Backup internet connection via cell service

[t_andersen]

I have a second home with a home automation system based upon a fast PC. For surveillance I use BI and I connect from outside using VPN and UI3, which is working very well. Although the house sits far out in the woods, it has the luxury of a fast fiber connection to the internet provider. The connection is not always reliable and occasionally I lose contact with the system, which may be particularly bad if we get a long corona lockdown in the fall, so I dream of establishing a backup internet connection using a cell service. It could also give me a reset option. The system has an ASUS router which can connect to a cell service using a special USB-stick, so it could be easy. Although that should work for outgoing connections, the cell service does not provide a public IP-number, so I wonder how I can connect to the ASUS router from outside?

 

[TonyR]

Although that should work for outgoing connections, the cell service does not provide a public IP-number, so I wonder how I can connect to the ASUS router from outside?

I've heard that ngrok and (possibly) Hamachi can be used in such a circumstance, although I have not tried it (yet). I'm in the same boat regarding cellular fixed wireless from AT&T with no public IP.

 

[t_andersen]

It looks interesting but it seems that ngrok and hamachi in some way set up a tunnel to a proxy somewhere, that users can log into. Constantly keeping such a tunnel alive could maybe incur large costs for the cell service? And then of course to the proxy company. It would be nice to avoid the cloud service.

I have speculated that it somehow should be possible to make the system try to call the mother ship at one or two specific times everyday to give me the possibility to download files and maybe reset the system. That would mean that the outgoing VPN needs to be set up by the windows machine and not the router. Router VPN seems more safe, and I do not right away see a way to ask windows to set up a VPN at a specific time

 

[fenderman]

Just install chrome report desktop or teamviewer on the pc

 

[bp2008]

Unless the cellular provider is still selling network access by the megabyte, I wouldn't worry about an open ngrok or VPN connection that isn't passing any client traffic.

Also if the router is set up properly it shouldn't be passing your internet traffic out the cellular interface unless the main feed is down.

 

[t_andersen]

Thanks, guys

fenderman, will that solve the problem that I do not know the IP address of the cell service of my second home?

bp2008: If I get you right, you think that one could open a VPN connection via cell service from the second home router to my permanent home router "once and for all". Could it keep the line open for weeks or months even without traffic?

 

[fenderman]

Thanks, guys

fenderman, will that solve the problem that I do not know the IP address of the cell service of my second home?

bp2008: If I get you right, you think that one could open a VPN connection via cell service from the second home router to my permanent home router "once and for all". Could it keep the line open for weeks or months even without traffic?

Yes. Those services do not require a routable public ip.

 

[t_andersen]

Thanks Fenderman. I have tried to read up on this. If I understand it correctly, then when I start Teamviewer on the BI computer, it hooks up to a cloud service and keeps the connection alive forever? Then, when I connect to the cloud service with Teamviewer from another computer somewhere else, the cloud computer will relay to the BI computer? This would mean that Teamviewer normally would use the high-speed fiber-link but if that fails, then the router will redirect teamviewer requests via the cell service instead, and an incoming connection from the outside would go via the cell service? If this is correct, then the traffic on the cell service will almost be non-existing, except when the usual fiberlink is down?

I usually use Windows Remote Desktop via VPN but it could probably co-exist with Teamviewer.

 

[fenderman]

Thanks Fenderman. I have tried to read up on this. If I understand it correctly, then when I start Teamviewer on the BI computer, it hooks up to a cloud service and keeps the connection alive forever? Then, when I connect to the cloud service with Teamviewer from another computer somewhere else, the cloud computer will relay to the BI computer? This would mean that Teamviewer normally would use the high-speed fiber-link but if that fails, then the router will redirect teamviewer requests via the cell service instead, and an incoming connection from the outside would go via the cell service? If this is correct, then the traffic on the cell service will almost be non-existing, except when the usual fiberlink is down?

I usually use Windows Remote Desktop via VPN but it could probably co-exist with Teamviewer.

Basically yes. The same with chrome remote desktop. The experience with all these remote viewing packages is not nearly as smooth as with RDP and vpn. You cannot use teamviewer to connect via your vpn.