Omnia 4G and reForis

[Avron]

I have just bought an Omnia 4G. I have inserted a SIM card on which I deactivated the PIN code checking.

I looked into reForis, in the network setttings, the only things I can find related to 4G is in “Interface”:

• under WAN, there is “WAN” and “3”
• below, under “Unassigned” there is also “3” (same icon) as below:
  
  

Apparently, 4G is not functional and in reForis I can’t see anything else to adjust something for this.

Looking into package management, I see only the following that seem related to a cellular connection:

• Extensions of network protocols for 3G/4G Deprecated
  Support for Turris Omnia and Turris MOX LTE pack. Nowadays installed automatically whenever needed.
• Support for Turris Omnia 5G kit Experimental
  Support for Turris Omnia 5G kit. Reroutes front USB 3.0 to the internal slot to support it.

The first thing is indicated as deprecated and installed automatically whenever needed, so I assume there is no use to select it, and the second thing is for an external kit, which is not what I am using.

Can the 4G connection of the Omnia 4G be controlled via reForis?
Or do I need to use LuCi ?

If I need to use LuCi, I would assume that I should avoid using reForis too, and then to rely on official openWRT documentation, it may be better to reflash the router with upstream openWRT, no?

[peci1]

Reforis is not really designed for this. It just shows the network interface but doesn’t allow doing anything with it. Use Luci->Network->Interfaces tab. However, don’t expect too much even from Luci. Basically the only thing you can do is bring the interface up/down, and maybe enter PIN and apn (I don’t remember, maybe even those two aren’t configurable via Luci).

I would still stick with Turris OS. It has the updater which works pretty well. It has the dynamic firewall. It also preconfigures the router, e.g. for the 4G support and other stuff. You’d have to do all of this yourself on vanilla OpenWRT.

[Avron]

Thanks for the useful feedback.

@peci1

However, don’t expect too much even from Luci. Basically the only thing you can do is bring the interface up/down, and maybe enter PIN and apn

I have previously configured 4G on a GL-X750 with openWRT so I hope to manage here.

@peci1

I would still stick with Turris OS. It has the updater which works pretty well. It has the dynamic firewall. It also preconfigures the router, e.g. for the 4G support and other stuff.

I looked at LuCI and uci, it does not look like 4G support is fully pre-configured actually.

My reasons to consider using vanilla openWRT are that:

• I intend to run a number of servers and I am actually worried that this dynamic firewall might create problems
• it might be easier to sort out network problems with vanilla openWRT (more documentation, larger user base)
• I am not super comfortable with dynamic updates

I don’t know, I can try configuring 4G first and then make a decision.

[milkandhoney]

@Avron

My reasons to consider using vanilla openWRT are that:

• I intend to run a number of servers and I am actually worried that this dynamic firewall might create problems

I run servers behind TOS and never had any problems.
But some users are reporting problems with ACME lately. I cant’ comment on that, since all my certs are either ACMEd by DNS or if HTTP, then over IPv6. BTW, IPv6 is great for ACME, since it doesn’t affect any NATted IPv4 services on the same LAN.

But you can also always turn dynamic firewalls off. So I would not count that is not a reason to ditch TOS.

• it might be easier to sort out network problems with vanilla openWRT (more documentation, larger user base)

IMHO, there is no difference under the hood between TOS and OpenWrt network configuration.
What you see in reForis, are just predefined OpenWrt configurations, but with hidden complexity for non-tech users.

• I am not super comfortable with dynamic updates

If you are talking about TOS software updates - you can turn that off in reForis.
If you are talking about firewall updates - you turn that off too.