Has anybody tried Remote via VPN?

Mike W8MM

Thanks Wim,
Since I'm "stuck" with the Draytek, I'll need to do some other work-arounds.

Mike W8MM

Larry,
Thanks for the info.  I also have FTTH at my QTH as well as the office.  300 mbps uplink should pose no problem ;~)

K1UO Larry

Didn't need to do port forwarding or anything else..  Just needed to set up one of my Ethernet controlled relays on the Microbit Webswitch 1216H to the remote plug on the 6700 to turn it on/off remotely.  The SPE2K amplifier is monitored over the Moxa 5210 serial server right here at the control end.  The amp is wired to come on when the 6700 comes on and the antennas follow the 6700 via the new 4O3A antenna Genius switch.

Regards

Larry  k1UO

Jay Nation

Thought just popped in, I might keep it.

Maybe it could be possible to have both DAX and DXAX.
DXAX could use whatever codec wins the, (optimal for streaming low latency audio) over a bog standard internet connection race.

Think bigger it's only software!

Just design DXAX with the capability of switching out the codec, should something superior come along. DXAX might even make a good 3rd party/home brew/science project.

Think about it, then make it happen!

73, Jay - NO5J 

ka7gzr

Steve,

My experience with high latency for Rx only introduces another issue. That is when tuning across the band all audio and video has a delay on it and it makes it difficult to zero in on a signal. I have gotten better at it by adopting the technique of small incremental VFO adjustment and then pausing. My experiences have been with the Icom BS-BA1 software and my IC-7850. The BS-BAI software has a "recommended" setting for the buffer size which works very nicely or you can adjust it manually. The IC-7850 has a built in server so a PC isn't required. I use it extensively on my travels.

I can't wait to try it with my Maestro/6700 when the software is ready!

By the way, nice presentation @ Sea-Pac- I really enjoyed it! 

Jim

ka7gzr

Stu Phillips - K6TU

The link for the manual won't open in either Safari or Chrome on the Mac - it just takes me to their home page.

Sorry.
Stu

Stu Phillips - K6TU

ok - I found the manual via Google.  I can't tell for sure but I don't believe the VPN server in the Vigor will work with iOS.

The box does support port forwarding - look under the NAT section where it says port redirect.  

The simplest solution would be to port forward the required ports to a computer on the same subnet as the radio and run Soft Ether VPN Server on that.

Stu K6TU

Mike W8MM

Stu,

Perfect!  I can do that.  Thanks so much for your help!

Mike W8MM

So, ... Many kudos to Stu (K6TU) and Chris (K6OZY) for their contributions to reducing my mental haze (formerly purple) about VPNs and networking fundamentals.  I've made much progress after absorbing their teachings and forcing myself to learn a bit more than I originally imagined about the general topic of routing among the internet and private networks.  I can even tweak my own "network security appliance" with a modicum of confidence, now.

As soon as I have all the bits and pieces playing nice with each other, I will post an exposé revealing all cool things I have discovered.

Again, many, many thanks to Stu & Chris!!!!! 

Don Richardson

Hi Wim,
I have setup my Netgear Router in the same fashion, and am using the OpenVPN Client and Router generated VPN files.  I can connect the remote computer to the VPN into the local end with no problems.

I can also bring up SmartSDR CAT & DAX applications no problem.  The SmartSDR CAT finds the radio and shows Radio Connected.  I bring up SmartSDR and it displays the radio as Available.

Looks really good and I am getting excited, but when I bring up the radio I see some issues.  First it shows the frequency spectrum and looks like there is some activity with no sound.  However, the waterfall does not show up, and after a short while the SDR application reports that it has lost connection to the radio and the SDR CAT now shows Radio is not connected.

The VPN tunnel is still up and seems to not have any issues.  Is there some twerking in the radio configuration, or in the CAT configuration, that will help me to maintain a good connection to the radio?

Any help from you, or others that may read this, is much appreciated.

Don - KB1YWL

Roger Thompson AD5T

I use pfSense with OpenVPN, which is probably reasonably similar to your setup, and have had no issues for over a year of fairly frequent remote operation. I don't use DAX or CAT over the VPN, so maybe bandwidth or latency is higher for you and might be associated with your issues?

Roger
AD5T

Don Richardson

When you say you do not use DAX and CAT. Does this mean you do not start them up and therefore they are not in use?

Roger Thompson AD5T

Yes, i recall doing something to stop DAX and CAT from starting on the laptop I use for remote operation, but don't remember the details.

Roger
AD5T

David Decoons, wo2x

Don,

I remember seeing this issue (no waterfall) when using the SmartSDR for IOS app through a VPN. The solution was to make sure the local LAN and remote LAN were different IP schemes. 192.168.100.x for local radio side LAN and 192.168.200.x for remote LAN.

Not sure if that is your issue but maybe worth a look.

Dave wo2x

Don Richardson

Thanks for this pointer,  however it did not make a difference.  I am now going to try Windows Remote instead of Team viewer to see if I can get the mic input from the remote computer into the radio.

Roger Thompson AD5T

Don,

You may be doing a different sort of remote operation if you need Windows Remote, Skype, or some other way to transport audio.

Here are the basic steps I use to operate phone and CW (via CWX) remotely:

1. I power up the remote location Flex using a DLI Ethernet Power Controller that enables a combination of direct ac switching for the station power supply and surplus wall warts and other power supplies plus relays to switch on my tuner and connect various antennas.  This is done with a browser tab connected to the DLI web interface.

2. I then start the OpenVPN connection from my laptop client to the VPN server at the radio location.  You can use ipconfig to verify the IP address assigned to your client computer, which is the laptop in my case.

3. I start SmartSDR on my client laptop.  Default audio devices (not DAX devices) need to be set before starting the SmartSDR.  Changing audio default devices after SmartSDR is running on the client usually requires a restart of SmartSDR.

4. The input audio source needs to be set in the P/CW panel pulldown to PC.  Mouse over this pulldown to show which audio device is set.

5. Remote should be blue in the upper right of the SmartSDR screen and a mouse over of this button shows the receive audio device.

6. I use the tune button to drive an automatic antenna tuner at the radio's location and the MOX button for T/R switching.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Roger
AD5T