Hey Folks - If I get a dongle with 4G modem, is it possible to ssh to the dongle via wan? I guess somehow the 4G modem must dynamically assign an IP address and DNS configuration. If I knew the WAN-assigned IP address, could I ssh to the RaspberryPi?? Has anyone done this?
Hi @andyl,
It may be possible to get the IP, but typically this is a dynamic up and is closed to ssh login by your network carrier. What we recommend is that you install a VPN or something like ZeroTier on your device. This will give you SSH access.
best
Peter
I’ve implemented a few different ways to SSH directly to my AutoPi dongle over WAN. Here’s the outline of my approaches:
Option 1: Using ngrok (free) service
Have ngrok automatically start TCP tunnel on RPi startup.
You may review the URL of the tunnel in your ngrok dashboard.
Alternatively, implement a bash script to query ngrok’s local web API and have it post to your email/slack.
Option 2: Using Reverse SSH Tunnel
This option is only suitable if you already own a VPS with static IP address.
I created a self-healing Reverse SSH service in RPi and have it always connect to my VPS server.
When I need to SSH to my RPi, I do that inside my VPS server. Note: that is how reverse SSH works, it’s a little mind-blown.
Some references:
https://blog.stigok.com/2018/04/22/self-healing-reverse-ssh-systemd-service.html
https://www.howtogeek.com/428413/what-is-reverse-ssh-tunneling-and-how-to-use-it/
Both of these approaches are ok even when the telco is giving you private IP address
both options work all the time for me.
My car is parked in the basement of my condo. When I need to access it (while not driving), I send an SMS to wake it up & start SSH in via my VPS server or via ngrok URL directly to my NodeRED.
Here’s a screenshot of my autopi event in Slack
There’s a much simpler way using ZeroTier too.