IPV4 and IPv6 issues (probably again)

[afarmery]

Apologies if this has been discussed to death, but I can't find a solution to my problem in the threads.

I have a Huawei B315-22 4G router with an EE sim.  The default APN (everywhere, eescure, IPv4 and IPv6) allows me to access the internet on all devices.  It allows access to streaming services like BBC sounds, Spotify and Iplayer on PC and iPhones, but NOT via Android phones.  I can access websites and email OK on Android phones, but Spotify etc will not connect.

When I access the router settings, I see the default EE APN is set to "IPv4 and IPv6" (which i can't edit).  If I set up a new APN (calling it 'EE internet', with username 'esecure' and password 'secure' (although it seems own set it's own 8 digit ******** password regardless of what I enter), I can set the IP to IPv4 only.  I set this to default and hey presto, it all works fine.  I can access everything on all devices.  So far so good, but the moment I reboot or unplug the router, when it reboots, I get no access to the internet at all on any device. So I have to go back in to the router settings and reset them to the original default (IPv4 and IPv6), and i'm back to square 1.

Interestingly, on another Huawei router (B535) with a different EE sim, the default EE APN is set to IPv4 only, and it works fine for all apps on all devices.

Please can anyone help me sort out the problem on the B315-22?  Do I need ot get a different router, or a different SIM?

[mikeliuk]

Hi @afarmery ,

If you know the IPV4V6 APN settings are broken and the IPV4 is known good, you could simply delete the known-bad settings.

[afarmery]

Thanks, but I don't understand.

The IPV6IPV4 is the uneditable default APN.  It works for everything apart from streaming services on Android devices.  I set up a NEW APN profile using just IPv4 and set it to default.  It works fine for everything until you reboot the router, ten it doesn't work for anything.  I don't tin that deleting the original IPV6IPV4 profile would help because then I'd be left with nothing that worked.

[EssexBoyEE]

@afarmery everything you've said in your Post is correct, apart from the last two steps that you haven't mentioned, after setting the New IPV4 Only Profile, have you then Saved this as the Default before actually Saving the Profile, this should stop it going back to the other Profile after a ReBoot, the other clue is you cannot edit or delete a Profile if it's in current Use or is the Default Profile.

The Second part is if your feeling Brave, like Me, you delete every other Profile or APN Setting that mentions the word IPV6 within its Settings String.

The other thing to look out for is a lot of LTE Routers (Huawei included) can have a Auto APN Configure depending on the firmware, which auto sets the APN Profile depending on which Network SIM is installed, this can sometimes be switch off or to manual, not that familiar with your particular Huawei Model but, and here's the difficult bit, different Manafactures or Model Releases call them different things, but it's normally some form of tick box (to opt in or out) within or around the same Settings Page as the APN Profiles page, and this setting can sometimes reconfigure itself to be back On after a Reboot.

[afarmery]

Ah, thanks EssexBoyEE!   My bravery levels are not high; I live in fear of doing something irredeemable.

As for the 'saving' thing, when i set up the new APN clicking IPv4 only, I then click 'finish', and the cogwheel whirs around for a second or two, and I'm greeted with the words "success" (if only).  The new APN has (default) after it's name.  I can't see a separate 'save' button.   As I said before, everything works fine at this point until I reboot, after which there's no internet access for any device.  BUT.....when I go back into the router settings (via 192.168.100.1), the APN is still defaulted to the IPv4 APN which did work before the reebot., i.e. is *hasn't* reverted to the original and problematic IPv6/IPv4 APN.

I'm still digesting your other high tech suggestions, and may tackle that after a stiff brandy later.

Ta.

[mikeliuk]

Whether IPV4V6 or IPV4 is in effect can be checked by seeing whether the phone has only an IPv4 address or additionally has an IPv6 address (more characters and likely to be quite a few letters in it).

If it's not certain which is good and which is bad, I agree it's difficult to determine what to delete. Although in this case, totally broken may be a better starting point and one can request known-good settings from https://setup-ee.wdsglobal.com/internet?step=manufacturerselection.vm&contractId=230&countryId=36&ne...

[afarmery]

Thanks for all the comments.   I still haven't resolved the problem of not being able to run streaming apps like Spotify on Android phones when connected to internet via Wifi (EE sim in Huawei B315 4G router).  Normal web browsing/email etc is all fine.  Streaming apps work from Apple phones connected to the same router.

The problem is temporarily solved by creating a new APN on Huawei router and forcing this identity to use IPv4 only.  But as soon as the router is rebooted it won't connect to the internet despite still retaining the new IPv4 APN identity as default.

I've been round the houses a thousand times fiddling with everything fiddlable, but can't find a proper fix.  I've come across a couple 'bodge' fixes, as below :  

When opening Spotify on Android phone, it says 'not connected to internet', but despite this, most things seem to work.  The main thing that doesn't work is the 'search' function, so you can play Spotify's suggested songs, but can't search for your own 😞

One fix is the switch on the VPN.  Spotify works fine now, including the search function, but frustratingly the VPN seems to stop me communicating with my Chromecast devices, so I have to listen on my tinny phone speaker.  Not ideal.

The other fix is to disable Wifi on the phone, forcing it to use it to use it's 4G (in my case Virginmedia) rather than wifi.   Spotify now works fine including the search function.  Search and choose an album or song, hit play, reconnect to wifi on phone (Spotify now still works and no 4g phone data is being used), connect to Chromecast device for proper hifi sound.  It's a bit of a pain, but it works.  Interestingly, once you've done this routine, the Spotify search function will continue to work (for this usage session) on wifi i.e you don't keep having to disconnect wifi and go onto the phone's 4G everytime you search a new song.   Only when you quit and later re-open Spotify, would have to go through this wifi disconnect/reconnect routine again.

It would be much easier of course if the interface between the Huawei 4G modem and the EE sim worked properly, obviating the need for this rigmarole......

[mikeliuk]

To summarize, three things point to the Huawei B315 misbehaving with an IPV4V6 dual-stack configuration:

1. A switch to IPV4 solves but does not survive a reboot;
2. A switch to VPN, presumably giving an IPv4-only endpoint on the internet, mostly solves except the LAN traffic presumably needs to be exempt from the VPN routing; and
3. A switch to Virgin Media/Mobile hotspot, which I believe (a check using my SIM shows only an IPv4 100.x.x.x address) is IPv4-only, fixes.

The "interface" between your Android phone and the Huawei B315 is almost certainly IPv4-only.

Your best play is probably to work on the IPV4-only APN settings not surviving a reboot and the easiest way would probably be to delete the IPV4V6 dual-stack settings as you've confirmed three times and at length that IPV4V6 dual-stack is broken on the Huawei B315. 🤓

[afarmery]

Thanks mikeliuk.

Regarding deleting the IPv4IPv6 setting, I agree it would be a good idea to delete it.  The problem is that I can't.  I've tried; it's not delete-able.   I can 'add' any number of another APN profiles, and these are all delete-able if I want to get rid of them, but the original factory reset default APN configuration (IPv4IPv6) isn't.  The delete button is greyed-out, so I'm stuck with it.  Presumably the router gets this default profile from the EE SIM automatically (otherwise how would it know to default to EE settings as opposed to any other provider).  I can't find a way of preventing it from automatically reading this information.

Perhaps it's the case that I'm just stuck with the problem, but I'm always open to suggestions!!  Cheers,

[mikeliuk]

It seems that every day I see a new reason for why I should not buy my devices from service providers.

It's obviously very well-intentioned that users should not be able to delete known-good configurations as this places a burden on the service provider when users misconfigure their devices. The problem is when the known-good configuration appears to be the problem. It's another nice step to force the device back to the known-good default so that even temporary misconfiguration might be reverted.

Here is a nice description of how things are supposed to work and from the details it seems that it works very nicely using modern mobile phones: https://www.ipv6.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Nick-Heatley_BT_EE_Update_UKv6Council_201801207.p... (slide 12)

It looks like absolute magic and perhaps it works very well for many devices.

One play may be to move the EE SIM to your phone to see if the issues go away. If the issues go away, you have an argument that the router is faulty or defective, or misconfigured in such a way that you cannot work around the misconfiguration by deleting the misconfiguration and therefore it should be replaced. Obviously would be a problem if the service provider no longer has responsibility for that device.

Actually, you might have proof from your OP that the faulty device is defective as you've observed "Interestingly, on another Huawei router (B535) with a different EE sim, the default EE APN is set to IPv4 only, and it works fine for all apps on all devices."