VIP Edugeek Project

[SimpleSi]

Yippee

Switched to using USB connection between NC10 and my phone and it just works

 

So I've got myself a configurable router/gateway device at no cost

 

So basically I've a laptop (NC10) with a USB connection to my phone giving 3G internet access (gets allocated 192.168.0.102 address by my phone)

 

Its got 2 other network connections available to it - standard ethernet and 11g wireless ao that should give enough net connections for the job.

 

regards

 

Simon

[Ric_]

@SimpleSi: I know that this is just proof of concept, however isn't the tricky bit going to be physically severing the link to the RBC?

 

Ts & Cs state you cannot add another [potential] point of entry to the RBC and the only way to satisfy this is to physically disconnect from the Sith's router in case the connection comes back up and your 'router' doesn't switch back in time.

[localzuk]

I just had an idea - could I use my 3G Samsung Omnia (WM6) as a modem?

 

Under Linux?

 

It would save spending money on 3G dongle - no-one seems to do true pay-as-you go, any data bought seems to have a 30day sell by limit whereas my phone comes with 500M/month of which I've used an average of 14M in the past 2 months so I've a fair bit of capacity to use for testing

 

regards

 

Simon

 

You may wish to look at the Ts and Cs for your phone contract... Many don't allow you to hook up as a modem. And they can and do just chop you off if you do do.

[SimpleSi]

Ts & Cs state you cannot add another [potential] point of entry to the RBC and the only way to satisfy this is to physically disconnect from the Sith's router in case the connection comes back up and your 'router' doesn't switch back in time.

 

Good point - wouldn't want to do anything to upset them - so to start with I'll have to physically disconnect my switch from their router.

 

As a first step, I'm going to try and set up a FGW device and see if I can set up my dhcp/dns servers so that it will forward requests to the RBC gateway via the FGW OK.

 

Should be able to do that as a simple VM on my main server.

 

If that works out, then I can try disconnecting their net from mine and changing FGW/DNS server to route via alternative feed.

 

Going to have some fun evenings at work over the next few weeks!

 

You may wish to look at the Ts and Cs for your phone contract... Many don't allow you to hook up as a modem. And they can and do just chop you off if you do do.

 

How can they tell if your using your phone as a modem?

 

This is just for testing - not as a real alternative for downloading GBytes

regards

 

Simon

[localzuk]

How can they tell if your using your phone as a modem?

 

This is just for testing - not as a real alternative for downloading GBytes

regards

 

Simon

 

My guess would be that the type of traffic coming from a computer connected device, along with the speed at which new pages are being requested would give it away.

[tmcd35]

As a first step, I'm going to try and set up a FGW device and see if I can set up my dhcp/dns servers so that it will forward requests to the RBC gateway via the FGW OK.

 

Should be able to do that as a simple VM on my main server.

 

Simon

 

I know my posts probably make me sound like a bit of a broken record but having already set up a FGW on a network almost identical to the one in your diagram I am convinced this will not work for web requests unless one of the following three conditions are met (I used the third option when I set mine up).

 

1) Web request on port 80 are open through your RBC router and so you can simply bypass the Cachepilot for web requests. On my network port 80 was closed by the LEA forcing all web requests through the Cachepilot proxy server.

 

2) You have root access to the Cachepilot web proxy and can configure it's network settings to include your FGW as an addition gateway.

 

3) You use NAT on the FGW to make web requests appear to be originating from the FGW rather than the client's desktop.

 

The reason for this is that for this to work all internet traffic must go through the FGW which will then route it to either the RBC Router or the 3G mobile - which ever is available.

 

If the clients are forced to use the Cachepilot to access web internet content then either the Cachepilot must be aware of the FGW in order send request via the 3G modem when the RBC router is down.

 

OR client web traffic must be NAT'd through the FGW so it can control whether it goes through the Cachepilot and RBC Router on Port 8080 or the 3G Modem on port 80.

[Ric_]

In theory, if you stick a VM in front of the Sith router so that it is the only box that connects to it, you could use the features within virtualisation to switch between physical NICs (which in theory physically disconnects you although there is a slim chance of some hack-magic finding a way through).

 

A very simplistic way to do it would be to have some kind of physical switch (similar to ye-olde VGA switchers so that a knob could be turned, disconnecting one network and connecting the other).

 

It's still dodgy ground though on the Ts & Cs.

[SimpleSi]

I know my posts probably make me sound like a bit of a broken record

Hey - don't worry - it takes me many goes to grasp things sos keep on repeating

 

but having already set up a FGW on a network almost identical to the one in your diagram I am convinced this will not work for web requests unless one of the following three conditions are met (I used the third option when I set mine up).

 

1) Web request on port 80 are open through your RBC router and so you can simply bypass the Cachepilot for web requests. On my network port 80 was closed by the LEA forcing all web requests through the Cachepilot proxy server.

Its no prob to bypass the cachepilot - its just there as a facility provided by the RBC - we just NEED it for the espresso content - we can get out onto Internet no prob just by specifying proxy.rbc.co.uk as our proxy server.

 

2) You have root access to the Cachepilot web proxy and can configure it's network settings to include your FGW as an addition gateway.

- no chance - its their cachepilot

 

3) You use NAT on the FGW to make web requests appear to be originating from the FGW rather than the client's desktop.

Until I've actually set one up, I'm not going to be able to get my head around this issue

 

OR client web traffic must be NAT'd through the FGW so it can control whether it goes through the Cachepilot and RBC Router on Port 8080 or the 3G Modem on port 80.

 

I really want to avoid NATing if possible so that its not used as an excuse by the Sith for something not working normally but maybe it'll be the only way.

 

Although, there are many things to get sorted - I'm beginning to think I might need my own local proxy server in order to be able to switch without people having to re-boot their machines - but then again I could simply have a desktop icon to start with to script replacing proxy settings and have it auto-reset to normal on re-boot.

 

Bit of a pain but better than no internet at all

 

A very simplistic way to do it would be to have some kind of physical switch (similar to ye-olde VGA switchers so that a knob could be turned, disconnecting one network and connecting the other).

 

It's still dodgy ground though on the Ts & Cs.

 

What about having it on a plug/unplug cable system - output of FGW goes to RBC router or backup internet - do you think that would be legit for an operational setup?

 

regards

 

Simon

PS Anyway, I'll think you'll find that schools employing me will soon be against the T&Cs