Firewall disabled, no incoming packets getting through

[#1]

Could someone enlighten me as to how long it should take for firewall settings to be updated? I would have though it should be instantaneous, but.....
I've turned the firewall off from the Member Centre > Connection Settings > Broadband Firewall page and restarted the BT Openreach Modem (leaving it powered down for at least 10 minutes) and restarted my router. Got a new IP address, updated my no-ip account, but still unable to SSH to my home server or create a VPN connection, either through the no-ip URL or by IP. Pings also do not work.
Ports 22 and 1194 are correctly forwarded through my router, but ports still seem blocked somewhere?

[#2]

Have you tried connecting by IP address and taking no-ip out of the equation? you can also test with http://www.canyouseeme.org/
Turning the PN firewall off is instant with the drop of the PPP sessions.
Regarding the WAN ping, that needs to be enabled in your router - assume you have done this?

[#3]

Yup, tried connecting by IP address, made no difference. Canyouseeme and whatismyip port checkers both time out on ports 22 and 1194.
WAN ping is enabled on my router now, had turned it off previously (DOH!), so pings sorted but TCP22 and UDP1194 still not accessible....

[#4]

If you can connect to your machines internally it would seem something has gone a bit skewy with your port forwarding.
I've got various ports forwarded without any issue.