know that I have heard that there have
> been issues with some of the modem software in the past, but I have had
> these running several months and have not had to do anything to them. Knock
> on wood!!!!!
>
> Bob
>
>
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Friday, Dec 02,2011 07:59:59
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Friday, Dec 02,2011 05:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Friday, Dec 02,2011 03:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Friday, Dec 02,2011 01:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 23:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 21:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 19:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 17:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 15:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 13:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 11:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 09:59:58
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 07:59:50
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 05:59:49
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 03:59:50
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Thursday, Dec 01,2011
> 01:59:50
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 23:59:49
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 21:59:50
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 19:59:50
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 17:59:49
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 15:59:50
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 13:59:50
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 11:59:49
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 09:59:50
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 07:59:42
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 05:59:41
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 03:59:41
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Wednesday, Nov 30,2011
> 01:59:42
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Tuesday, Nov 29,2011 23:59:41
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Tuesday, Nov 29,2011 21:59:41
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Tuesday, Nov 29,2011 19:59:42
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Tuesday, Nov 29,2011 17:59:41
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Tuesday, Nov 29,2011 15:59:41
> [Internet connected] IP address: 24.221.34.15, Tuesday, Nov 29,2011 13:59:42
>
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 8:54 AM, Philip Crotwell <crotwell at seis.sc.edu>
> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all
>>
>> We use raven-x cell modems on both verizon and at&t and have noticed
>> that often a large percentage of the stations will go offline shortly
>> after midnight on the first of the month. Not always, and not exactly
>> at midnight, but usually between midnight and 2am. Usually the
>> stations come back after our daily cell modem power cycle. It seems to
>> happen more often with Verizon, but has also happened with AT&T. Tech
>> support is as usual completely useless as they suggest "turn off the
>> power and turn it back on again" and seem very surprised when I tell
>> them I can't.
>>
>> Has anyone else seen this odd behavior? Any words of advice?
>>
>> thanks,
>> Philip
>> _______________________________________________
>> ANSS-netops mailing list
>> ANSS-netops at geohazards.usgs.gov
>> https://geohazards.usgs.gov/mailman/listinfo/anss-netops
>
>
>
>
> --
> Robert Wurth
> AV Computer Tech
> Department of Atmospheric and Earth Sciences
> St Louis University
> 205 O'Neil Hall
> 3642 Lindell Blvd.
> St. Louis, MO 63108, USA
> Phone (314) 977-3137, 314-977-3135
> Fax (314) 977-3117
>
> _______________________________________________
> ANSS-netops mailing list
> ANSS-netops at geohazards.usgs.gov
> https://geohazards.usgs.gov/mailman/listinfo/anss-netops
>
>
>
>
> --
> --------------------------------------
> Ken Smith
> Seismology MS/174
> University of Nevada Reno
> Reno, Nevada 89557
> Office: 775-784-4218
> ---------------------------------------
>
>
--
Sent from my iNTERNETS!!!
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