Anyone Using Verizon 3G Internet at the Remote Location?

[KQ0C]

I have a remote location so remote that it is out of the service coverage area of most internet providers. However I do have good Verizon 3G coverage... 119 mS latency, Download speeds of about 750 Kbps and upload of about 500 Kbps. The issue is that my network Guru says I need a publicly addressable IP address... fixed if at all possible. Apparently this is tough/impossible with Verizon. But don't know for sure.

[W7KWS]

A Peplink Balance router, connected to a verizon 3g or 4g phone or tablet in USB tether mode and connectef to the RemoteRig radio unit with Ethernet, will support a DDNS service such as noip.com or dyndns.com. You will beable to create an Internet name which will not change and which you can include in the RemoteRig. The Peplink will keep the DDNS server updated anytime Verizon changes the IP Address.

The Peplink 20 is an enterprise router and is expensive at around $300, but it's probably more reliable than a computer which can do the same thing in Internet sharing mode.

[W7KWS]

I should have also suggested a Verizon 3g or 4g USB modem plugged into the Peplink or computer. It's cheaper than a phone or tablet and is what the Peplink was designed to use.

[oz1rh]

Your router at the radio site have to get a public addressable IP address from your ISP (Verizon) and it must be open for incoming traffic. Private IP addresses on the WAN side like 10.x.x.x, 192.168.x.x or 172.x.x.x can not be accessed from the internet. Contact your ISP and request a public IP address open for incoming traffic. Here in OZ I have found the hard way that only the company '3' deliveres public addressable IP address on 3 or 4 G mobile broadband.

This has nothing to do with static=fixed IP addresses or dynamical IP addresses. If you get a public dynamical IP address you use DDNS to find the actual public IP address of the radio site.

In theory your ISP can give you a private IP adr and do a 1:1 NAT to a public IP adr so whenever the public IP adr is addressed from the internet all traffic goes (=is NAT'ted) to the private IP address, but I do not think any ISP will use their firewalls in that way for millions of customers.

73, Palle, OZ1RH.

[W7KWS]

Palle,

Thanks for the update.  I hadn't used Verizon for inbound traffic for several years and I didn't notice that I am now receiving a non- routable IP address.  A couple of posts I've looked at indicate a large payment to VZW is necessary to change this.

[KQ0C]

As an update... I am getting terrific performance using Verizon 4G LTE... the setup is a Cradlepoint 4G Router and using a fixed IP address from Verizon. The fixed IP was expensive but not crazy so. The Verizon 4G LTE router was a complete failure... but the Cradlepoint works perfectly.

[KQ0C]

I should add that after getting an extremely high bill, Verizon doesn't report the Cradlepoint usage well as part of your Shared data reporting. You need to keep the radio to control link disconnected when not using the radio (literally click disconnect). Otherwise the link stays open 24/7 at about 1 gig per 6 hrs. Using a remote head radio breaks the link whenever you switch off the radio.  But a software control radio like the TS 590 needs you to actively break the link from the control box to the radio box.

[VE3VEE]

You need to keep the radio to control link disconnected when not using the radio (literally click disconnect).

Where, exactly, does one need to click "disconnect"?

73 Marvin VE3VEE

[VA2MM]

I've had good success using LogMeIn Hamachi free VPN service over a 3G connection that has a double-NAT and doesn't otherwise work with DDNS services. The latency through the VPN is about 60-80ms in "direct" mode. I use 40ms packets to reduce overhead. The RRC performs well at lower bit-rate codecs in this configuration.

[EA5WA]

Could you explain how can I use Hamachi with RRC's. I use Hamachi with computers, but I don't know if is posible to create a VPN to connect both RRCs when you have a double-nat 3g connection.

Thanks

[VA2MM]

Could you explain how can I use Hamachi with RRC's. I use Hamachi with computers, but I don't know if is posible to create a VPN to connect both RRCs when you have a double-nat 3g connection.

Oh, its because I have a computer at the remote location running the Hamachi application. I know most people use RRC to avoid having a computer there, but it's the way I got it to work. I set up the local computer's IP address as the default gateway for the RRC, then set up a static route in the computer to the VPN gateway to my control location. I admit it's a bit complicated but it works well form me. 

Hope that clarifies my previous comment. 

73 Mark VA2MM

[VA2MM]

@EA5WA:  A site-to-site VPN with hardware VPN routers would be a more elegant solution but I had problems getting the routers to connect. Since the Hamachi solution works well for me, I abandoned the Cisco VPN routers for now, but I might give that another go eventually.

[EA5WA]

to VA2MM:
Thanks for your explanation. Now it's clear for me.

73's from EA5WA Juan Carlos