GPRS Internet Connection

Ezys · 10-27-2009, 01:55 AM

Hello,

I have a gprs/edge modem, T-ModemUSB from Teltonika, and would like to use it with Incognito.

My GSM provider gives the following parameters for cellphones:
IP address of proxy server: 194.176.032.151
Port number: 8080 (in older models- 9201)
Username: omni
Password: omni
APN or GPRS access point: omnitel
Homepage: http://wap.ezys.lt

I have tried and failed to access the internet. Here is what I did:

Start > Internet > KPPP > Configure > Accounts > New > Manual > set account name to "Ezys", phone number to "*99#";

Then Modems > New > Modem device set to /dev/ttyUSB0, connection speed 230400;

Maybe I have failed because I have set parameters, given by GSM provider incorrectly. I have tried to put IP address of proxy server: 194.176.032.151 into Gateway field, then into DNS, and without the given IP at all.

In all cases I got connection status "connected", modems' LED showed connection, but I could not access internet with Firefox, both with Tor enabled and disabled.

I will be grateful for help.

anonym · 10-27-2009, 08:24 AM

What's the output of the following commands when you are "connected":

Code:

/sbin/route -n
/sbin/ifconfig

Ezys · 10-28-2009, 12:20 PM

I did what you suggested. I have saved terminal 2 terminal sessions and attached them to this post:

without-ip-address-of-proxy-server.txt is a saved session when there was no IP Adress of Proxy Server, given by provider, set at all
with-ip-address-of-proxy-server-set-as-gateway.txt is a saved session with IP Adress of Proxy server, given by provider, set as Gateway in KPPP

Ezys · 11-02-2009, 12:34 PM

I think I made a mistake- it seems to me the KPPP connection is working, KPPP statistics shows bytes moving in and out, and this:

Code:

Local Addr: 10.121.204.83 , Remote Addr: 10.6.6.6

But I am still unable to surf the web

, either with Tor enabled or disabled in Firefox.
In Firefox, when Tor enabled, I get

Code:

The proxy server is refusing connections
Firefox is configured to use a proxy server that is refusing connections.

    *   Check the proxy settings to make sure that they are correct.

    *   Contact your network administrator to make sure the proxy server is working.

Vidalia Control Panel shows "Tor is Running", Bandwidth Graph shows data being sent and received, and I can see a Tor Network Map. I have attached a Vidalia Message Log as a separate file.

When I start TorK, First-Run Wizard starts. I leave default settings and click "next" until this:

Code:

I can't contact Tor.
This means Tork will need to modify Tor's settings if it is to be usable by Tork in future.
To the right is a list of the possible files that Tor may be using for it's configuration.
If you click the 'Modify Tor's Control File' button, I'll modify any that exist to make Tor controllable by TorK.
Once that's done you can click 'Test Toor' to re-test the connection.

I then try what this suggests with all Candidate Config Files and test, but no noticeable changes appear.
I click "next" to go further, and get a message

Code:

I did not find an installation of Privoxy on your system.

I later choose an option "Privoxy starts in the background when my computer boots up" or the other option- to search for Privoxy already installed, and with either of optionss my efforts have failed.
Below is a Tor Log from TorK when it launches:

Code:

2009-11-02 19:18:47	TorK	(1 of 1) Your Broadband Router May Not Be Plug 'n Playable!
2009-11-02 19:20:17	TorK	(1 of 1) You need to use a cookie to connect to Tor!
2009-11-02 19:20:17	TorK	(1 of 1) TorK cannot connect to Tor!
2009-11-02 19:20:27	TorK	(1 of 1) Tor's Authentication Cookie Not Available!
2009-11-02 19:20:27	TorK	(1 of 1) TorK cannot connect to Tor!
2009-11-02 19:21:31	TorK	(1 of 1) Tor's Authentication Cookie Not Available!
2009-11-02 19:21:31	TorK	(1 of 1) TorK cannot connect to Tor!

Please help. I need Incognito. Thank you.

anonym · 11-03-2009, 05:01 AM

Since Tor is able to bootstrap, the Internet connection is working. The only thing I can think of is that ppp style connections (which I admittedly have never tried, haven't seen one of those for alsmost a decade where I live) must interfere with Incognito's transparent Tor proxying. The routing tables looked ok, though, but we'll try disabling transparent Tor proxying and see if you can use the Internet directly as the first step in out trouble shooting. Disclaimer: after following these instructions, the current Incognito session becomes insecure and offers no anonymity -- all will be fine again after a reboot.

First of all, add "debugmode" to the kernel commandline (press TAB when you have selected your language, but before you press ENTER to start loading the Linux kernel). When the graphical interface is up, start a terminal and issue the following commands:

Code:

#become root, which is now possible due to debugmode
su -
#disable the firewall and thus transparent proxying
/etc/init.d/iptables stop

Now you should be able to use the Internet directly with you applications except those that are explicitly configured to use Tor, which includes Firefox etc., so check the network settings and disable proxies.

Establish your ppp connection, and possibly restart Tor:

Code:

/etc/init.d/tor restart

The reason we want to restart Tor is that DNS requests are still done through the Tor network, and Tor sometimes get kranky and takes literally ages to start working if there's no Internet connectivity when it starts up (from you logs it seems like it took 30 minutes). Another possibility is that you start using your ISP's DNS server by editing /etc/resolv.conf and add "nameserver <IP address of DNS server>" at the very top of that file. Yet another possibility is if you skip using hostnames and use IP addresses directly, i.e. http://69.163.203.254 ínstead of http://www.asdf.com.

Now you hopefully should be able to tell whether you can do some Internetworking. Get back to me with the results.

Ezys · 11-03-2009, 12:49 PM

I started Incognito in debugmode, and did this in terminal:

Code:

incognito@livecd ~ $ su -
livecd ~ # /etc/init.d/iptables stop
 * Saving iptables state ...                                              [ ok ]
 * Stopping firewall ...                                                  [ ok ]

Then disabled proxy in Firefox, established kppp connection, then again in terminal:

Code:

livecd ~ # /etc/init.d/tor restart
 * Stopping Tor ...                                                       [ ok ]
 * Tor configuration (/etc/tor/torrc) is valid.
 * Starting Tor ...                                                       [ ok ]
livecd ~ #

And I am online. I am writing this post from Incognito. I did not edit resolv.conf, hostnames (domains) do work. Speed is good, connection seems to be stable.

anonym · 11-03-2009, 01:29 PM

Alright, then the problem must be some sort of incompatibility between something from the ppp connection and the transparent proxying. I have no idea whatsoever what that something is at the moment, but while I think about it, please try the following:

Do exactly the same thing you did in order to get a direct, non-anonymous connection and make sure that browsing works (or continue from your current session if you still have it working). Then enable the transparent proxying again, i.e.:

Code:

/etc/init.d/iptables start

Can you still browse the web? Are you anonymous now (test with https://check.torproject.org)?

Ezys · 11-03-2009, 01:38 PM

Anonym, with your kind help I think I have found a solution to my problem.
I am writing this very post from Incognito through Tor network, it works!

check.torproject.org congratulates me for using Tor! I have attached a new log too.

Here is what I did:

I booted up Incognito, and established a kppp connection.

Then did this in terminal:

Code:

incognito@livecd ~ $ su -
livecd ~ # /etc/init.d/iptables restart
 * Saving iptables state ...                                              [ ok ]
 * Stopping firewall ...                                                  [ ok ]
 * Loading iptables state and starting firewall ...                       [ ok ]
livecd ~ # /etc/init.d/tor restart
 * Stopping Tor ...                                                       [ ok ]
 * Tor configuration (/etc/tor/torrc) is valid.
 * Starting Tor ...                                                       [ ok ]
live

If I understand correctly, Incognito now works as it is designed to?

Ezys · 11-03-2009, 01:51 PM

Quote:

I think I have found a solution to my problem.

Regarding my last post- I did not mean to steal credit for your suggestions. It just happened so that when you posted, I was writing my post about my adventures with restarting after establishing connection.

So, now Incognito works correctly, right?

anonym · 11-03-2009, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezys

So, now Incognito works correctly, right?

Yes, those two commands doesn't hurt in any way as long as they succeed (which we can see they did in your quote). I wonder if restarting iptables is necessary, though. Feel free to try just restarting Tor once your ppp connection is up -- it might be the issue I wrote asbout earlier, that Tor sometimes takes ages to start if there's no Internet connectivity during bootstrap. The very same problem is common when using any kind of manual network connection (i.e. one that requires the users intervention and thus takes time enough for Tor to timeout) which always is the case with ppp, wireless networks and basically everything that isn't a wired connection that uses DHCP.

Ezys · 11-04-2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anonym

I wonder if restarting iptables is necessary, though. Feel free to try just restarting Tor once your ppp connection is up

You are absolutely rigth anonym, restarting Tor after establishing connection is enough:

Code:

incognito@livecd ~ $ su -
livecd ~ # /etc/init.d/tor restart
 * Stopping Tor ...                                               [ ok ]
 * Tor configuration (/etc/tor/torrc) is valid.
 * Starting Tor ...                                               [ ok ]
livecd ~ #

Thank you very much for help and for Incognito!

anonym · 11-05-2009, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezys

You are absolutely rigth anonym, restarting Tor after establishing connection is enough

It should be noted that according to my experiments, this seems to work better with the new stable Tor branch which not yet is in Incognito, so similar workarounds likely won't be necessary in future releases.