They are providing CarFi in 8.0 for no charge. It was a paid license option for some models. I saw it in RC1 as CarFi and now in RC2 its listed as Advanced roaming.
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I have been doing extensive testing of the MK2 the past few weeks (in lab). It was working very well. Today I proceeded to do further testing out in the field and I am now noticing the device refuses to allow me to connect to any network that may require authentication via a web page. I can now no longer use WiFi as WAN.
Web page authentication is common place. Many WiFi hotspot providers use it, hotels, RV campgrounds, marinas, etc.
I did read some posts suggesting to disable health check which I tried and it did not resolve. I also tried changing the LAN DNS settings on the MK2 to default/automatic which I had previously set to use Googleâs 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
Any ideas? Thank you
Edit: after rebooting the MK2 it worked. I was able to access the portal page. Any idea why it took a reboot?
Also, how is DNS handled on this device when using multiple WAN sources?
The cellular details page has a whole area for DNS servers and I have it set to âObtain DNS server address automaticallyâ whereas the WiFi as WAN details page does not have this option but does list a DNS server IP address (non-editable). Under Network > Network Settings > Untagged LAN there is an option there to âAssign DNS server automaticallyâ
I typically use Googleâs public DNS servers 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and enter that at the LAN settings page so its passed onto clients. Can I still do that if I need to connect to a captive portal? Why does the cellular connection details page have its own section for DNS servers and the WiFi as WAN details page does not?
What happens if I leave everything to automatic/default? Which DNS server would clients use if I have multiple WANs?
Thanks!
Could someone please respond to my question about keeping both WIFI Wan connections under priority 1. Which firmware version supports this on the SOHO Surf?
SOHO is designed for WAN fail-over only. You wonât able to set WANs under same priority.
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You have multi WANs connected for BR1 MK2 ? If yes, make sure the authentication is going through the same WIFI WAN (Outbound policy). Again this is only work around for some WIFI network enabled with captive portal. We canât really control/know what are the access criteria for the WIFI network.
You can set the DNS server via the Wi-Fi connection profile page.
This is depend your design. You can have your client devices direct using public DNS server or set BR1 MK2 (LAN IP as Proxy DNS) as DNS server.
If you set the BR1 MK2 as DNS server, then you can define the DNS resolver settings:
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Can you point me to any information on CarFi and how it solves the scanning issue? There seems to be no information on peplinks site on what exactly it is.
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Thank you that helped clear some questions up
I posted that same question in the RC2 thread. Its excellent to have it in 8.0 but there is no documentation in the manual or tool tips in the admin panel. Further, when I tested it, I didnt see it actually doing anything/workingâŚ
From what I can tell it only does something for AP on the same channel and SSID. The scanning issue is its looking for any WiFi network on any channel when its not connected to one. When it does the scan and the radio goes into promiscuous mode it cannot serve any traffic on the LAN side.
It does the scan every few seconds so long as the WiFi WAN is enabled meaning your LAN becomes nearly useless unless you manually disable WiFi WAN. Every few minutes would be a sane default scan interval for a single radio device, every few seconds should only be if you have a dedicated WiFi WAN radio.
Here is what the packet loss looks like while pinging the LAN side of the router from a laptop, the first half of the graph is wifi wan enabled but not connected to a network, the second half is wifi wan disabled:
Ideally you would have a scan interval setting defaulted to something like 60 seconds , here is the setting in a competitors router:
Scan Interval : How often WiFi as WAN scans the environment for updates. (Default: 60 seconds. Range: 5â3600 seconds.)
Scan While Connected : Continue to scan for WiFi as WAN profile updates when connected. Each time a scan occurs the wireless communication of the router will be temporarily interrupted. Normally this should be disabled.
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I only briefly tried using the unit for both WiFi as WAN and WiFi as LAN. I have a second AP setup to handle the LAN. My reason was because the speeds/bandwidth is at least halved when using the radio for both tasks (WAN and LAN). Your issue would be a big problem to not to use it both as WAN and LAN (speed/bandwidth issue aside). I thought I read that they had recognized your issue and issued a fix. What version firmware are you running?
I get excellent throughput with my SOHO sharing a radio so long as its connected to a WAN source. Also on a AC radio the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz are actually separate radios so you donât see the issue and get great throughput if your LAN device is on 5Ghz and wan is 2.4Ghz which is typical but I use a 5Ghz wan source sometimes which is where I noticed it. Also some of my device are 2.4Ghz only so they where silently suffering from the problem.
Peplink said 2 years ago in this thread they would add the option, I still donât see it and still have the issue as do many others I have helped many who where puzzled at the poor performance which is typically noticed when the device switches over to cellular after leaving somewhere that had WiFi wan working.
Again this behavior is not even documented let alone fixed, yet this thread was started touting campground wifi which in a mobile situation is when you would see this the most after driving to the next campground.
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FYI, the reason I brought this up again is because I was helping out someone who was testing Airstreams Connected offering which is a Peplink Mini BR1 and antenna which cost around $1500-2000 installed: Airstream Connected | Airstream 4G LTE-A Plans Powered by AT&T
My understanding is Airstream locks down the UI so you canât even enable/disable WiFi Wan, and its enabled all the time so campground wifi can be easily setup, you have to get Airstream to disable it remotely, probably through InControl.
Obviously you have some unhappy customers because whenever if not connected to WiFi WAN they are experiencing lots of packet loss on LAN, you can see the discussion here: New ÂAirstream Connected LTE-WiFi Dealer Installed - Page 7 - Airstream Forums
IMO Airstream should have done a dedicated interior AP for that setup but I understand them wanting to keep it simple and less power hungry and again the speed is fine so long as WiFi WAN is connected or disabled. I donât blame Airstream for missing this issue since its not documented and Peplink seems to be recommending using it for campground use.
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Hey John,
I canât even do what YOUâre doing via the iOS app! My app canât connect to the Remote Web AdminâŚit just spins and spins.
Am I correct that youâre using the RMA in the app to disable the WAN connections as needed, rather than using the browser version?
I use both the web version and the iOS whatever is most convenient at the time. Many times leaving a campground or going down the road is when I remember that WiFI WAN is still enabled and needs to be turned off due to this issue, thatâs typically when I use the app:
thank you for the app! this will be very helpful in my application having to switch/monitor WAN connections while in motion!
Wow John, so your appâs interface is different than mine! The newest iOS version is pretty much a Read-Only view. Argh.
To make it worse, the app has a bug with the RMA connection rendering it kaput. Double-Argh!!
Thanks for your response.
Are you sure you have the router utility and not incontrol app?
First name is Justin BTW 
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OH, gosh, JustinâŚso sorry, whereâd I get John from? 
Thank you very much; you were rightâŚI was using the InControl app!! Uh, er, wowâŚthe Router app is exactly what I need for doing what you and I want.
So, why the heck am I even trying to use InControl, ESPECIALLY since Iâve completely jacked my routerâs configs at least several times, trying to get Web Management to work. Ugh.
Now, going back into the InControl app, I see absolutely NO purpose for someone managing a ONE router install in their RV.
Thanks a million, once again!
Steve (or you can call me John. LOL)
So what is the lowest model that does support this function? I just want to be able to bond WAN sources, be it Wifi WAN on different bands, or Wifi with USB, etc.
Really should be able to just install an add-on to enable that on the Surf SOHO at least for USB/Wifi combined.