Hi,

I'd like to join the APRS network via my T-Mobile cell phone which
offers unlimited "internet access". I put Internet in quotes because
only certain ports are allowed out. Port 80 is one of those ports.

Is there anyway that I can report and receive APRS data via the
Internet using Port 80 instead of the standard 10xxx port (I forget
the exact number)?

Thanks,
John

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"John" == johnfofawn writes:

John Hi, I'd like to join the APRS network via my T-Mobile cell phone
John which offers unlimited "internet access". I put Internet in
John quotes because only certain ports are allowed out. Port 80 is
John one of those ports.

This is probably because they do some magical stuff between your phone
and their Internet connection. I expect the software they run does
everything from shrink images to blocking unusual data like yours.

John Is there anyway that I can report and receive APRS data via the
John Internet using Port 80 instead of the standard 10xxx port (I
John forget the exact number)?

If your home computer is always on the Internet and doesn't currently
have a web server running on it, there are ways to redirect traffic
such that any connection to your home computer's port 80 is redirected
to another server's port whatever, but I would not be surprised if it
didn't work due to the aforementioned magic.

John Thanks, John

Jack.
- --
Jack Twilley
jmt at twilley dot org
http colon slash slash www dot twilley dot org slash tilde jmt slash
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John Hi, I'd like to join the APRS network via my T-Mobile cell phone
John which offers unlimited "internet access". I put Internet in
John quotes because only certain ports are allowed out. Port 80 is
John one of those ports.

This is probably because they do some magical stuff between your phone
and their Internet connection. I expect the software they run does
everything from shrink images to blocking unusual data like yours.

As far as I can tell all traffic is allowed on the open ports. I've
set up an SSH server on one of the open ports and I can ssh over the
link. It works fairly well.

If the APRS software was socks-aware, I could use ssh (which has a
built-in socks server) to allow APRS to reach the Internet through my
home connection. I don't think WinAPRS supports socks?

John Is there anyway that I can report and receive APRS data via the
John Internet using Port 80 instead of the standard 10xxx port (I
John forget the exact number)?

If your home computer is always on the Internet and doesn't currently
have a web server running on it, there are ways to redirect traffic
such that any connection to your home computer's port 80 is redirected
to another server's port whatever, but I would not be surprised if it
didn't work due to the aforementioned magic.

I thought about this. It's a little clumsy, but still doable. Is there
a way to change the hostname that WinAPRS connects to so I can put in
my home IP?

Thanks,
John

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

"John" == johnfofawn writes:

John Hi, I'd like to join the APRS network via my T-Mobile cell phone
John which offers unlimited "internet access". I put Internet in
John quotes because only certain ports are allowed out. Port 80 is
John one of those ports.

Jack This is probably because they do some magical stuff between your
Jack phone and their Internet connection. I expect the software they
Jack run does everything from shrink images to blocking unusual data
Jack like yours.

John As far as I can tell all traffic is allowed on the open
John ports. I've set up an SSH server on one of the open ports and I
John can ssh over the link. It works fairly well.

Well that's good news. If ssh works, then APRS will almost definitely
work.

John If the APRS software was socks-aware, I could use ssh (which has
John a built-in socks server) to allow APRS to reach the Internet
John through my home connection. I don't think WinAPRS supports
John socks?

I'm not familiar with WinAPRS. I am one of the developers on the
xastir team, though, and xastir can work with socks.

John Is there anyway that I can report and receive APRS data via the
John Internet using Port 80 instead of the standard 10xxx port (I
John forget the exact number)?

Jack If your home computer is always on the Internet and doesn't
Jack currently have a web server running on it, there are ways to
Jack redirect traffic such that any connection to your home
Jack computer's port 80 is redirected to another server's port
Jack whatever, but I would not be surprised if it didn't work due to
Jack the aforementioned magic.

John I thought about this. It's a little clumsy, but still doable. Is
John there a way to change the hostname that WinAPRS connects to so I
John can put in my home IP?

Again, I'm unfamiliar with WinAPRS, but it does seem to be a
reasonable thing to add -- and xastir lets you use any port, not just
10151 or whatever the default is these days. xastir will run on
Windows if the Cygwin environment is installed -- email me if you'd
be interested in giving that a try. I used xastir on my wife's
Windows XP laptop for a week-long jaunt around the American Southwest
recently and it worked fine.

John Thanks, John

Jack.
- --
Jack Twilley
jmt at twilley dot org
http colon slash slash www dot twilley dot org slash tilde jmt slash
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In article ,
John wrote:

| If the APRS software was socks-aware, I could use ssh (which has a
| built-in socks server) to allow APRS to reach the Internet through my
| home connection. I don't think WinAPRS supports socks?

Even if APRS doesn't support socks, it's possible to make it work.

ssh can also just redirect a port, transparantly. Using openssh,

ssh -L 1080:aprs-server:1080 remote-host

will log you into remote-host, and will also forward localhost:1080 to
aprs-server:1080, with the remote connection coming from remote-host.
(I don't know which port you're after. Replace 1080 with whatever it
is. And if your ssh client supports this functionality, you can use
it instead of openssh, but you're on your own about how to set it up.)

So, you run ssh on the same system that runs APRS (Cygwin comes with
openssh if you need it, http://www.cygwin.com/) and configure it to
talk to localhost:1080. If you cannot change the host that APRS uses
(never used WinARPS myself, only xastir) then put that hostname into
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (or wherever the file is) with
an address of 127.0.0.1. Eithe way, WinARPS will then connect to
localhost:1080, which ssh grabs and forwards along it's connection,
then it initiates a connection from the remote host to aprs-server on
port 1080. And then it all hopefully just works.

This doesn't work with everything, of course -- only TCP connections,
and with things that don't open up additional ports and connections --
but it may be all you need to do to make this work.

Another option would be a VPN of some sort. If port 22/tcp is open,
that may be all you need.

--
Doug McLaren, Reserve your bear to right arms.

(Doug McLaren) wrote in message ...
In article ,
John wrote:

| If the APRS software was socks-aware, I could use ssh (which has a
| built-in socks server) to allow APRS to reach the Internet through my
| home connection. I don't think WinAPRS supports socks?

Even if APRS doesn't support socks, it's possible to make it work.

ssh can also just redirect a port, transparantly. Using openssh,

ssh -L 1080:aprs-server:1080 remote-host

will log you into remote-host, and will also forward localhost:1080 to
aprs-server:1080, with the remote connection coming from remote-host.
(I don't know which port you're after. Replace 1080 with whatever it
is. And if your ssh client supports this functionality, you can use
it instead of openssh, but you're on your own about how to set it up.)

So, you run ssh on the same system that runs APRS (Cygwin comes with
openssh if you need it, http://www.cygwin.com/) and configure it to
talk to localhost:1080. If you cannot change the host that APRS uses
(never used WinARPS myself, only xastir) then put that hostname into
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (or wherever the file is) with
an address of 127.0.0.1. Eithe way, WinARPS will then connect to
localhost:1080, which ssh grabs and forwards along it's connection,
then it initiates a connection from the remote host to aprs-server on
port 1080. And then it all hopefully just works.

Ah ha! That was the piece I was missing. I didn't think to use the
local hosts file to change the IP. Great idea. I'll give it a try.

John

This doesn't work with everything, of course -- only TCP connections,
and with things that don't open up additional ports and connections --
but it may be all you need to do to make this work.

I'd love to be able to do IPSec (Nortel Contivity VPN client over this
link). I think there are a handful of ports that it uses so it might
be tough.

Another option would be a VPN of some sort. If port 22/tcp is open,
that may be all you need.

That's where I was headed, but I think your solution above is much
simpler if not more elegant.

Thanks!
John

(Doug McLaren) wrote in message ...
In article ,
John wrote:

| If the APRS software was socks-aware, I could use ssh (which has a
| built-in socks server) to allow APRS to reach the Internet through my
| home connection. I don't think WinAPRS supports socks?

Even if APRS doesn't support socks, it's possible to make it work.

ssh can also just redirect a port, transparantly. Using openssh,

ssh -L 1080:aprs-server:1080 remote-host

will log you into remote-host, and will also forward localhost:1080 to
aprs-server:1080, with the remote connection coming from remote-host.
(I don't know which port you're after. Replace 1080 with whatever it
is. And if your ssh client supports this functionality, you can use
it instead of openssh, but you're on your own about how to set it up.)

So, you run ssh on the same system that runs APRS (Cygwin comes with
openssh if you need it, http://www.cygwin.com/) and configure it to
talk to localhost:1080. If you cannot change the host that APRS uses
(never used WinARPS myself, only xastir) then put that hostname into
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (or wherever the file is) with
an address of 127.0.0.1. Eithe way, WinARPS will then connect to
localhost:1080, which ssh grabs and forwards along it's connection,
then it initiates a connection from the remote host to aprs-server on
port 1080. And then it all hopefully just works.

Ah ha! That was the piece I was missing. I didn't think to use the
local hosts file to change the IP. Great idea. I'll give it a try.

John

This doesn't work with everything, of course -- only TCP connections,
and with things that don't open up additional ports and connections --
but it may be all you need to do to make this work.

I'd love to be able to do IPSec (Nortel Contivity VPN client over this
link). I think there are a handful of ports that it uses so it might
be tough.

Another option would be a VPN of some sort. If port 22/tcp is open,
that may be all you need.

That's where I was headed, but I think your solution above is much
simpler if not more elegant.

Thanks!
John

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

"John" == johnfofawn writes:

John Hi, I'd like to join the APRS network via my T-Mobile cell phone
John which offers unlimited "internet access". I put Internet in
John quotes because only certain ports are allowed out. Port 80 is
John one of those ports.

Jack This is probably because they do some magical stuff between your
Jack phone and their Internet connection. I expect the software they
Jack run does everything from shrink images to blocking unusual data
Jack like yours.

John As far as I can tell all traffic is allowed on the open
John ports. I've set up an SSH server on one of the open ports and I
John can ssh over the link. It works fairly well.

Well that's good news. If ssh works, then APRS will almost definitely
work.

John If the APRS software was socks-aware, I could use ssh (which has
John a built-in socks server) to allow APRS to reach the Internet
John through my home connection. I don't think WinAPRS supports
John socks?

I'm not familiar with WinAPRS. I am one of the developers on the
xastir team, though, and xastir can work with socks.

John Is there anyway that I can report and receive APRS data via the
John Internet using Port 80 instead of the standard 10xxx port (I
John forget the exact number)?

Jack If your home computer is always on the Internet and doesn't
Jack currently have a web server running on it, there are ways to
Jack redirect traffic such that any connection to your home
Jack computer's port 80 is redirected to another server's port
Jack whatever, but I would not be surprised if it didn't work due to
Jack the aforementioned magic.

John I thought about this. It's a little clumsy, but still doable. Is
John there a way to change the hostname that WinAPRS connects to so I
John can put in my home IP?

Again, I'm unfamiliar with WinAPRS, but it does seem to be a
reasonable thing to add -- and xastir lets you use any port, not just
10151 or whatever the default is these days. xastir will run on
Windows if the Cygwin environment is installed -- email me if you'd
be interested in giving that a try. I used xastir on my wife's
Windows XP laptop for a week-long jaunt around the American Southwest
recently and it worked fine.

John Thanks, John

Jack.
- --
Jack Twilley
jmt at twilley dot org
http colon slash slash www dot twilley dot org slash tilde jmt slash
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In article ,
John wrote:

| If the APRS software was socks-aware, I could use ssh (which has a
| built-in socks server) to allow APRS to reach the Internet through my
| home connection. I don't think WinAPRS supports socks?

Even if APRS doesn't support socks, it's possible to make it work.

ssh can also just redirect a port, transparantly. Using openssh,

ssh -L 1080:aprs-server:1080 remote-host

will log you into remote-host, and will also forward localhost:1080 to
aprs-server:1080, with the remote connection coming from remote-host.
(I don't know which port you're after. Replace 1080 with whatever it
is. And if your ssh client supports this functionality, you can use
it instead of openssh, but you're on your own about how to set it up.)

So, you run ssh on the same system that runs APRS (Cygwin comes with
openssh if you need it, http://www.cygwin.com/) and configure it to
talk to localhost:1080. If you cannot change the host that APRS uses
(never used WinARPS myself, only xastir) then put that hostname into
c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (or wherever the file is) with
an address of 127.0.0.1. Eithe way, WinARPS will then connect to
localhost:1080, which ssh grabs and forwards along it's connection,
then it initiates a connection from the remote host to aprs-server on
port 1080. And then it all hopefully just works.

This doesn't work with everything, of course -- only TCP connections,
and with things that don't open up additional ports and connections --
but it may be all you need to do to make this work.

Another option would be a VPN of some sort. If port 22/tcp is open,
that may be all you need.

--
Doug McLaren, Reserve your bear to right arms.

John Hi, I'd like to join the APRS network via my T-Mobile cell phone
John which offers unlimited "internet access". I put Internet in
John quotes because only certain ports are allowed out. Port 80 is
John one of those ports.

This is probably because they do some magical stuff between your phone
and their Internet connection. I expect the software they run does
everything from shrink images to blocking unusual data like yours.

As far as I can tell all traffic is allowed on the open ports. I've
set up an SSH server on one of the open ports and I can ssh over the
link. It works fairly well.

If the APRS software was socks-aware, I could use ssh (which has a
built-in socks server) to allow APRS to reach the Internet through my
home connection. I don't think WinAPRS supports socks?

John Is there anyway that I can report and receive APRS data via the
John Internet using Port 80 instead of the standard 10xxx port (I
John forget the exact number)?

If your home computer is always on the Internet and doesn't currently
have a web server running on it, there are ways to redirect traffic
such that any connection to your home computer's port 80 is redirected
to another server's port whatever, but I would not be surprised if it
didn't work due to the aforementioned magic.

I thought about this. It's a little clumsy, but still doable. Is there
a way to change the hostname that WinAPRS connects to so I can put in
my home IP?

Thanks,
John