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Huawei B535-232 4g/LTE Router Issue

By god, its a battery hog on android too!
Well definitely isn't on my phone (Redmi Note 7 with Android 10). It's been active 5hr 34min and has used 1% of battery.
 
I'd expect the battery usage to be correlated to the amount of data transferred - I would think that it'd only use battery (CPU to encrypt/decrypt the traffic) when data is being transferred in/out.

Someone streaming a video and updates a whole load of apps is going to use much more data, and therefore more CPU to encrypt/decrypt that data, than someone who just gets a few notifications, the odd email and checks Twitter.
 
Warp seemed to work ok for me for a few days now it's starting to break outlook on iOS (have to switch to standard 1.1.1.1 dns for it to work) and web pages are having issues again,

I can swear that 3 watch this forum and break any work around posted here to make their network work better for browsing!
 
Warp seemed to work ok for me for a few days now it's starting to break outlook on iOS (have to switch to standard 1.1.1.1 dns for it to work) and web pages are having issues again,
Actually, I would agree with your assessment. The past few days Warp was working well, and now these last 24 or 48hrs things just get stuck loading & I have to switch off Warp and force-close the app and reload it. I'll keep trying it though.
 
Actually, I would agree with your assessment. The past few days Warp was working well, and now these last 24 or 48hrs things just get stuck loading & I have to switch off Warp and force-close the app and reload it. I'll keep trying it though.
Three always gets you, in the end. A lesson we probably all should've learned by now ;).
 
I became aware of vpnbook who offer a PPTP VPN, for free (though the usual caveats apply - you're trusting them with your data passing through their service).
While the PPTP would be a drop-in connection on routers (and wouldn't stress the CPU) there isn't, currently, a UK server which I think would mean any geo-restricted services (video streaming providers) would likely have issues.

 
NordVPN are currently offering a 70% discount on their 2yr subscription (£65.45 ex VAT = £2.73 per month ex VAT). The deal only lasts another 3hr 36min. However, if you enter coupon code DAILYMAIL then you get the same 70% discount up to 30th Sep.

NordVPN also supports Wireguard protocol (NordLynx) which seemingly in orders-of-magnitude faster than OpenVPN.

I decided to 'cough up' and give it a go for the next 2yrs.

EDIT: What I hadn't realised before signing up, is that you cannot use the Wireguard/NordLynx protocol configured in a router (seemingly not even one running OpenWrt) as you need config files in order to do so, which NordVPN Support will no longer supply (they did initially as it was 'experimental' then).
 
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It's not so much the router is the issue with Wireguard (I think many OpenWrt routers support it & possibly DD-Wrt), but that NordVPN aren't ready for it & no longer give out the necessary config files to subscribers, which has rather annoyed me, especially when the NordVPN Support guy was somewhat dismissive & bordering on rude to a paying customer!
 
It's not so much the router is the issue with Wireguard (I think many OpenWrt routers support it & possibly DD-Wrt), but that NordVPN aren't ready for it & no longer give out the necessary config files to subscribers, which has rather annoyed me, especially when the NordVPN Support guy was somewhat dismissive & bordering on rude to a paying customer!

You'd think they'd be happy to help you configure your router to use their service properly wouldn't you!
 
A few weeks ago, I posted a link to some instructions for setting up a personal VPN server in the Google Cloud and using it to provide your home clients with free VPN services.

Well, the original article linked is no longer available as the guy that posted it had violated the original authors copyright.

However, the original authors instructions are available on GitHub:


I decided to try it out and it does indeed work fairly well. His setup creates an installation of the latest Pi-hole for ad-blocking and the Wireguard VPN. I can install the Wireguard client on my Android phone and once configured, all my traffic goes via the Wireguard VPN running on the Google Cloud VM and the Pi-hole installation blocks ads and gives a dashboard page of what stuff is being blocked.

It's not especially fast (see below) but it is working flawlessly & no web-page-hangs caused by Three mobile broadband.

1. To sign up for Google Cloud you will need a Google account (obviously) and a Credit Card (or other suitable payment method). Providing the VM that you create is as per the instructions (1 CPU, low mem & crucially one of the designated USA locations) then Google will not charge you (it remains free).

2. There are only 3 designated locations allowed for your free VM: east, middle & west USA. This, of course, is going to be a bit rubbish for a VPN being used from the UK, but after setting it up I was surprised by its performance for general internet (can't say whether it's any good for streaming)

3. Once the VM is setup (as per instructions), you have to connect to it using SSH. You can use PuTTY on a Windows machine but you have to mess around with Public/Private keys to enable the connection (Google it, it's not too difficult).

4. Once SSH'd into your Google Cloud VM running in the USA, it's a simple matter of running the script as per the instructions. It installs Wireguard & Pi-hole in the VM.

5. You then have to install the Wireguard client from the Google Playstore on your phone and you can use it to scan the QR code generated by the script run on the VM in the Google Cloud. That then creates the connection details on your phone (you have to tweak it slightly to allow ALL IP addresses to connect).

6. You can then browse to your new Pi-hole dashboard (running in USA) and view the details of the ad URLs that are being blocked on your Android client and the Comms are using the Wireguard protocol (no dashboard for that - you just have to test it with various websites like DNS leak & Wireshark).

It's not childs-play, but nor is it rocket-science. It's not greased-lightning, but nor is it glacial.

It gives you a free Wireguard VPN with built in ad-blocking dashboard. Just a shame that the UK isn't included in Google's free VM server locations.
 
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Couldn't you just run the wireguard client with Pi-hole on a raspberry pi connected directly to your router somehow Bill? (rather than using google cloud for the VM)

Wouldn't that be super quick in comparison?
 
Couldn't you just run the wireguard client with Pi-hole on a raspberry pi connected directly to your router somehow Bill? (rather than using google cloud for the VM)

Wouldn't that be super quick in comparison?
The VM isn't a VPN client, it's a VPN server. It's the 'far end' of the VPN tunnel between my phone and the Google Cloud VM and from there it's then out onto the internet. It was a bit of an experiment, but it actually works reasonably well considering its in USA.

I already run a Pi-hole at home on a £9.30 Raspberry Pi Zero W and it runs swimmingly well - well worth everyone doing (it should be built-in to routers!)

I'm now looking at buying a GL-iNet router (Mango=£20, Creta=£42) which supports OpenVPN & Wireshark.

It would of course be much simpler/cheaper to ditch Three mobile broadband and go back to VirginMedia, but where would the fun be in that!?
 
Interesting project you got there Bill!

I know what you mean about returning to Virgin, it "just works" out the box, but sadly when it comes to billing/pricing they just haven't got a clue.
 
Hi guys, new to this forum and it's brilliant, some great info.
I've the same issues as most on here with the B535 router on 3 mobile us. I was on a BT landline giving ~ 1Mb DL and 0.3Mb UL. The issue I keep having is that my B535 is working perfectly on the green light with 5 bars of signal giving ~ 10Mb DL and 6Mb UL then it changes to the blue light on 1 Bar of signal and the UL and DL drop through the floor. Anyone know how to resolve this or limit it from going into the better blue bars?
 
Hi guys, new to this forum and it's brilliant, some great info.
I've the same issues as most on here with the B535 router on 3 mobile us. I was on a BT landline giving ~ 1Mb DL and 0.3Mb UL. The issue I keep having is that my B535 is working perfectly on the green light with 5 bars of signal giving ~ 10Mb DL and 6Mb UL then it changes to the blue light on 1 Bar of signal and the UL and DL drop through the floor. Anyone know how to resolve this or limit it from going into the better blue bars?
Switch away from 3, their network isn’t great. Try Vodafone.
 
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