Networking

Minor Blog Extensions First I added asciinema support to better show some console stuff. ASCIInema allows to record a terminal session in text and replay it as text. So no wasteful GIF or blurry MP4 for just text. You can see the first use of it in this blog in my FZF SSH Parser Article. Then inspired by Naty I also implemented humans.txt [?] and human.json [?] standards to this blog. Im not so big in all the Indieweb standards. But specially in times of AI slob everywhere, it cant hurt to have more humans on the web. ...

This short Article is in addition to my Pockethernet V2 Review I posted last year December. At the time of writing the original Article there was a announced BER Loop Adapter and ID Plugs but not available at that time. Now some time later this changed and I clicked them in the official Pockethernet store. Brief preface; I am neither sponsored by Pockethernet nor have I received anything for free; everything here was purchased by me through normal means and is in regular use by myself. ...

Pockethernet 2: Hands-On Test of the Revived Network Tester Some years ago, at a event, I could try the original Pockethernet V1. At this time I owned a bigger Tester with display, mostly not with me because to heavy for every day carry. The Pocketethernet looked like a interesting0 small tester for cables and simple network checks, but after playing a bit with it I didn’t like it much. The App was mediocre, I had issues with the connection but now, fast forward: ...

MacOS Better ip info in terminal One particular painful point, coming from linux, was the ip command in the Terminal. The Default MacOS ifconfig command is very - well let’s say “old fashioned” :) Coming from Linux you mostly use ip for everyting ip a to display your interfaces ip r your routes, and so on. Luckily you can install the iproute2 Package on MacOS which give you the ip command. ...

Today a small blog post about a real headache I had with Fedora and public WiFi in hotels or at events and such places. If you work remote like me you hop from wifi to wifi all the time. Hotels, airports, venues… connect to the wifi and normally you get the portal page to accept the terms or login. Only after that internet works. Except on Fedora this portal page never showed up. A simple workaround that helps most of the time is open a browser and go to something like http://neverssl.com. Then it often redirects to the portal. ...

Ok, one of our pfSense in Production just did it again, greet me with a friendly “Unable to check for updates”. My first suspect was DNS again, but after checking all resolvers can resolve the firmware.netgate.com domain without any issue. Next Step to try was in cli if the Package manager itself became a zombie or stuck somewhere. What is interesting is that it gave a response that was not expected. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. If you change your CPE (Consumer Placed Equipment) like Modem or Router from your Providers thingy to your own Router you may face the problem that it is not working as intended. Some Providers, especially on some GPON Fiber, using Tagged VLANS. This is also very common for some DSL Providers using PPPoE. So in case you want connect e.g. a pfSense as your main Router, without bridging the existing CPE unit, you need to set it up first – no plug an play DHCP and done. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. I’m a fan of pfSense. If you use it too, you may noticed the recent change in recommended local domain names from previously *.local into *.home.arpa, here is the relevant redmine entry. The topic has also been discussed here and there recently, which is a good thing. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. If you look at the Windows command prompt from a network perspective, Linux has better “weapons” to offer. Often it’s the little things that frustrate me with Windows from time to time. For example, the DHCP client. In Linux it is sufficient to enter dhcpc -v to get a detailed logged output of what happened in the background with the DHCP. In Windows you can only rely on the presented Information, define some Log Actions or just wisely nod your head. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. The Background Yesterday Netgate made a big leap into a new version branching for pfSense with pfSense plus. Instead of having 2.45, 2.5 versioning, there is now a partly proprietary pfSense+ build using Month/Year Versions for all Netgate-owned devices and optional bought subscriptions. The new Versions are YY.MM.VV, so 21.02 is the first one. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. Just a tiny post about my home Internet Connection. I use a Vodafone, former Unitymedia, CableMax 1000 home connection. That’s a Gbit Coax line with 50 Mbit upstream. Problem at the beginning of the new 1G Tarif there where several Problems regarding IPv4 / IPv6 – either you got a IPv4 only connection or something like DS-Lite or a SLAAC IPv6. I quickly figured out there is a way to change your contract and let them enable “Dual Stack”. ...

Unifi L3 Adoption Recently I installed a lot of new Unifi Sites in local Schools, due to Corona the demand of a working Wifi in School Environments boosted. Most sites we Setup run their Network split to different VLANs, so a simple Layer 2 Adoption is not always possible. But Unifi Controllers luckily have a way to solve this possible adoption issue. So I got used to set both, DHCP Option 43 and unifi DNS name on each site, no matter if VLAN (L3 Structure) or a flat L2 Network. I just set the Options and done. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. TL;DR HoneySIP is a SIP Honeypot Blacklist for use in Firewalls to Block SIP Crawlers and Bruteforcer. All IPs coming from own SIP Validating Honeypots at several servers. If you run a Server accessible over the Internet you will quickly find a lot of “interested” Eyes on it, especially if it is a VoIP System using SIP on default udp/5060. In an Ideal World this system would never be exposed to the Internet – but if you have a PBX which need to be accessible by a lot of remote workers and know how critical SIP/RTP can be you want to avoid forcing SIP over VPN. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. Cause I’m not „blogging“ regularly on this page I just want to post more things in a “Today I learned” fashion. Specially if you work on/at Events and IT there are a lot of things which leave you puzzled questioning thing and forcing you to find solutions “RIGHT NOW”. While others in normal IT Ops have time to test things, Event-IT things are often MacGyver jobs. Working on a remote unknown site with other people’s IT Infrastructure and take what you get, at the end nobody cares – it need to work. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. Thanks to the Unitymedia Expansion in Bochum I have a Gigabit connection for quite some time now. Unfortunately the previous router had some problems with it. Also the function of the router was not according to what I would like to see for myself. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. Probably you already read that Message and landed here because of this: This lobby is not joinable. Players in the lobby may have different NAT types than yours, which can limit network features. COD BLACKOUT is another Call of Duty with a “interesting” Network Code. Different than BF the COD Series relies on P2P Matchmaking instead of Dedicated Servers. So because now Everybody is “a Server” this can cause some Trouble if you are behind a more or less restricted Internet Connection. Specially Campus or Company connects share one broadband Line to many users. Unlike normal home users, you have to be more economic with port ranges here. But also some Home Routers use more restrictive types of NAT (Network Adresse Translation). ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. Translation This original post is written in german 🇩🇪, a rough Translation: I set up my own Freifunk hotspot: a TP-Link CPE210 v1.1, great value and unexpectedly wide range, covering half a three-story house even behind it. It runs as FF-BO-WAT-Bismarckplatz, offering free WiFi at Bismarckplatz. Coverage in Bochum is sparse; no nearby mesh partner yet. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. Translation This original post is written in german 🇩🇪, a rough Translation: We already covered mobile internet in Mainland China; here are brief notes for Hong Kong. Biggest difference: unrestricted access to Western sites like Facebook/Twitter. For BYOD, choose the right network: TD-SCDMA vs WCDMA. An SCDMA SIM in a WCDMA phone gives no data. My China Unicom SIM didn’t work; roaming only, no data. Getting a local SIM at HKG airport is easy and same price as in the city. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. Translation This original post is written in german 🇩🇪, a rough Translation: Being online is essential when traveling. China has UMTS/3G and now 4G, often better coverage in cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Hong Kong than Germany. However, many EU phones use WCDMA, while China’s main provider uses TD-SCDMA, so Western phones may be limited to 2G data on those networks. ...

Hey, just a heads-up that this content is based on an automatically imported version from our old CMS. If the formatting isn’t perfect, I’m sorry about that. Translation This original post is written in german 🇩🇪, a rough Translation: Non-gaming note for my blog: Unitymedia surfstick on Raspberry Pi via wvdial/ppp0. E220 works directly (lsusb shows Huawei 12d1:1003); E170 needs usb_modeswitch. wvdial.conf with APN internet.partner. Disable SIM PIN once with “sudo wvdial pin”. Network interfaces configured for ppp0 via wvdial; auto commented out. ...