Help with changing outgoing TTL on Asus WRT

[ColinTaylor]

No other issue! Just trying to get the TTL to 65

So you're trying to fix a nonexistent problem. Great. You must have a lot a spare time on your hands.

 

[umrico]

So you're trying to fix a nonexistent problem. Great. You must have a lot a spare time on your hands.

I am simply trying to set the TTL to 65.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I am simply trying to set the TTL to 65.

People only change the TTL (to 65 or some other value) when for example they're trying to work around their phone company blocking tethered connections. As you said you have no issues there is no need for you to do anything.

 

[sfx2000]

I was doing this to get around T-Mobile tethering restrictions.

So the whole gist of this thread is "how to commit toll-fraud" I guess...

Seems it would be easier/better to just pay for the tethering/hotspot add-on to the comms plan, rather than risking getting the line terminated due to abuse.

 

[umrico]

People only change the TTL (to 65 or some other value) when for example they're trying to work around their phone company blocking tethered connections. As you said you have no issues there is no need for you to do anything.

I knew there was a missing step in this thread thank you so much for your help!

 

[JUANTACO]

This works perfectly.

If anyone is happening upon this thread here is what I did:

1. install merlin
   1. download the right one from the website
   2. extract it
   3. go to your router.asus.com page
   4. in administration>firmware upgrade, upload your file and flash
2. enable etend the ttl value and spoof lan ttl value in usb modem settings on your router.asus.com page
3. enable ssh at administration>system in router.asus.com
4. ssh in (I used router.asus.com) and my password
5. run chmod a+rx /jffs/scripts/*
6. navigate to jffs/scripts
7. type nano firewall-start
8. edit the script to be:
   #!/bin/sh
   iptables -t mangle -A POSTROUTING -o -usb0 -j TTL --ttl-set 65
   
   
9. ctrl+x and save it
10. reboot the router

I also set up tasker on my phone to turn on usb tethering, I used the power/usb in the state list then used secure settings to turn on usb tethering. Working like a charm.

Years later this still worked. I needed to bypass my hotspot/tethering network throttling. S8+ verizon usb tethered into my asus ax1800. thanks everyone. Much appreciated i made an account to revive this post letting people know this still works.

 

[brando calrissian]

AFTER SO MUCH FINNICKING, I finally found what worked for me. I am using my verizon-serviced phone hooked up via usb to my Asus RT-AC68U running Asuswrt-Merlin 386.1.2

These instructions should be pretty easy to follow

You should have asuswrt-merlin already flashed/installed to your router-if not, this WILL NOT WORK on stock firmware.
Log into your router via web page. Go to administration then "system" tab. Click "yes" on "Enable JFFS custom scripts and configs" and also "Enable SSH" choose "lan only" from the drop-down menu. Now scroll down and click "apply".

After your router is rebooted use an ssh program(like putty) and connect to your router(should be your router's normal webui login credentials)

Copy the commands and right click to paste them into putty-or your can type them if you'd prefer

type out or copy and right click:

chdir /jffs/scripts/

type out or copy and right click:

chmod a+rx /jffs/scripts/*

type out or copy and right click:

nano firewall-start

Your window will change, because it is creating a script file.

type out or copy and right click:

#!/bin/sh
iptables -t mangle -A POSTROUTING -o usb0 -j TTL --ttl-set 65

press: ctrl+x

type: y

press: enter

type:

reboot

press: enter

I DO NOT have "extend the ttl value" or "spoof the ttl value" set to "on" and the above method worked for me.
As far as I can understand, using those settings should automatically do what we are trying to achieve with the above user script, but they don't seem to work for most people. Thus, this simple user script replaces the seemingly useless toggles.

I hope this helps many other frustrated folks.

 

[doczenith1]

I believe

chmod a+rx /jffs/scripts/*

needs to be done after creating the script.

 

[edge28]

hey all, Im trying to implement this and while this all has been extremely helpful, im a little hung up. First off is there a way to verify that I did everything right? I followed @brando calrissian write up and it seems like I did everything right. Problem is my phone that im using as a modem has 10gb of highspeed data already, so doing a simple speed test I don't think will prove or disprove anything on whether or not this took effect. When I ping to my gateway my TTL is still 64 before and after the script, so that has me unsure on if I did indeed do this correctly.
My setup is a Asus RT-AC68U with AsusWRT Merlin 386.2_6 FW connected to Samsung S10 with dev mode enabled with Default USB config: USB Tethering....(in case power goes off to the router...no interaction with the phone will be needed to have the router reconnect to the phone internet)
Thanks for any insight

 

[ColinTaylor]

hey all, Im trying to implement this and while this all has been extremely helpful, im a little hung up. First off is there a way to verify that I did everything right? I followed @brando calrissian write up and it seems like I did everything right. Problem is my phone that im using as a modem has 10gb of highspeed data already, so doing a simple speed test I don't think will prove or disprove anything on whether or not this took effect. When I ping to my gateway my TTL is still 64 before and after the script, so that has me unsure on if I did indeed do this correctly.
My setup is a Asus RT-AC68U with AsusWRT Merlin 386.2_6 FW connected to Samsung S10 with dev mode enabled with Default USB config: USB Tethering....(in case power goes off to the router...no interaction with the phone will be needed to have the router reconnect to the phone internet)
Thanks for any insight

If your speed isn't being restricted by your mobile operator when you tether the phone to the router you don't need to alter the TTL.

 

[edge28]

I use it basically as a media access point, so I will hit that throttling at 6gb (not 10gb like I originally thought). so Id want to avoid that

 

[ColinTaylor]

I use it basically as a media access point, so I will hit that throttling at 6gb (not 10gb like I originally thought). so Id want to avoid that

Can you explain how this throttling works? It doesn't sound anything like the TTL issue being discussed in this thread.

 

[edge28]

throttling kicks in when my data usage goes past 6gb of hotspot data. I'm under the assumption that they are finding out it is hotspot data because of the TTL value in the packets. Therefore if I overwrite that value to 65 through the router FW it wont be deemed a jump and I wont get slower speeds. If my carrier is seeing all my data a cellular data compared to hotspot data my unlimited should "kick in"

 

[ColinTaylor]

throttling kicks in when my data usage goes past 6gb of hotspot data. I'm under the assumption that they are finding out it is hotspot data because of the TTL value in the packets. Therefore if I overwrite that value to 65 through the router FW it wont be deemed a jump and I wont get slower speeds. If my carrier is seeing all my data a cellular data compared to hotspot data my unlimited should "kick in"

Do you know for a fact that it's only throttling hotspot data and not just all data beyond 6GB?

Short of installing tcpdump on the router and sniffing the packets the only check you can make is to see if the iptables rule has been created successfully.

iptables-save -t mangle | grep TTL

 

[edge28]

yes it was throttling hotspot data. A couple months ago I hit that 6gb mark tethering and it was unusable from that point forward, but when I watching Netflix or something physically on my phone it was working fine. I checked data usage via carrier web portal and sure enough tethering was @6.0gb whereas overall data was @~15.3gb

 

[brando calrissian]

I believe

chmod a+rx /jffs/scripts/*

needs to be done after creating the script.

You would know better than I, but doing it in the order I have posted worked for me.

The only reason I posted anything is because I followed every other 'guide' that I found in this thread, and other places, and was wildly unsuccessful.

I am not great with SSH, command line, terminal, etc...

 

[brando calrissian]

yes it was throttling hotspot data. A couple months ago I hit that 6gb mark tethering and it was unusable from that point forward, but when I watching Netflix or something physically on my phone it was working fine. I checked data usage via carrier web portal and sure enough tethering was @6.0gb whereas overall data was @~15.3gb

I have seen around that the 65 TTL value might be Verizon specific. If you have a different provider 65 might not be the best value to set it to. I had seen somebody else say that they were using 110 or above.

Just out of curiosity, is your "format jffs partition at next boot" set to "no", in the administrative>settings on your router?

 

[RAH-66]

The question is ... if me need to use an LTE router as a reserve WAN channel (second WAN - LAN4 (eth1)), then the setting will be
in /jffs/scripts/firewall-start

iptables -t mangle -A POSTROUTING -o eth1 -j TTL --ttl-set 65

like this?

It will work every time me restore and lose connection on the primary WAN (PPPoE)?

 

[ColinTaylor]

The question is ... if me need to use an LTE router as a reserve WAN channel (second WAN - LAN4 (eth1)), then the setting will be
in /jffs/scripts/firewall-start

iptables -t mangle -A POSTROUTING -o eth1 -j TTL --ttl-set 65

like this?

It will work every time me restore and lose connection on the primary WAN (PPPoE)?

This is something that you would need to test for yourself as it would depend on the device you're using and your LTE operator. It's quite possible that you don't need to do this at all.

 

[heureuse]

This works perfectly.

If anyone is happening upon this thread here is what I did:

1. install merlin
   1. download the right one from the website
   2. extract it
   3. go to your router.asus.com page
   4. in administration>firmware upgrade, upload your file and flash
2. enable etend the ttl value and spoof lan ttl value in usb modem settings on your router.asus.com page
3. enable ssh at administration>system in router.asus.com
4. ssh in (I used router.asus.com) and my password
5. run chmod a+rx /jffs/scripts/*
6. navigate to jffs/scripts
7. type nano firewall-start
8. edit the script to be:
   #!/bin/sh
   iptables -t mangle -A POSTROUTING -o -usb0 -j TTL --ttl-set 65
   
   
9. ctrl+x and save it
10. reboot the router

I also set up tasker on my phone to turn on usb tethering, I used the power/usb in the state list then used secure settings to turn on usb tethering. Working like a charm.

Hi Master Clinton, can you guide me how to set asus AX53U router pls. im a beginner for this. thx