Dial-in modem out-of-band access

Your Opengear device supports dial-up remote access, providing out-of-band connectivity into a remote site when primary network connectivity is impaired.  The first step is to identify or install the dial-up modem on the Opengear device:

• Internal: Some Opengear models, such as the IM7200, have an internal v.92 modem, to directly attach a phone line
• External RS-232: All Opengear models have either a DB9 or RJ45 local console port, to attach an external dial-up modem
• On Opengear models without a dedicated local console port, such as the ACM family, the first console server port (Port 1) is configured as a local console by default
• All RJ45 local consoles use the "X2" aka "Cisco Straight" pinout (i.e. the same pinout as the other RJ45 ports) – attach your modem using cat 5 patch cable + the included 319014 adapter, or using cat 5 patch cable + the included 319016 adapter + the cable supplied with your modem
• External USB: All current Opengear models have USB ports, to attach an external USB dial-up modem
• We will only support the Multitech MT9234MU-CDC-XR and US Robotics USR5637.

Note: Many Opengear models have an internal cellular modem providing cellular wireless OOB, which may obviate the need for dial-up OOB.  Also consider a "belt and braces" approach of dual cellular and dial-in OOB for critical remote sites.

Setup instructions

To enable dial-in OOB, you must first configure the modem for dial-in.  This alone allows terminal-only dial-in using any account with CLI or pmshell access.

To allow PPP sessions for IP connectivity to the web UI and local network, you must also configure PPP settings, and a dialin group user.

Note: dialin group membership requires the user's password to by stored unencrypted, therefore we recommended using a separate, dedicated account to establish the PPP connection.  Once the IP connection is up, you can login to the web UI, CLI, etc. using your regular account and protocols.

Modem setup steps:

• Login to the Opengear web UI as root or an admin user
• Click System -> Dial then Internal, Serial Console or USB Modem if using internal, external RS-232 or external USB respectively
• Select Enable Dial-in
• Set Baud Rate to 38400 and Flow Control to Hardware
• If you will not be using PPP, you may Apply Modem Dial Settings now

Additional modem setup for PPP dial-in:

• Set Local and Remote Address to the PPP addresses to assign the Opengear device and the dial-in client respectively
• To let the dial-in client easily access to the LAN, set these to free addresses on the LAN, e.g. 192.168.0.200 and 192.168.0.201
• Otherwise if you just want access to the Opengear device itself, choose any two unused private addresses
• Set Authentication Type to MSCHAPv2
• Click Apply Modem Dial Settings
• Click Serial & Network -> Users & Groups

Addtional user setup for PPP dial-in:

• Click Serial & Network -> Users & Groups -> Add User
• Enter a Username for the auxiliary dial-in account, e.g. dialuser
• Optionally enter a Description, e.g. Dial-in Access User
• Check the dialin Group
• Enter and confirm the PPP Password
• Click Apply

Establish the dial-in connection from the remote client.  If using PPP, you can browse or SSH to the Local Address assigned to the Opengear device in the modem setup setups.