want to change TTL to specific value, not sure how to set up for indefinite use

[loldayus]

Hey so I know there's been similar questions to this before but their solutions always seem to jump around without detailing the entire process. Or it's just difficult for me to apply to my unique/niche network situation. Basically I live in the middle of nowhere and have to use my phone as my internet source. This involves using Windows' Internet Connectivity Sharing (NOT Mobile Hotspot) with a specific tethering app to distribute my phone's unlimited data through what should be pretty standard LAN/wifi connections after the "unique" initial steps. My issue (seems to be at least) is that Verizon can see the "hop" from the janky ICS connection to my router and tends to just kill the connection if it sees a spike in data usage from anything dependent on the router (i.e. me downloading a large patch on my PS5 which is pretty much the only router-dependent connection that I need to work consistently).

So I ended up getting a RT-AX68U Pro the other day in the hopes that I can use the custom firmware to completely "mask" my downstream connections I guess. I'm fairly certain I need to do something using an iptables mangle ttl command thing to set my TTL to 65 for the after-hop devices but I'm not sure how to get to that point or have it get there automatically for indefinite usage. Any ideas as to what addon or method I need to use to accomplish this?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Try setting "Spoof LAN TTL value" to Yes on the WAN - Internet Connection page.

 

[loldayus]

Try setting "Spoof LAN TTL value" to Yes on the WAN - Internet Connection page.

Yeah I mean that was one of the very first things I tried with my old router but it didn't seem to do anything and wouldn't let me specify a single value anyway

 

[ColinTaylor]

Yeah I mean that was one of the very first things I tried with my old router but it didn't seem to do anything and wouldn't let me specify a single value anyway

That option sets the LAN traffic TTL so that it matches the router TTL (64). TBH it doesn't sound like your problem is with the TTL.

 

[sfx2000]

That TTL thing - might work, likely won't these days...

Carriers on are to this one...

 

[ColinTaylor]

@loldayus I've just read you post again and there's something I don't understand. You said that you get the internet on your PC by using "a specific tethering app". So how does your router fit into this setup? The router can only change the TTL value when traffic is being routed through its WAN port. It sounds like your RT-AX68U Pro isn't actually being used as a router.

 

[loldayus]

@loldayus I've just read you post again and there's something I don't understand. You said that you get the internet on your PC by using "a specific tethering app". So how does your router fit into this setup? The router can only change the TTL value when traffic is being routed through its WAN port. It sounds like your RT-AX68U Pro isn't actually being used as a router.

it's what I've done for years now since I moved out here, there's an app that connects your phone to the phone to the PC but uses whatever magic I don't understand on the PC "server app" end to tether your phone without using your actual Android stock "Use USB tethering". I've included a screen grab of the server app, like i said it's pretty niche so I can't find a lot of info about how it works but it does change up IP addresses and creates a like, semi-VPN (it triggers the prompt and the VPN "key" menu bar icon whenever it's connected on both ends). At this point my PC (but ONLY my PC) has the unlimited data connection so I could stop there but I then get involved with ICS below to make a normal home network with devices connected both through LAN and WiFi.

So anyways that creates a network adapter very similar to the regular ethernet one which I then do Properties > "Share" (via ICS) > select my actual default ethernet connection, which is connected from my PC directly to my router's WAN port to act like a sort of modem I guess, and from there the router just does what you expect it to do as if it was a normal ethernet connection coming in. Where it gets murky for me is there's a lot of different IP addresses and DNS's involved (there's the ones shown in the screen grab from the server app, and then the "regular" ethernet adapter's connection HAS to be 192.168.137.1 because that's the IP that's designated specifically for ICS apparently. Then I just manually set the router's LAN IP to 192.168.50.1 which is then used to broadcast the connection to all my devices, which all show up in the router config as 192.168.50.X

Here's that server app screen grab (on the PC's end) just to give you an idea

 

[drinkingbird]

it's what I've done for years now since I moved out here, there's an app that connects your phone to the phone to the PC but uses whatever magic I don't understand on the PC "server app" end to tether your phone without using your actual Android stock "Use USB tethering". I've included a screen grab of the server app, like i said it's pretty niche so I can't find a lot of info about how it works but it does change up IP addresses and creates a like, semi-VPN (it triggers the prompt and the VPN "key" menu bar icon whenever it's connected on both ends). At this point my PC (but ONLY my PC) has the unlimited data connection so I could stop there but I then get involved with ICS below to make a normal home network with devices connected both through LAN and WiFi.

So anyways that creates a network adapter very similar to the regular ethernet one which I then do Properties > "Share" (via ICS) > select my actual default ethernet connection, which is connected from my PC directly to my router's WAN port to act like a sort of modem I guess, and from there the router just does what you expect it to do as if it was a normal ethernet connection coming in. Where it gets murky for me is there's a lot of different IP addresses and DNS's involved (there's the ones shown in the screen grab from the server app, and then the "regular" ethernet adapter's connection HAS to be 192.168.137.1 because that's the IP that's designated specifically for ICS apparently. Then I just manually set the router's LAN IP to 192.168.50.1 which is then used to broadcast the connection to all my devices, which all show up in the router config as 192.168.50.X

Here's that server app screen grab (on the PC's end) just to give you an idea

It is nothing to do with TTL anymore, that workaround is long gone. The only way to bypass Verizon/Visible restrictions that I'm aware of is with the PDANET+ (paid app). That makes it look like all traffic is coming from your phone and not a tethered device. However that alone is not enough, they are aware of that app now and will cut your speed to 256K for the rest of the month if they detect usage patterns that do not match what a phone would be doing (such as downloading a huge PS5 game, which a phone has no business doing). So you at the very least need to use QOS to throttle that download, have it take all night, but even that may not be enough, you may need to run a VPN on the Asus (through the phone) to hide what you're connecting to as well.

What are the terms of your Verizon service - no tethering at all - tethering allowed but no sharing, tethering restricted to x speed, etc?

It may just be worthwhile to get 5G home internet service, it will be less hassle in the long run as they keep finding ways to detect and defeat these workarounds, then you can do whatever you want with it.