log in to router over internet

[scooter49]

Newbie here and a bit of a lamer.
I would like to gain access to my 7800n router remotely when I am on holiday abroad.

I have security cameras set up through a qnap. I have set port forwarding so I can gain access remotely to the qnap and it works fine. However, sometimes it goes down and a modem reboot is the only thing to bring things back online.

I have spent hours looking at how to set the modem so I can also log in to it remotely when I am away and I am not getting anywhere. Can someone please take me through the steps required to do this. I have a static ip.

Any help greatly appreciated.

[Philip_L]

Hi

The Billion 7800N is a bit funny to set up for remote access and I've never fully understood it so always been trial and error, but do have it working. There are two areas that seem relevant on first trying to set it up, these are in Configuration - Advanced, one is Web Access Control and one is Remote Access.

I think Web Access control is related to the internal network only, on mine it is disabled but I can still access the Billion from outside, be careful with this setting, I was messing with it trying to get remote access working and was able to lock myself out of the Admin interface completely! The terminology used for remote access on the Billion is confusing. Billion don't do UI interfaces very well (that's in addition to looking like a relic from the web circa 1997 )

The setting I found that is key is Remote Access, with Web Access Control best left alone and disabled.

If you enable Remote Access then you should be able to access the Box from elsewhere. You can also specify rules here so that only a range of IP addresses are accepted, for example you might put your work IP address here to access from work, however you will not know your IP address in advance from abroad so leaving no entries in here leaves it open to the world. Make sure you have a strong password set.

Note that if you have port-forwarded port 80, then to access the Billion remotely it moves to 8080 so you need to append port number 8080, so http://mystaticip:8080

I quick way of checking if the port is now open is to use http://www.grc.com and go to Shields Up, and test that port 80 (or 8080) is now open, then of course check again when you can from somewhere else to give it a try.

Do not forget to "Save changes" using the option at the bottom of the page, as otherwise on a reboot it might undo the settings.

Another more secure option is to set up a VPN, only useful if you are accessing from your own equipment to set up a VPN connection (i.e. I doubt in an Internet cafe you would have access to create a VPN connection). With the VPN you join your local network as though you are connected directly and then do not need any Remote Access settings enabled as you are local via the VPN.

The VPN works from Android devices and PCs.

To set up a VPN on the Billion, Configuration - VPN - PPTP, Set to Enable, WAN port default, Auth Type MS-CHAPv2, Encryption Length Auto, Peer Encryption Mode only stateless IP address start use the default, time out 0 mins. Then create an account, enter a name of your choice, Tunnel is Enable, Username and password of your choice, Connection Type Remote Access, Peer Network IP and Netmask leave blank. Incidentally the VPN is a good to use if on a public Wi-Fi connection as all traffic is encrypted over the VPN and sent to your home router and joins the Internet from there, avoids anyone snooping on your traffic when on unsecured Wi-Fi connections. Also some content such as BBC online content is often blocked if you are not in the UK under the assumption you don't have a UK TV licence, but the VPN will present you to the BBC just like you are at home in the UK.

With an Android device, go to Settings and More, click VPN and add, Enter username and password as set above, type is PPTP, server address is your static IP address, click Advanced, and for DNS enter your routers IP address. You should be able to test this even if connected already to your Network via Wi-Fi. With a Windows PC, just add a new VPN connection and follow the wizard.

Hope that helps.

Regards

Phil

[Philip_L]

Hi

A hidden option that might be useful for you:

Login into the web interface then go to this page: http://ipaddress/tcwd.html

Make sure the Watch Dog is enabled, should be by default. If the OS hard locks up this should reboot the Billion.

You can also enable Auto Reboot, so may be worth setting it to reboot once a day as a fail safe should you not be able to gain remote access to reboot the router. Remember to go back to the main menu and "Save settings" after changing these so they persist.

Regards

Phil

[alexjj]

Phil.

By coincidence I was looking to see how I could auto reboot the 7800N and read this thread just out of interest! So thanks for that.

The settings for auto reboot...am I right in thinking that the 1. and 2. means you can have 1 or 2 times when it reboots and the (hour) (mins) is the time of day at which that reboot occurs? e.g. 5 02 would be 5:02 am.

Thanks!

[azkleric37]

Hi all,

I'm also looking for clarification for how the auto reboot time functions.

Are the hours and minutes to be used in 9 hours 30 mins will reboot the router at 9:30am or would this reboot the router every 9 and a half hours?

Thanks

Az

[billion_fan]

Hi all,

I'm also looking for clarification for how the auto reboot time functions.

Are the hours and minutes to be used in 9 hours 30 mins will reboot the router at 9:30am or would this reboot the router every 9 and a half hours?

Thanks

Az

Its a time eg 14:36 it will reboot, depending on the 'Current Time' set within the 'Status' page of the router.

[azkleric37]

Thanks Billion_fan.

Much appreciated.

[Harvey]

Hope nobody minds me hijacking this thread, but this is the first result to come up in google when using the search term:
"billion router secure remote login"
Whilst everything said in this thread is entirely accurate in the way I set up my Billion 7800n router for access remotely (including the fiddly admin lockout - which I needed to fix using a telnet login to enable again!), nothing has been said about the security, and I was hoping to get this resolved.
As far as I can see, this login method is over http not https, meaning that the password to login would be sent over plain text. Is there another way of securing this login process to this router without the need to VPN? (VPN functionality is not included in to Windows Phone yet, so this is an example where it couldn't be logged in to).
I tried looking for an https login, but can't find one. I may indeed be not looking hard enough though!

Thanks in advance for any reply to this.
-Harv

[billion_fan]

Hope nobody minds me hijacking this thread, but this is the first result to come up in google when using the search term:
"billion router secure remote login"
Whilst everything said in this thread is entirely accurate in the way I set up my Billion 7800n router for access remotely (including the fiddly admin lockout - which I needed to fix using a telnet login to enable again!), nothing has been said about the security, and I was hoping to get this resolved.
As far as I can see, this login method is over http not https, meaning that the password to login would be sent over plain text. Is there another way of securing this login process to this router without the need to VPN? (VPN functionality is not included in to Windows Phone yet, so this is an example where it couldn't be logged in to).
I tried looking for an https login, but can't find one. I may indeed be not looking hard enough though!

Thanks in advance for any reply to this.
-Harv

The 7800N does not support HTTPS login either by WAN or LAN, if your phone does not support VPN, then use a complex password to ensure no one can login to your device, or limit the Allowed Access IP Address Range

[Harvey]

Hi there billion_Fan, and thank you for your swift reply. I'll admit it is disheartening to hear that news though.

Thank you for the advice on the allowed IP range, but this router needs to be managed from various locations (including over mobile networks), so the source IP address can vary quite a lot making this impractical.
Having said this, this wasn't my point though. The security behind having a complicated a password means nothing when it is transmitted over plain text, so it's a shame that it has to be done this way. Granted, the vulnerability is so tiny as to be almost insignificant, but I just wanted to know that this vulnerability can be removed altogether. Thank you for confirming it can not.

All the best,
-Harv