FYI: replace AIS router completely

[Blablaat]

This article explains the process: https://stoomkracht.wordpress.com/2020/10/18/how-to-completely-replace-the-ais-router-thailand/

 

Intended for people who have a separate fiber modem (little black square box) and AIS provided router (for example ZTE H298A).

Also curious: does your AIS connection use carrier grade NAT (CGN)? Mine does not and has a real public IP now it seems.

How to check? Go to your router admin page and check the WAN/internet address. Compare with address from https://iplocation.com .

[topt]

Do AIS generally supply a modem and a separate router then? The other providers I have dealt with have all supplied one integrated unit.

[recom273]

17 hours ago, topt said:

Do AIS generally supply a modem and a separate router then? The other providers I have dealt with have all supplied one integrated unit.

This article doesn’t really do anything more than “how to integrate your own modem into a network” - you still need the ISP router in bridge mode sitting next to your own. Hardly replacing.

Edited February 27, 2021 by recom273

[mtls2005]

Yeah, easier to just uplink the new router, and create a subnet. Then you don't have to cripple a potentially decent router, but hobbyists gonna hobby.

 

There are gazillions of videos on Youtube which walk you through the process the OP talks about, just search for "Thai ISP Name Bridge Mode". All are in Thai but with graphics, so easy to follow.

 

On 2/26/2021 at 10:12 PM, topt said:

Do AIS generally supply a modem and a separate router then? The other providers I have dealt with have all supplied one integrated unit.

 

ISPs here, incl AIS, provide all sorts of CPE, and it varies over time. In most current installs AIS terminates fibre in the home with an Optical Network Terminal, and uplinks via fibre to their router.

 

 

 

[Blablaat]

22 hours ago, recom273 said:

This article doesn’t really do anything more than “how to integrate your own modem into a network” - you still need the ISP router in bridge mode sitting next to your own. Hardly replacing.

It does. It replaces the AIS-router completely. You only need the fiber modem obviously (which does nothing more that translate the laser connection into a normal TCP/UTP 1gbit network connection). Don't know about others, but AIS seems to supply modem and router. Which is preferred, so you can theoretically replace the inferior router with something better. I guess it's also preferred for them so they can also sell mesh routers or gamer routers etc. You can't configure anything at the modem side. Just provides 1 internet connection. The modem is NOT a router. The router is 100% replaced. You do NOT need to setup bridge mode on the AIS router. Just unplug it and use your own router. Getting the right settings is obviously the main obstacle, hence the article.

Edited February 28, 2021 by Blablaat

[mtls2005]

1 minute ago, Blablaat said:

but AIS seems to supply modem and router.

 

Yes, in some installs. Haven't seen that recently. All that said, you can cripple your router too, but you still need it to terminate the fibre.

 

It's quite easy to add a secondary router of your choosing in an AIS Fibre application.

 

You do give up two GbE ports, from eight, and the most challenging part is fishing and terminating the cable.

 

 

 

[Blablaat]

3 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

There are gazillions of videos on Youtube which walk you through the process the OP talks about, just search for "Thai ISP Name Bridge Mode". All are in Thai but with graphics, so easy to follow.

Nope, they are all about setting up the AIS router for bridge mode, which still makes the AIS router a needless powered on and connected necessity. Your own router makes it much easier to configure things. AIS even hides the DNS setting used by the router for example. Incoming connections are another thing (which CNT makes a PAIN, luckily I don't have it anymore, free hint for if you have it and can't get rid of it and need port forwarding: https://thddns.net/login).

 

If you have a need for router replacement, you know, and will value the link ???? If not, youre fine. Then it's not for you. Fibre in goes into firbre-modem, utp out cable goes into WAN port of new router, setup, go.

Edited February 28, 2021 by Blablaat

[recom273]

So the post tells you how to setup a PPoE connection - put your router into bridge mode, how to enter a username,  password and in this case enter DNS. 
 

Wouldn’t you just use cloudflare or your own DNS server? 

 

[recom273]

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Yeah, easier to just uplink the new router, and create a subnet. Then you don't have to cripple a potentially decent router, but hobbyists gonna hobby.

 

There are gazillions of videos on Youtube which walk you through the process the OP talks about, just search for "Thai ISP Name Bridge Mode". All are in Thai but with graphics, so easy to follow.

 

 

ISPs here, incl AIS, provide all sorts of CPE, and it varies over time. In most current installs AIS terminates fibre in the home with an Optical Network Terminal, and uplinks via fibre to their router.

 

 

 

That’s good to know .. I think 3BB offer a good service, but it took a lot of talking and a couple of lunches to get a GPON ONT from 3BB.

 

“No have anymore” - I ended up with a second hand one to replace my horrendous black plastic spider.

 

If I ever lost the ONU -  I would consider changing ISP.

[JaiMaai]

I might be interested in trying this for the purposes of setting up a VPN on the router (mainly to bypass geo-restictions for streaming).

 

Do (any) routers that support VPNs allow for specific IPs/domains to go through the VPN and other traffic to be routed normally?

[recom273]

On 3/8/2021 at 10:31 AM, JaiMaai said:

I might be interested in trying this for the purposes of setting up a VPN on the router (mainly to bypass geo-restictions for streaming).

 

Do (any) routers that support VPNs allow for specific IPs/domains to go through the VPN and other traffic to be routed normally?

Just for fun, I just ordered one of these today - https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt300n-v2/ 500B on AliExpress. 

You could route your traffic in a normal way and then connect your kit to the mini router to route via your VPN,, I think pi-vpn will do a same job but this little box looked cool.

What do you want to run through the VPN? Laptop or TV box - if you don’t require a networkwide VPN, you can use a software client like viscosity.

[JaiMaai]

On 3/10/2021 at 11:42 PM, recom273 said:

Just for fun, I just ordered one of these today - https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt300n-v2/ 500B on AliExpress. 

You could route your traffic in a normal way and then connect your kit to the mini router to route via your VPN,, I think pi-vpn will do a same job but this little box looked cool.

What do you want to run through the VPN? Laptop or TV box - if you don’t require a networkwide VPN, you can use a software client like viscosity.

Did you have any luck with this?  

I ordered also ordered one to have a play with.  I'm having some teething trouble to get it to connect to my VPN using the Open VPN protocol,  I've download the Open VPN config files from the website but I can't get it to connect.

[recom273]

2 hours ago, JaiMaai said:

Did you have any luck with this?  

I ordered also ordered one to have a play with.  I'm having some teething trouble to get it to connect to my VPN using the Open VPN protocol,  I've download the Open VPN config files from the website but I can't get it to connect.

Didn’t arrive yet - Do you have the same software as this? 

I also noticed he may have skipped over custom DNS settings which I can see on the wizard. 

[JaiMaai]

I seem to have a newer version of sofware in the video, he has 2.26 and updates to 2.263;I have 3.105 which has a completely different look.

Still, I uploaded a VPN config file (.ovpn) but it doesn;t seem to want to work.

[JaiMaai]

[recom273]

1 hour ago, JaiMaai said:

Until I receive the router I have no idea.

I have the same ovpn files as you from my European server provider and they work with viscosity, the client software I run on my Mac. 

Is your file working with openvpn connect app on your computer?

You might have some luck on Reddit - either r/vpn or r/openvpn - Some guys might be playing around with the routers on r/homelab.

 

[JaiMaai]

Got it working — was me being a dimwit and using an old password.  

 

Got to say I'm quite happy with it now.  Watching some UK ok Netflix on my smart TV right now.  Next test will be iplayer etc.

[mtls2005]

On 3/10/2021 at 11:42 PM, recom273 said:

Just for fun, I just ordered one of these today - https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt300n-v2/ 500B on AliExpress. 

 

Thank you for highlighting this. This is an excellent option.

 

The toggle switch customization feature is pretty cool.

 

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/gl-mt300n-v2-please-codglinet-gl-mt300n-v2-mini-portable-travel-wireless-router-repeater-bridge-repetid-300mbps-128mb-ram-openvpn-cli-router-i2144442651-s7169988017.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.2.5b5a51921OIAEx&search=1

 

 

They do have a slightly higher-end model...

https://store.gl-inet.com/products/gl-ar750s-ext-gigabit-travel-router

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by mtls2005

[JaiMaai]

The great thing about the 1st one is that it is really compact.  It's about 2 in x 2 in and about 1 inch tall.  Runs off 5V USB power.  Mine didn't actually come with a power adapter, just a cable, but an old phone charger should do it.

[recom273]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Thank you for highlighting this. This is an excellent option.

 

The toggle switch customization feature is pretty cool.

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/gl-mt300n-v2-please-codglinet-gl-mt300n-v2-mini-portable-travel-wireless-router-repeater-bridge-repetid-300mbps-128mb-ram-openvpn-cli-router-i2144442651-s7169988017.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.2.5b5a51921OIAEx&search=1

 

They do have a slightly higher-end model...

https://store.gl-inet.com/products/gl-ar750s-ext-gigabit-travel-router

 

Yeah, The mango isn’t gigabit, is it? I can’t imagine it being ultrafast or able to route a lot of traffic, I thought it was a fun project - 600B.

[JaiMaai]

On 3/21/2021 at 7:19 AM, JaiMaai said:

Got it working — was me being a dimwit and using an old password.  

 

Got to say I'm quite happy with it now.  Watching some UK ok Netflix on my smart TV right now.  Next test will be iPlayer etc.

An update after a week or so of use.

 

It just about works, but not quite.  When I can get it working it's good but not fantastic, but there are a few issues.

 

1.  It's very finicky trying to get it to actually connect to my VPN  -  I can connect to the same servers using Open VPN client on my PC OK.

2. VPN speed is not quite there, it seems to average at about 3-5 Mbps which kind of works, It's OK for most on-demand stuff but live TV seems to have a few glitches.

3. When it does fail to connect to a VPN it can sometimes tie itself up in a few knots meaning I had to reset it.

 

Overall, it's still a pass and the main lesson for me would be that when it's working, don't try muck around with it.

[recom273]

3 hours ago, JaiMaai said:

An update after a week or so of use.

 

It just about works, but not quite.  When I can get it working it's good but not fantastic, but there are a few issues.

 

1.  It's very finicky trying to get it to actually connect to my VPN  -  I can connect to the same servers using Open VPN client on my PC OK.

2. VPN speed is not quite there, it seems to average at about 3-5 Mbps which kind of works, It's OK for most on-demand stuff but live TV seems to have a few glitches.

3. When it does fail to connect to a VPN it can sometimes tie itself up in a few knots meaning I had to reset it.

 

Overall, it's still a pass and the main lesson for me would be that when it's working, don't try muck around with it.

Cheers for the update .. I think the mango router is supposed to be a travel router, it has very little RAM, ok for one piece of kit, for a short amount of time, for me it’s an interesting bit of kit for little money.

 

You can take your experience and implement in different ways - you could buy a better router, then channel all your traffic via the vpn or setup a separate VLAN on a managed switch, so that specific kit uses the VPN.

 

If you want a challenge, I have a mikrotik router that you can setup in a similar way to the mango router. I can’t even give the thing away, they have a good reputation, but the GUI just gave me a headache.

[JaiMaai]

Yes,  I think the Mango will certainly have its uses, the main one being in a hotel that needs a user name and password to log in to Wifi.  From what I've seen on Youtube, this will be one thing that I'll use it for.  The router will log in and then connect multiple  devices to the Mango — allowing some isolation from the hotel network at some time. The speeds without VPN are actually OK.

 

I'd actually already ordered a second router to run the VPN before posting my update but thanks for the offer.