NEW FEATURE: Back to Home VPN

Announcements
341

Thanks Normis for updating the docs.
My question are mostly about the APP.
Specifically, the first questions are about the “Spread the wireguard love” ability of the phone app!

(1) How does the APP on the phone create more peer client instances ( such as for a windows laptop )? When both are no longer under the Routers NetworK, aka at a remote location.
More precisely, the new device (laptop) presumably gets assigned a wireguard IP address.
How does the APP decide which IP to give out?
How does the other end ( the router ) know to accept traffic from that new IP.
OR
How does the punch hole MT cloud server know to accept traffic from that new IP.
OR
Please fill in the missing gap of knowledge I have.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Secondly, I am trying to find “extra utility” of the BTH app in terms of the QR code generating capability.
Does the phone(app) generate QR codes
OR
Does the router generate QR codes.

GOAL: In manual wg mode setup, the ability to create QR codes for remote users to ingest ( via whats app, email etc.) to easily setup their device, be it generating those qr codes on the bth app on the phone, or via some other means on the router ( ip cloud?)

342

Regarding “GOAL”, why mix manual WG setup with BTH app? Better to have ability to export/share configuration of such peers (from manual WG setup) in MT mobile app (not BTH) or in Winbox to have ability to save QR image without need to create screenshot, to use as configuration import into official WG client mobile app.

343

What?
I am simply trying to understand the functionality available and how to use/apply it, if possible.
Any monkey would rather have functionality available in the native menus, but not asking for MT to change anything just to explain the depth of the functionality available.
Its up to Normis and Co, whether they can adapt, modify or add additional functionality to either BTH app, MT APP, or routerOs.

344

Yes, but thread is for BTH, not manual for WG setup, that’s why I mentioned BTH app in first place. Better to have separate topic for such discussions.

345

Hello Dear Friends.
Is there a way to use bth with rb750gr3?
May be some handmade setup available?
Thank you in advance.

346

@sas2k

there is no way to run BTH on MMIPS.

That is only available on ARM/ARM64/TILE

347

This morning my samsung phone was updated. Since then BTH is not working properly, i can barely connect to my Ip cams, to home server, but im unable to use the browsers and others apps getting my home ip and network. Samsung did smting which broke everything (not for the first time) anybody with same problem?

348

how the Share invite link works?

i can see the link, but it doesn’t add on that BTH application (mob to mob)

349

send the link to a friend.
friend needs BTH app.
friend clicks on link, and setup opens.

350

@normis

I thing that I figured out.

i was trying with facebook messenger.

teams , whatsapp and messages - all working

351

Well, the share link returns HTML that requires JavaScript. So if FB tries to “unfurl” (e.g. click the link, to summarize content for a message stream), the BTH link is only a redirect to the App Store with no HTML body - and FB may not like a link that leaves the app or needs JavaScript to render…

Whatever app you select for use with BTH share, when receiver clicks the link… that BTH link needs to run in a real browser, so that query parameters are provided to the BTH home app (i.e. market:// or http://app.apple.com/… which means navigate to an APP) on the shared user’s phone. So if shared by email or SMS, then the URL is likely to go through without modification, and email or SMS will send http:// to a browser. So yeah FB processing URL, and blocking stuff to keep you in their ecosystem isn’t surprising ;).

<html>
  <head>
  </head>
  <body>
    <script type="text/javascript">
      var userAgent = navigator.userAgent || navigator.vendor || window.opera;
      if (/android/i.test(userAgent)) {
          window.location.replace("market://details?id=com.mikrotik.android.freevpn");
      }
      else if (/iPad|iPhone|iPod/.test(userAgent) && !window.MSStream) {
          window.location.replace("https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mikrotik/id6450679198");
      }
      else {
          window.location.replace("https://mt.lv/bth");
      }
    </script>
  </body>
</html>
352

Last update on app lead to unusable state. App on Android is unable to start.

Tested with Samsung s23 with android 14 (oneui 6.1).

353

Much thanks for these efforts!

354

does anyone play with “Disable VPN when home”?

i’m not expecting to work properly as this is experimental features, but that is so useful.

355

one more thing i noticed today.

when login to back-to-home by using the local lan ip-add , and user and pas from the MT.

With that user you can create and share-users, but with the shared user u can only edit, you cant share

356

Trying to understand BTH some more.
It would appear that it does not function as I thought.
One cannot create QR codes for all remote users and send them each their own QR code, at which time the BTH app on android or Iphone could then simply use to setup their end.
It would appear this can only be one for ONE client.
For PCs, one uses the wireguard client app for windows to copy the qr code or somehow a config file that may also be provided?..

However, it would appear there still may be away of doing this.
I have to use a smartphone on my network to create my own BTH Tunnel.
Then using BTH app functionality as the admin, I can create as many qr codes etc to share with others and send them the qr code or config file provided for each share.

Is this correct??
Bizarre that I cannot do this FROM or AT the router ???

357

Did you look in /ip/cloud/print (first BTH user), or /ip/cloud/back-to-home-users/show-client-config XX (2nd or more BTH users)?

But I just notice is under /interface/wireguard/peer in Winbox4, I don’t see the QR code or client for the match BTH peer for the 1st user in UI there – that does seem wrong… The 2nd “BTH user” does have a client config/QR, and the 1st BTH user client config shows at CLI. But in all cases, the BTH QR/client config appears under /ip/cloud show both QR/client in CLI and winbox4.

358

Hi Ammo reading the docs there is only one qr/code one can generate from the router itself, the rest if I read this right, is that you can easily create and manage additional Qr codes and send them all from the admin smartphone.

359

The docs aren’t entirely clear, but the “share” ones should have QR codes in RouterOS under IP > Cloud > Back-to-Home User. And if you created a share on the phone, the WG peer config will be there. If you use the “New” in the /ip/cloud/back-to-home-users in winbox to create new BTH users, while you’d pick a key when you do it that way & since winbox isn’t a phone, it cannot forward it directly via SMS/email/etc - but the “new” in winbox do same as app.

Now, I might not be understanding the problem. And agree docs are entirely clear about the QR codes for 2nd/“shared” users: https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/spaces/ROS/pages/197984280/Back+To+Home#BackToHome-IPCloud

But under IP > Cloud in winbox should have QR code for the main user and shared users from app.

360

you are correct there is a QR code in the
ip/cloud section called
VPN Wireguard client config QRcode