Android USB tether interface (ue0) disconnects

[havenoclu]

Hey folks. I'm using a Pixel 5 I had laying around as a failover WAN via USB tethering. Everything works as it should but the ue0 interface disconnects and goes down on its own shortly after coming up (maybe 2 minutes). If I go to the interface in the WebUI and click save/apply without making any changes, it'll grab an IP address and come back up (same if I run dhclient on the interface from the shell). Has anyone else experienced this behavior? Maybe it's something on the android side (could it be lease time?) and I do plan to try a mobile hotspot device vs. the phone once received. It probably goes without saying but when the interface goes down, the associated gateway goes offline rendering my failover setup non-existent. NOTE: I have tried multiple usb cables.

OPNSense version info:

Code: [Select]

Type opnsense Version 24.1.2_1
Architecture amd64
Commit d93dbed68

Logs showing disconnects:

Code: [Select]

2024-03-02T10:19:27-05:00Noticekernel<6>ue0: Ethernet address: 12:c7:37:ed:82:f0
2024-03-02T10:19:27-05:00Noticekernel<6>ue0: <USB Ethernet> on urndis0
2024-03-02T10:19:27-05:00Noticekernelurndis0: <RNDIS Communications Control> on usbus0
2024-03-02T10:19:27-05:00Noticekernelurndis0 on uhub0
2024-03-02T10:19:27-05:00Noticekernelugen0.2: <Google Pixel 5> at usbus0
2024-03-02T10:19:26-05:00Noticekernelurndis0: detached
2024-03-02T10:19:26-05:00Noticekernelurndis0: at uhub0, port 1, addr 20 (disconnected)
2024-03-02T10:19:26-05:00Noticekernelugen0.2: <Google Pixel 5> at usbus0 (disconnected)
2024-03-02T10:19:11-05:00Noticekernel<6>ue0: Ethernet address: 12:c7:37:ed:82:f0
2024-03-02T10:19:11-05:00Noticekernel<6>ue0: <USB Ethernet> on urndis0
2024-03-02T10:19:11-05:00Noticekernelurndis0: <RNDIS Communications Control> on usbus0
2024-03-02T10:19:11-05:00Noticekernelurndis0 on uhub0
2024-03-02T10:19:11-05:00Noticekernelugen0.2: <Google Pixel 5> at usbus0
2024-03-02T10:19:10-05:00Noticekernelurndis0: detached
2024-03-02T10:19:10-05:00Noticekernelurndis0: at uhub0, port 1, addr 19 (disconnected)
2024-03-02T10:19:10-05:00Noticekernelugen0.2: <Google Pixel 5> at usbus0 (disconnected)
2024-03-02T10:19:02-05:00Noticekernel<6>ue0: Ethernet address: 12:c7:37:ed:82:f0
2024-03-02T10:19:02-05:00Noticekernel<6>ue0: <USB Ethernet> on urndis0
2024-03-02T10:19:02-05:00Noticekernelurndis0: <RNDIS Communications Control> on usbus0
2024-03-02T10:19:02-05:00Noticekernelurndis0 on uhub0

Any thoughts? TIA!

[havenoclu]

Quick update: I also had a OnePlus 9 5G Pro laying around so I popped the data sim in there and set it up as the failover Gateway. Things seem to be doing just fine after 1-2hrs - no disconnects. So whatever it is, it may very well be related specifically to the Pixel 5 and the USB tethering implementation (I wouldn't think it'd be hardware, but who knows). I'd still be interested in troubleshooting if it could be of value to someone else. Unfortunately, it's a Verizon Pixel 5 with a locked bootloader so I can't put another Android spin on it to test that aspect

[tent]

I have the same issue, not as frequently, but sometimes I even want to quickly disconnect the android from usb and then reconnect it again and would definitely expect the interface to come up and get new IP via dhcp again AUTOMATICALLY.. any suggestions about how to get this done in an intelligent way as the GUI does not offer this option?

I also saw this previous post on previous version that shows similar issue that annoys others as well: https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=33533.0

(BTW the command that seems to be suggested there does definitely not work ("sudo configctl interface reconfigure 5" what instead works for me ist a "sudo dhclient ue0" on the console or pressing reload icon on the interface, but seriously? )

Kr,
 tent:wq

[CJ]

Quick update: I also had a OnePlus 9 5G Pro laying around so I popped the data sim in there and set it up as the failover Gateway. Things seem to be doing just fine after 1-2hrs - no disconnects. So whatever it is, it may very well be related specifically to the Pixel 5 and the USB tethering implementation (I wouldn't think it'd be hardware, but who knows). I'd still be interested in troubleshooting if it could be of value to someone else. Unfortunately, it's a Verizon Pixel 5 with a locked bootloader so I can't put another Android spin on it to test that aspect

How did you configure your setup?  Did the phone just show up as a wireless device once plugged in to the USB?  I've considered doing something similar but unfortunately my connection is too bad to be a proper backup.

[tent]

If you configure your android to go automatically into usb tether mode (you have to enable first developer mode, and then you'll find it under the default usb mode) as soon as you plug it to the opnsense it will show up as an "ue0" interface..

so any suggestions about how you did (or you would best suggest) to implement an automatic "sudo dhclient ue0" then?
I hope into something better than a crontab running it every 5 minutes..
Actually I would dream to have this by default in the OS TBH...

tent:wq