Hello all. I've been connecting to the ECR via a nearby repeater, but I'm trying to get a self-built Allstar node working. I have a Rasp Pi 5 which I've installed the latest ALS3 image. It connects to an Allscan URI101. I've spent much time on the phone with my ISP and router (EERO) tech support and believe there's no issues with the port 4569 that I have forwarded from the Rasp Pi.
I'm now at the point where I think there could be issues that I need to address with the RPT.CONF and/or other config files. I've spent countless hours hacking away at this and am now just beating my head against the wall. I don't want to throw good money after bad and go out and buy a ClearNode device for ~$400 on the chance that it won't work either.
The more I read online the more confused I get, because there's a lot of info posted out there which some of it seems to be deprecated. I could be making things worse by hacking at CONF files without understanding what changes mean what.
I apologize in advance if I'm confused with all this, and I'll take any criticism warranted, but would just the same appreciate any help I can get. Much appreciated.
I can't reach it from my Android phone via DVSwitch Mobile or EchoLink apps. I could be misunderstanding the need for it. If I can access another node that's already set up but owned by someone else but has open usage to access the East Coast Reflector, it's possible I don't need this node I'm trying to set up. As I mentioned, I'm lucky enough to have a nearby repeater that is directly connected to the ECR. My understanding is that I could use this node I'm building to connect to some other network(s) than the ECR.
Which mode of DVSwitch are you using? WT is how most people would get in publicly. Otherwise, use node authentication. The latter is what I use with RepeaterPhone with my iPhone and can enter DTMF etc that way.
For what it's worth, during the week, most of the time, my node (65754) is on the ECR (I mainly like being there for the Morning Brew and what not). That's also hooked to KC1WXP-L on EchoLink thanks to the EchoLink module on ASL.
You can make outgoing connections to other nodes such as ECR and the 55553 Parrot node.
You want to connect to your node from outside your network with your phone.
You have port 4569 udp forwarded to your node
Your ISP is not using cgnat.
If you just want to connect your phone to your node to connect to other network nodes you should just connect your phone to the network node. That is the preferred method.
It should go like this:
phone → ECR or other Network
Not
Phone → your node → ECR or other Network
If you want other nodes to connect to your node then you need to make sure that you have it set up properly in the configuration files. There are YouTube videos and instructions on how to do that. You also need to configure the node for EchoLink if you want to use that.
Also, for EchoLink direct connections you need to open the EchoLink ports 5198 and 5199 udp to your node.
Are you on an ISP that puts customers on CG-NAT, I.E. Starlink, T-Mobile or AT&T fixed wireless?
If not, are you trying to access a node you’ve set up on your local area network using it’s public IP address?
If you are on an ISP that supplies public-phasing IPV4 addresses, have you forwarded UDP port 4569 (or whatever your IAX port is, it’s 4569 by default) to the local IP address of your node?
A common problem I see is that many ISP-supplied routers don’t support Hairpin NAT, so using the public IP of the node from within the same network will go absolutely nowhere fast. This applies to any client, whether it be DVSwitch Mobile, Repeaterphone, or another ASL node.
In such a case, you’d need to use the node’s local IP, or perhaps a VPN connection to consistently be able to reach the node both inside and outside the network.
For what it’s worth, DVSwitch Mobile also has NodeMode, which can register to allstarlink.org with a node number. This will get you to some places where WT will not, but it doesn’t report stats, which some networks don’t like.
For more info on that, check the DVSwitch Mobile documentation.
I believe there is a section specific to NodeMode on DVSM here, though much of this document won’t necessarily be relevant to your situation:
Keep in mind, however, that not every node will have web transceiver enabled and therefore WT connections will just disconnect. The East Coast Reflector is one of several that do this and require that you use a node to connect. The rest of the post is correct, though, and it's not hard to set up any of this by the way - just edit the appropriate config files under /etc/asterisk.
I haven’t read the entire thread (if I missed something, appy-polly-lodgies); but I just looked and the only node number registered to WB3ILA has WT turned OFF…
Thanks Chris (and everyone) for your replies. I believe most of my problems are due to a knowledge gap on my end. While at home I can use a local repeater (owned by KB3VPK) which is directly connected to the East Coast Reflector. But it has limited range while mobile in my area if using a 2m analog rig in my car.
As such, I believe I do not really need to have my own node (67890) on Allstar link while out and about. It sounds like I can just use EchoLink or DVSwitch on my Android phone to connect to the ECR or other nets.
It sounds like more of a learning curve on my side, as I said. I've been licensed since the 1970's but have just got back into the game again over the last couple months. My thought was that I needed to build a new node if I wanted to connect to some other net than the East Coast Reflector.
If I understand things correctly, it sounds like I have a Raspberry Pi 5 and an Allscan URI101 to list on eBay, lol.