Setting up two routers

psychic_teabag

Chickabiddybex wrote: »

So... if I connect to the Internet on my PS3 via my RasPi would I need a new one or can I run it from my current RasPi 3 which I'm using for Kodi?

Just the one will be fine, since it can multitask easily. Mine is a first generation model, but runs as a media centre plus PVR plus web server plus ntp master and does various cron things all quite happily. If you have a 3rd generation model it will barely notice the extra activity.

bluesnake

Again, I have had no dealings with Netflix or PS3/4 or Pi and this is my take on it.

Me, in your position would purchase another sd card and usb wifi that work in Pi. put both of these into your exiting pi and configure it as a vpn hotspot. There are free VPN connections to be had, but limited throughput, some have a few days trial etc, but good enough for proof of concept. Pay about £6 and you get a full month unlimited use.

Test it fully, and over days to make sure it has enough bandwidth, that you can handle vpn lost connections and re-connections (they are a pain in the !!!). Take it to friends house to test their kodi on pi.

If you are happy buy new Pi for kodi.

I now see psychic teabag response, encryption does take up some cpu power, but how much? and since you only need vpn for Kodi, what about this then http://brianhornsby.com/blog/how-to-setup-your-vpn-client plus you save on the usb wifi bits, and as psychic teabag says it will all work.

psychic_teabag

bluesnake wrote: »

I now see psychic teabag response, encryption does take up some cpu power, but how much? and since you only need vpn for Kodi, what about this then http://brianhornsby.com/blog/how-to-setup-your-vpn-client plus you save on the usb wifi bits, and as psychic teabag says it will all work.

I tried kodi briefly on rpi, but didn't pursue it, so I don't know how much cpu it needs. And I don't know how much openvpn needs. But rpi3 is quad-core - if kodi could run on older single-core rpi, you've basically got 3 cores sitting idle ! (Might depend on whether you're using the gpu for video decoding - I heard that the new rpi is fast enough to do it on the cpu, and so you don't need to buy the license to run it on the gpu.)

Simplest thing would be to run top or similar (I favour atop) to see what sort of load your pi is under.

Are you likely to be using kodi and PS3 at the same time ?

Chickabiddybex

Nope never at the same time.

Any chance you could give brief steps on what I need to do to achieve this so I know what to Google in order to do each step?

psychic_teabag

Chickabiddybex wrote: »

Nope never at the same time.

Any chance you could give brief steps on what I need to do to achieve this so I know what to Google in order to do each step?

Yeah, no problem. First, how are your devices connected ? Does rpi use ethernet or wifi to connect to main router, and does PS3 connect using ethernet or wifi ? What brand is your main router - does it allow a static route to be set up ?

I use 192.168.1.* for the main subnet (served by the broadband router). rpi connects over wifi, and serves subnet 192.168.5.* over its ethernet. So /etc/network/interfaces has an entry

# eth0 is used to connect the tv - we act as a router linking it to the wireless network
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.5.1
netmask 255.255.255.0

to set it as a static address. I thought I was running a dhcp server on there, for anything that plugged in, but I can't see it, so I guess I use static addresses at the other end too.

Then you need to enable ip forwarding on the rpi so that it can act as a router. (When it receives packets on 192.168.5.1 interface that are addressed to the outside world, it passes them onto your broadband router.) I have that in a file /etc/sysctl.d/forward.conf but looks like you can also just uncomment a line in /etc/sysctl.conf - that will enable it on the next reboot, but you can enable it live without rebooting by writing to /proc/sys/net/... google for "ip_forward"

My main router has a static route so that it knows to send packets for 192.168.5.* to the (192.16.8.1.*) rpi address for forwarding. That will vary from router to router. If that's not possible, you may need to set up NAT on the rpi. But if you're running a VPN anyway, that may well take care of that. (I don't know much about VPN)

This is enough to get transparent access from devices plugged into the ethernet out to the rest of the world via wifi. Unfortunately, I don't know from this point how to run VPN on the rpi and allow the rpi to automatically encrypt packets arriving on ethernet before sending them on. But it's just software - if a dedicated device on your nework can do it, then your rpi can be configured to do it ;-)

psychic_teabag

This looks like it might cover how to setup rpi as a vpn router (so that it encrypts everything passing through). I haven't tried it, though.

https://gist.github.com/superjamie/ac55b6d2c080582a3e64

I know you can do all sorts of magic using iptables but it looks mostly like black magic to me...

Guides to configuring openwrt or dd-wrt as vpn routers might be helpful : openwrt and dd-wrt are just linux-based router software that can be flashed onto a variety of routers. (I use openwrt here.) The software that runs on these is likely to be similar to what you need on rpi. Note, however, that they tend to provide their own configuration utilities, so the actual details of how you do it would be different. But the steps are likely to be the same.

bluesnake

Dd-wrt and tomato are highly configurable and can work with openvpn. Think merlin os too?

The problem that these routers, for something reliable and meaty cost over £100, a lot of money for something that may not do exactly what u want, worse if you do not have the configuration skills. By the time you buy a dd-wrt router you probably could buy 3 or 4 Pi's?

Also loss of vpn connection and auto reconnection is a big issue on most router. It often takes work. Even on PIA with auto connect at home which is 'automatic connection' still on many occasions takes work, and hair pulling, especially with those dodgy stealthy windows updates.

I spent 2 hours following guides to get ipsec working on mine, but the vpn kept dropping and gave up in the end. Getting it to reconnect every 10+ or so minuites was a pain and unworkable for me. Reverted back to wndows client and installed new nic drivers. 3 days layer even after a good few disconnections and a few manual connections things are ok.

I would say the KISS approach is best

Chickabiddybex

how are your devices connected ? Does rpi use ethernet or wifi to connect to main router, and does PS3 connect using ethernet or wifi ? What brand is your main router - does it allow a static route to be set up ?

Everything is connected over WiFi to my Sky hub. It doesn't allow a static route to be set up but I do have a Huawei HG633 sat in it's box which as far as I know does allow this.

I'm starting to think I can live without US Netflix (I've been researching and it looks like a lot of the VPNs have been blocked from accessing it anyway, not just smart DNS which I used to use so even if it's possible it probably won't be in a few months time) and just changing the DNS settings on my Pi so I can at least watch US shows from places that don't put in as much effort as Netflix when it comes to geo restrictions.

I'm thinking of using these guys as they have a dedicated Kodi addon: http://unblockr.net/

bluesnake

Chickabiddybex wrote: »

I'm thinking of using these guys as they have a dedicated Kodi addon: http://unblockr.net/

Ahhh, well I would not touch them as they only seem to be doing Smart DNS, not encryption, and your isp will still handle and log your traffic and keep the record for a year. Especially since you are with Sky whom may deem that you are watching/logging content for which they could charge you for. However for Kodi, it may just be what you want, just for ease of use. https://www.youtube.com/v/watch?v=vgr5i_ZTGJA

I would look here https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-anonymous-review-160220/ or here https://thatoneprivacysite.net/

PIA is cost effective. I can live with being disconnected a good few times a day, but I won't say they are the best.

Chickabiddybex

I'm not with Sky for my Internet I'm with TalkTalk, I just never switched routers when the new one arrived.
(because if it ain't broke don't fix it!)

I don't really care if TalkTalk see what I'm doing because none of it is illegal. If I wanted to download torrents etc I'd look into it for sure!