How to get a dumb WiFi only device to use a proxied connection?
I need to provide 'proxied' WiFi when I'm on my boat in France so that, among other things, I can log on to my doctor's web site to order repeat prescriptions and to allow my Kobo Forma (reader, like a Kindle) to access my public library. Both of these fail when tried directly from abroad. So I thought a VPN might be the way to do this but every time I look into doing it I seem to hit a problem. The Kobo Forma has little flexibility, all it can do is connect to WiFi, you can't tell it any more than the SSID and password. Thus I need to somehow provide a 'proxied' WiFi connection that makes the Kobo look as if it's connecting from a UK IP address. The router on the boat is a TP-Link Archer MR200 and it does have VPN ability, however on looking into it it seems to be a VPN server which is little use. I want it to be a VPN client and connect to a VPN server in the UK (don't I?). I can easily enough set up a router here at home in the UK that runs a VPN server, but again I fail to see how that helps as I can't get the Kobo to log in to the VPN. Everyone tells me that VPNs are the solution to everything but I still fail to see how they can help me at all! :-) Can anyone here help me to a solution of my problem? I'm fairly techie, I'm familiar with proxying using ssh and reverse tunnels and all sorts of things like that but this still has me stumped. -- Chris Green
Hi Chris, How about you upgrade your Archer router with OpenWRT ( https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/archer_mr200) and use the site to site VPN? I think you will struggle with telling kobo to use any other VPN. As a side note, I'm curiose as to which library allows you to use kobo to checkout books. Cheerio! Bart W dniu wtorek, 1 listopada 2022 Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> napisał(a):
I need to provide 'proxied' WiFi when I'm on my boat in France so that, among other things, I can log on to my doctor's web site to order repeat prescriptions and to allow my Kobo Forma (reader, like a Kindle) to access my public library. Both of these fail when tried directly from abroad.
So I thought a VPN might be the way to do this but every time I look into doing it I seem to hit a problem.
The Kobo Forma has little flexibility, all it can do is connect to WiFi, you can't tell it any more than the SSID and password. Thus I need to somehow provide a 'proxied' WiFi connection that makes the Kobo look as if it's connecting from a UK IP address.
The router on the boat is a TP-Link Archer MR200 and it does have VPN ability, however on looking into it it seems to be a VPN server which is little use. I want it to be a VPN client and connect to a VPN server in the UK (don't I?).
I can easily enough set up a router here at home in the UK that runs a VPN server, but again I fail to see how that helps as I can't get the Kobo to log in to the VPN.
Everyone tells me that VPNs are the solution to everything but I still fail to see how they can help me at all! :-)
Can anyone here help me to a solution of my problem? I'm fairly techie, I'm familiar with proxying using ssh and reverse tunnels and all sorts of things like that but this still has me stumped.
-- Chris Green _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe send an email to main-leave@lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!
On Tue, Nov 01, 2022 at 05:10:38PM +0000, B D wrote:
Hi Chris, How about you upgrade your Archer router with OpenWRT ([1]https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/archer_mr200) and use the site to site VPN?
Yes, that is one possibility, openwrt doesn't bother me but if you look at pages showing how to configure/implement a VPN it's very complex! I'm also a bit concerned about continued updates and support for the 4G in the MR200 - the TP-Link implementation is very 'plug and play', you just insert the SIM and it works.
I think you will struggle with telling kobo to use any other VPN. As a side note, I'm curiose as to which library allows you to use kobo to checkout books.
My public library in the UK supports Overdrive as do many other UK public libraries. It's another 'just works' interface.
Bart W dniu wtorek, 1 listopada 2022 Chris Green <[2]cl@isbd.net> napisał(a):
I need to provide 'proxied' WiFi when I'm on my boat in France so that, among other things, I can log on to my doctor's web site to order repeat prescriptions and to allow my Kobo Forma (reader, like a Kindle) to access my public library. Both of these fail when tried directly from abroad.
So I thought a VPN might be the way to do this but every time I look
into doing it I seem to hit a problem.
The Kobo Forma has little flexibility, all it can do is connect to
WiFi, you can't tell it any more than the SSID and password. Thus I
need to somehow provide a 'proxied' WiFi connection that makes the Kobo look as if it's connecting from a UK IP address.
The router on the boat is a TP-Link Archer MR200 and it does have VPN ability, however on looking into it it seems to be a VPN server which is little use. I want it to be a VPN client and connect to a VPN server in the UK (don't I?).
I can easily enough set up a router here at home in the UK that runs a VPN server, but again I fail to see how that helps as I can't get the Kobo to log in to the VPN.
Everyone tells me that VPNs are the solution to everything but I still fail to see how they can help me at all! :-)
Can anyone here help me to a solution of my problem? I'm fairly techie, I'm familiar with proxying using ssh and reverse tunnels and
all sorts of things like that but this still has me stumped.
-- Chris Green _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe send an email to [3]main-leave@lists.alug.org.uk [4]http://www.alug.org.uk/ Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!
References
1. https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/archer_mr200 2. mailto:cl@isbd.net 3. mailto:main-leave@lists.alug.org.uk 4. http://www.alug.org.uk/
_______________________________________________ To unsubscribe send an email to main-leave@lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!
-- Chris Green
Windscribe has some quite good manual configuration options if you have a paid subscription. I have to configure network manager manually as their Linux app is rubbish and stops Nemo working if my network shares are mounted. There's some routers for windscribe listed here, https://www.reddit.com/r/Windscribe/comments/mqaga1/compatible_routers_for_w... and instructions for an Asus router here, https://windscribe.net/guides/asus to give you an example of configuration against openwrt. Regards, Martin Get BlueMail for Android On 1 Nov 2022, 19:25, at 19:25, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
On Tue, Nov 01, 2022 at 05:10:38PM +0000, B D wrote:
Hi Chris, How about you upgrade your Archer router with OpenWRT ([1]https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/archer_mr200) and use the site to site VPN?
Yes, that is one possibility, openwrt doesn't bother me but if you look at pages showing how to configure/implement a VPN it's very complex! I'm also a bit concerned about continued updates and support for the 4G in the MR200 - the TP-Link implementation is very 'plug and play', you just insert the SIM and it works.
I think you will struggle with telling kobo to use any other VPN. As a side note, I'm curiose as to which library allows you to use kobo to checkout books.
My public library in the UK supports Overdrive as do many other UK public libraries. It's another 'just works' interface.
Bart W dniu wtorek, 1 listopada 2022 Chris Green <[2]cl@isbd.net> napisał(a):
I need to provide 'proxied' WiFi when I'm on my boat in France so that, among other things, I can log on to my doctor's web site to order repeat prescriptions and to allow my Kobo Forma (reader, like a Kindle) to access my public library. Both of these fail when tried directly from abroad.
So I thought a VPN might be the way to do this but every time I look
into doing it I seem to hit a problem.
The Kobo Forma has little flexibility, all it can do is connect to
WiFi, you can't tell it any more than the SSID and password. Thus I
need to somehow provide a 'proxied' WiFi connection that makes the Kobo look as if it's connecting from a UK IP address.
The router on the boat is a TP-Link Archer MR200 and it does have VPN ability, however on looking into it it seems to be a VPN server which is little use. I want it to be a VPN client and connect to a VPN server in the UK (don't I?).
I can easily enough set up a router here at home in the UK that runs a VPN server, but again I fail to see how that helps as I can't get the Kobo to log in to the VPN.
Everyone tells me that VPNs are the solution to everything but I still fail to see how they can help me at all! :-)
Can anyone here help me to a solution of my problem? I'm fairly techie, I'm familiar with proxying using ssh and reverse tunnels and
all sorts of things like that but this still has me stumped.
-- Chris Green _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe send an email to [3]main-leave@lists.alug.org.uk [4]http://www.alug.org.uk/ Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!
References
1. https://openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/archer_mr200 2. mailto:cl@isbd.net 3. mailto:main-leave@lists.alug.org.uk 4. http://www.alug.org.uk/
_______________________________________________ To unsubscribe send an email to main-leave@lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!
-- Chris Green _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe send an email to main-leave@lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!
Chris, On 01/11/2022 10:24 GMT you wrote:
I need to provide 'proxied' WiFi when I'm on my boat in France so that, among other things, I can log on to my doctor's web site to order repeat prescriptions and to allow my Kobo Forma (reader, like a Kindle) to access my public library. Both of these fail when tried directly from abroad.
So I thought a VPN might be the way to do this but every time I look into doing it I seem to hit a problem.
The Kobo Forma has little flexibility, all it can do is connect to WiFi, you can't tell it any more than the SSID and password. Thus I need to somehow provide a 'proxied' WiFi connection that makes the Kobo look as if it's connecting from a UK IP address.
The router on the boat is a TP-Link Archer MR200 and it does have VPN ability, however on looking into it it seems to be a VPN server which is little use. I want it to be a VPN client and connect to a VPN server in the UK (don't I?).
I can easily enough set up a router here at home in the UK that runs a VPN server, but again I fail to see how that helps as I can't get the Kobo to log in to the VPN.
Everyone tells me that VPNs are the solution to everything but I still fail to see how they can help me at all! :-)
Can anyone here help me to a solution of my problem? I'm fairly techie, I'm familiar with proxying using ssh and reverse tunnels and all sorts of things like that but this still has me stumped.
1. Get a GL.iNet GL-AR300M16-Ext wireless pocket router (£25.30, Amazon). 2. Set up a wireshark VPN server in the UK. Generate a client configuration for the AR300M. 3. Configure the AR300M to act as a repeater for your boatnet, re-broadcasting boatnet with a distinct SSID. 4. Configure the AR300M with a wireshark tunnel back to your UK homenet, using the details from Step 2. 5. Point the Kobo at the AR300M's SSID. Job done. The AR300M is managed through a web interface, and the above steps can be carried out over Wi-Fi. However, I keep an ethernet cable to hand, in case I b****r up the wireless settings while trying to fix some other unanticipated problem! (FWIW I carry take one of these nifty little devices with me when I go on holiday, set up to re-broadcast my home SSID. A little bit of configuration when I arrive at my destination, and the family's mobile devices all get a nice VPN'ed Internet connection without having to register with the host's Wi-Fi details.) Regards, Nigel
participants (4)
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