rain 5G port restrictions question

[trentmu]

I have a small LAN with several devices on it that is currently on a 4/10MBit DSL line in the Sunninghill area. The actual throughput is more like 1-2MBit on a good day though, and seems to be getting worse.
I'm told that the exchange is sufficiently far away that it's on the limit of the speed range, so if it's set to 6MBit it bombs, but at 4MBit it's supposedly stable . I may have to disagree on this, but anyway...

I am looking into putting in a rain5G uncapped standard system outdoors, and running a cable through the wall to my LAN.
The reviews on rain are, to say the least, mixed.

Is there anyone on the forum here who would be prepared to engage in a tech chat about rain, specifically/preferably in the Sunninghill area?
I can send my whatsapp/xmpp details if it's preferable to chat off-forum.

I need to know if rain ...

• share towers/infrastructure
  • the tower for vodacom's 5G is directly above us in the parking lot of the centre we're in, so if there's any tower sharing we are <100m from it, but I don't know if this is the case
• block ports (and which ones)
  • I have an intranet system which I can currently access from home/anywhere, so I need to know if some of the ports can be opened to permit such access
  • I have some cctv devices that I'd like to be able to check from outside
• offer a fixed IP?
• Does performance on the LTE suffer greatly with multiple users?
• do I HAVE to use the Huawei CPE that they provide?
  • could I configure my own OpenWRT (raspberry pi based) router to do the job?

 

[powermzii]

I have a small LAN with several devices on it that is currently on a 4/10MBit DSL line in the Sunninghill area. The actual throughput is more like 1-2MBit on a good day though, and seems to be getting worse.
I'm told that the exchange is sufficiently far away that it's on the limit of the speed range, so if it's set to 6MBit it bombs, but at 4MBit it's supposedly stable . I may have to disagree on this, but anyway...

I am looking into putting in a rain5G uncapped standard system outdoors, and running a cable through the wall to my LAN.
The reviews on rain are, to say the least, mixed.

Is there anyone on the forum here who would be prepared to engage in a tech chat about rain, specifically/preferably in the Sunninghill area?
I can send my whatsapp/xmpp details if it's preferable to chat off-forum.

I need to know if rain ...

• share towers/infrastructure
  • the tower for vodacom's 5G is directly above us in the parking lot of the centre we're in, so if there's any tower sharing we are <100m from it, but I don't know if this is the case
• block ports (and which ones)
  • I have an intranet system which I can currently access from home/anywhere, so I need to know if some of the ports can be opened to permit such access
  • I have some cctv devices that I'd like to be able to check from outside
• offer a fixed IP?
• Does performance on the LTE suffer greatly with multiple users?
• do I HAVE to use the Huawei CPE that they provide?
  • could I configure my own OpenWRT (raspberry pi based) router to do the job?

Will answer what i can for you here - been using it with no issues for the last 2 months - also 5G Uncapped. In PTA though so YMMV in Sunninghill
I need to know if rain ...

• share towers/infrastructure - i believe so yes. Ours is on a tower with Voda and Telkom
  • the tower for vodacom's 5G is directly above us in the parking lot of the centre we're in, so if there's any tower sharing we are <100m from it, but I don't know if this is the case
• block ports (and which ones) - They double-nat you so accessing services / devices won't work directly without some form of VPS - this also affects some games e.g. FIFA
  • I have an intranet system which I can currently access from home/anywhere, so I need to know if some of the ports can be opened to permit such access
  • I have some cctv devices that I'd like to be able to check from outside
• offer a fixed IP? - No
• Does performance on the LTE suffer greatly with multiple users? - it depends? How many people and what are they doing? Im on a Teams call now and the ids are watching Netflix (4k) with no issues my end
• do I HAVE to use the Huawei CPE that they provide? - you need it to access the network (specific bands) but you dont ahve to use it to manage your internal network. You can enable IP Passthrough and have your own router (and firewall) to manage the LAN. I have a Mikrotik sitting behind the Huawei CPE and that does DHCP for my LAN, Firewall and have Airties doing the WiFi for the home
  • could I configure my own OpenWRT (raspberry pi based) router to do the job?

[/QUOTE]

 

[trentmu]

Will answer what i can for you here - been using it with no issues for the last 2 months - also 5G Uncapped. In PTA though so YMMV in Sunninghill
I need to know if rain ...

• share towers/infrastructure - i believe so yes. Ours is on a tower with Voda and Telkom
  • the tower for vodacom's 5G is directly above us in the parking lot of the centre we're in, so if there's any tower sharing we are <100m from it, but I don't know if this is the case
• block ports (and which ones) - They double-nat you so accessing services / devices won't work directly without some form of VPS - this also affects some games e.g. FIFA
  • I have an intranet system which I can currently access from home/anywhere, so I need to know if some of the ports can be opened to permit such access
  • I have some cctv devices that I'd like to be able to check from outside
• offer a fixed IP? - No
• Does performance on the LTE suffer greatly with multiple users? - it depends? How many people and what are they doing? Im on a Teams call now and the ids are watching Netflix (4k) with no issues my end
• do I HAVE to use the Huawei CPE that they provide? - you need it to access the network (specific bands) but you dont ahve to use it to manage your internal network. You can enable IP Passthrough and have your own router (and firewall) to manage the LAN. I have a Mikrotik sitting behind the Huawei CPE and that does DHCP for my LAN, Firewall and have Airties doing the WiFi for the home
  • could I configure my own OpenWRT (raspberry pi based) router to do the job?

[/QUOTE]
Thank you for the info.

There are generally about 5 users on the LAN, but we allow visitors to access it so sometimes as many as 20 checking emails and browsing. A couple of kids for online study here and there, but nothing hectic.
Definitely no gaming, so that's not an issue.
If I understand you correctly, they will block access to something like nextcloud, even if I change the port from 80/443 to a non-standard arbitrary one? (is there any workaround for this?)
I have a small amount of experience on the WAN side and can easily configure the LAN side - I just need some insight from someone who's actually experienced the rain system and tripped over the "normal issues" so I don't have to re-invent the wheel.
At the moment the DSL modem is in passthrough mode and everything is then managed via openwrt(rpi2).

 

[powermzii]

Thank you for the info.

There are generally about 5 users on the LAN, but we allow visitors to access it so sometimes as many as 20 checking emails and browsing. A couple of kids for online study here and there, but nothing hectic.
Definitely no gaming, so that's not an issue.
If I understand you correctly, they will block access to something like nextcloud, even if I change the port from 80/443 to a non-standard arbitrary one? (is there any workaround for this?)
I have a small amount of experience on the WAN side and can easily configure the LAN side - I just need some insight from someone who's actually experienced the rain system and tripped over the "normal issues" so I don't have to re-invent the wheel.
At the moment the DSL modem is in passthrough mode and everything is then managed via openwrt(rpi2).
[/QUOTE]

1. Yeah so your OpenWRT should still work fine with no issues.
2. 20 users shouldn't put strain on the network (speeds dependant as well) - I am currently getting between 150 and 250 Mbps but my CPE is indoors - guys that have mounted theirs outdoors are getting as high as 600Mbps.
3. Not sure about nextcloud - sorry. I don't have any services / devices i need to access but i do know guys with CCTVs were complaining and having to find workarounds - what those workarounds are and whether they worked is anybody's guess

 

[trentmu]

Thank you!