Router traffic monitoring

[TheLyppardMan]

I have been using a utility called Networx for some time, to monitor traffic on my network, but unless one only wants to monitor traffic on the computer on which it is installed, there are only two options to get it to work, one being SNMP and the other UPnP. I used to have it set to use SNMP on previous ASUS routers, but for some reason unknown to me, that is no longer an option on the later routers, such as my RT-AX88U and I'm not keen to use the UPnP option for security reasons. I presume that there is no workaround for this, so is anyone aware of an alternative product that would perform a similar function?

 

[Morris]

I have been using a utility called Networx for some time, to monitor traffic on my network, but unless one only wants to monitor traffic on the computer on which it is installed, there are only two options to get it to work, one being SNMP and the other UPnP. I used to have it set to use SNMP on previous ASUS routers, but for some reason unknown to me, that is no longer an option on the later routers, such as my RT-AX88U and I'm not keen to use the UPnP option for security reasons. I presume that there is no workaround for this, so is anyone aware of an alternative product that would perform a similar function?

I have SNMP on my RT-AX68U. I find it under the Administration tab on the left and then SNMP tab on the top.


Morris

 

[DeepAnger]

I have been using a utility called Networx for some time, to monitor traffic on my network, but unless one only wants to monitor traffic on the computer on which it is installed, there are only two options to get it to work, one being SNMP and the other UPnP. I used to have it set to use SNMP on previous ASUS routers, but for some reason unknown to me, that is no longer an option on the later routers, such as my RT-AX88U and I'm not keen to use the UPnP option for security reasons. I presume that there is no workaround for this, so is anyone aware of an alternative product that would perform a similar function?

I often switch from a RT-AC68U to a MV100 (and some Mikrotik before) and I use Networx in SNMP mode on my server.
I've fixed the problem of having or not having SNMP in the router when I added a small manageable CISCO switch between my LAN and the router. Instead of getting SNMP data from the router, Networx gets it from the switch port where the router is connected . The drawback is that It misses the Wireless traffic when I use the ASUS router as the AP but most of the traffic comes from Ethernet computers in my LAN.

 

[eightiescalling]

Stupid question but presumably any network stats pulled via SNMP are still useless with hardware acceleration (CTF) on?

I used to have a nice set of stats feeding to HA but lost them after an ISP upgrade pushed speeds beyond the routers CPU limits and had to enable CTF.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I have SNMP on my RT-AX68U. I find it under the Administration tab on the left and then SNMP tab on the top.


Morris

Unfortunately, it's not available on my RT-AX88U though.

 

[Morris]

I ran into that with the RT-AC86U. Installed SNMP Daemon per thread:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ax88u-snmpd-mini-guide.56354/

Note: Enterware required and can be loaded by AMTM

Procedure:

shh to router

opkg install mini_snmpd

opkg install snmp-utils

Config file:

/tmp/mnt/myUSBstick/entware/etc/mini-snmpd.conf

Note to remove the comment for iface-table

Launch with:

/opt/etc/init.d/S50mini_snmpd start

Add above to:

/jffs/scripts/services-start

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Just a few questions if I may, as I'm still very much a novice in the scripting area.

Should I use xShell to SSH into the router to enter opkg install mini_snmpd and opkg install snmp-utils at the command prompt?

Do I need to manually create the directory shown in the thread (/opt/etc/init.d/S50mini_snmpd) you provided and then add all the code shown underneath? If so, what do I need to put in place of LOCATION (I live in the UK) and why is that needed?

I checked using WinSCP and I already have a directory services-start, so am I right in thinking that I just need to copy and paste the code /opt/etc/init.d/S50mini_snmpd start onto a new line?

Do I have to reboot the router after doing all this? If so, I may have to wait a few days as I am currently backing up quite a lot of data to the cloud from my Synology DiskStation and would rather not interrupt the process.

 

[Morris]

Just a few questions if I may, as I'm still very much a novice in the scripting area.

Should I use xShell to SSH into the router to enter opkg install mini_snmpd and opkg install snmp-utils at the command prompt?

Do I need to manually create the directory shown in the thread (/opt/etc/init.d/S50mini_snmpd) you provided and then add all the code shown underneath? If so, what do I need to put in place of LOCATION (I live in the UK) and why is that needed?

I checked using WinSCP and I already have a directory services-start, so am I right in thinking that I just need to copy and paste the code /opt/etc/init.d/S50mini_snmpd start onto a new line?

Do I have to reboot the router after doing all this? If so, I may have to wait a few days as I am currently backing up quite a lot of data to the cloud from my Synology DiskStation and would rather not interrupt the process.

Below the thread, I pasted my notes from my modifications log.

You will need a USB stick to install some of this and it will hold your swap file.

ssh in and then enter amtm
you will see a menu. select Enterware

After that my notes are what you need to do. To edit the config file or other files use nano filename
You may need to google nano to learn the commands

It's a pretty simple setup.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I already have amtm and Entware installed on a flash drive + a swap file and I'm currently running Skynet and a few other things, so all I've got to do now is fathom out how to install the SNMP stuff.

 

[Morris]

The this is what you need to do:

shh to router

opkg install mini_snmpd

opkg install snmp-utils

edit the config file with mini and remove the comment for iface-table:

/tmp/mnt/myUSBstick/entware/etc/mini-snmpd.conf


Launch with:

/opt/etc/init.d/S50mini_snmpd start

Add above to:

/jffs/scripts/services-start


You don't need to restart unless you make an error in the config file

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I think I've followed all the steps, but I can't find any reference to SNMP in the router GUI and Networx cannot find anything to monitor either. I didn't see any error messages when I copied the initial commands to install SNMP; just quite a few lines of data running up the screen. I'll take some screenshots of what is the the config files etc, so you can see what I have.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I've just spotted this in the system log, but I still can't get Networx to recognise any SNMP stuff.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I've just found this on a Google search, but I'm not sure if this helpful or how to implement the suggestions.

The part obscured by the Networx screen also says this:-

"To monitor your router:
The SNMP community name(s) in the router and Networx must be set to the same name. See the 'Hidden Options' in Networx, your modem/router config for SNMP.
You'll also have to configure your software firewall to allow Networx to connect to the router (on port 161)."

 

[Morris]

Try leaving the SNMP V3 authentication field blank in Networx. I don't think SNMP V3 is implemented and all you need is V1. Even if it is, the authentication strings would need to match.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

Try leaving the SNMP V3 authentication field blank in Networx. I don't think SNMP V3 is implemented and all you need is V1. Even if it is, the authentication strings would need to match.

I've just tried and it won't let me leave the field blank. Also, how do I get the authentication strings to match?

 

[Morris]

V3 is not supported so it is impossible. Try deleating the router in the monitor and recreat using v1 only

 

[TheLyppardMan]

V3 is not supported so it is impossible. Try deleating the router in the monitor and recreat using v1 only

I don't see an option to do that.

 

[Morris]

When filling in the form only fill in the v1 community name or possibly us the discover device tool.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I've solved it! I've set Networx to use V2 and the graph is now displaying data. Just one additional question though - I noticed that one of the files that was created when I installed SNMP (sorry, but I can't remember which one) had fewer permissions that many of the other files, so I set it to match the others. Did I need to do that and if not, has that reduced security in any way?

 

[Morris]

Great! Probably no security risk as only you and the OS would have access to that file