topic Re: VPN Access in Full Fibre

VPN Access

higgins1c — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 16:20:31 GMT

Since upgrading my internet to fibre broadband in November I have been unable to access my work PC through VPN as I had been able to previously. Has anyone any solutions as PLUSNET are useless and keep replying monitoring the situation! Has there been a change to firewalls and any fix here?

Thanks!

Re: VPN Access

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 16:44:32 GMT

@higgins1c wrote:

Has there been a change to firewalls and any fix here?

Could be related to the topic "Plusnet Firewall issue" that was first reported 6th November 2021 ?

Re: VPN Access

Champnet — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 16:58:08 GMT

Consider a one off payment for a fixed IP address, then give the new address to your works IT to allow access through the VPN tunnel.

Re: VPN Access

Gandalf — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 18:25:06 GMT

Thanks for your post @higgins1c and welcome to our Community Forums.

I'm really sorry for the issues with configuring the broadband firewall.

We're working to resolve this as soon as possible, although appreciate the time we've taken so far.

From what I can see FTTP is available in your area, so we'll waive termination fees if you move to BT or EE for the service though I also appreciate you may not want this service. If you do want to move, I'd just recommend calling Customer Options on 0800 013 2632 to arrange this so we can make sure we don't charge you for the early termination.

One of my colleagues @WillF has personal ownership over your case for you.

Re: VPN Access

RichardB — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 12:53:50 GMT

Hi @higgins1c
I *think* I recall that some of the VPN issues were caused by the Hub One router.
Did you change to using a hub one when you moved from ADSL to Fibre?
Do you have access to another VDSL/FTTC router, that could be used instead of the Hub One?
Maybe a BT smart hub or a third party device.
Regards
Richard

Re: VPN Access

Townman — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 13:02:00 GMT

Good call Richard - what else changed?

The referred to firewall issue is believed to be related to CHANGES to firewall settings, so some other factor could be relevant here and a router change is a good call.

Re: VPN Access

higgins1c — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 16:36:41 GMT

It is a hub one router but the same router as I used previously with no issues.

Thanks

Re: VPN Access

RichardB — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 17:09:24 GMT

Ah Ok that should rule out the router.
I would be suprised if the Plusnet firewall settings changed when moving from ADSL to VDSL/FTTC.
As I understand the issue with the Plusnet firewall is temporary inability to change the settings?
Have you noticed a change in the firewall settings?
I wonder what could have changed between ADSL and VDSL?
Perhaps it is the IP address assigned to you by Plusnet?
The traffic may route to a different BRAS, with a different range of IP addresses available?
I believe the ability to move to a static IP addresses is also temporarily unavailable.
I guess it is a common underlying problem with the firewall settings in PNs systems?
Could your work be geoblocking the VPN traffic from the PN supplied IP address?
It is common practice to block traffic from foreign IP addresses but unless kept upto date the blocking may affect legitimate users, when the IP address range has been sold or transferred.
Plusnet are using somecIP addresses which were previously registered in other countrys.
What are the first two octets of your IP address for example 149.90.x.x ?
Go to whatismyipaddress.com
Regards
Richard

Re: VPN Access

higgins1c — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 11:50:41 GMT

Hi Richard,

I never previously had to adjust the firewall settings but now when I go in it says firewall is set to high and if I do go to change the setting I get an alert saying an error has occurred. Please try again soon (which I have being trying since November!), if the problem persists please let us know (which I have done!).

I have contacted my work IT department before but they have not been able to resolve the problem and think it is to do with the internet providers settings. In December I briefly had random access to the VPN but it has stopped again.

My IP address is coming up as 84.92.x.x

Thanks for your help, Catherine

Re: VPN Access

Townman — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 11:54:31 GMT

I think that is in the core static IP address range.

Re: VPN Access

RichardB — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 16:10:15 GMT

@higgins1c
If the firewall is set to high that can block VPN traffic 😞
I suspect you are stuck until Plusnet sort out the firewall settings issue.
One alternative is to move to BT Or EE full fibre. Gandalf indicated it is available at your address. Plusnet will waive early contract termination fees, when moving to either BT or EE full fibre, if you contact the customer options team.

Richard

Re: VPN Access

Gandalf — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 16:26:45 GMT

Hi Catherine,

I've been taking another look at this for you and I believe I've managed to carry out a workaround, which may fix the issue for you and allow you to connect to your work's VPN. Could you try connecting and let me know how it goes?

Re: VPN Access

higgins1c — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 21:19:13 GMT

Thanks, I've rebooted router and PC and now have full access to my work accounts.

Bw, Catherine

Re: VPN Access

Gandalf — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 21:24:08 GMT

Excellent! Thanks for the confirmation Catherine.

As a heads up, your broadband firewall is turned off and you won’t be able to turn it on to even a Low state until we’ve fixed the issue. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue though as your router should have a firewall and your devices may do too.

I’m really sorry again for how long you’ve been unable to properly work from home.

Let me know if you encounter any further issues.