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Problems getting online

grahamdevizes
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎08-07-2019

Problems getting online

Hi all

 

I use a company's laptop to work from home via a VPN. Until last week, all was fine. My wife and I both have personal laptops and they are not affected by this issue.They connect via the router straight away. My work laptop "should" connect to 195.224.74.170 over port 444 but won't.

My firm's IT people emailed me after a 30 minute remote access session which failed to resolve the issue and said the following.

Does Plusnet block any connections on port 444?

Can they perform any traces to see what happens with the routing when this attempts to connect?

Can they test this connection and advise if there's anything else to check?

This is all way beyond my level of knowledge so can anyone shed any light upon why, after a year of using Plusnet with my work laptop without any issues, this has now happened?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

 

5 REPLIES 5
grahamdevizes
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎08-07-2019

Re: Problems getting online

Well, the answer to the issue is interesting as it appears that Plusnet have allocated me an IP Address that is on a blocked list as the former user was a bulk spammer.

 

Well done Plusnet, my contract with you expires in just over a week so it'll be good bye and good riddance

JOLO
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,149
Fixes: 77
Registered: ‎06-08-2018

Re: Problems getting online

Hi @grahamdevizes,

 

IP addresses assigned to accounts are dynamic unless a static IP is requested. Static IPs on residential accounts have a one off cost of £5, on business accounts are free. Our network will always try and assign the same IP as previously used but this isn't always possible, in which case the IP will change to another randomly assigned one. 

 

It might be beneficial in your situation to request a static IP. You can do this by logging into the member centre, clicking on the broadband tab and then static IP this will enable you to add one. 

 

The three IP addresses assigned to your connection since May don't appear to be flagged on any blacklist other than being flagged purely because it's a dynamic IP address so I'm not sure why you've been advised it was because of a bulk spammer.

grahamdevizes
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎08-07-2019

Re: Problems getting online

Well, that's peculiar as both my IT manager and our IT support company found the IP Address listed on SPAMHAUS as having been responsible for "sending large quantities of Spam emails". It's also listed on other sites  as a bulk Spam IP address. They sent me the lists, it's there, plain to see for all

Your online support yesterday was derisible - no one was bothered about determining the problem, all they kept telling me was that there must be a fault with my device.

JOLO
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,149
Fixes: 77
Registered: ‎06-08-2018

Re: Problems getting online

@grahamdevizes,

 

One of the IP address (of the three mentioned) is listed on a SpamHaus Zen specifically under the PBL list. Being on a PBL list does not automatically mean the IP is blacklisted or sending spam. More information on this can be found here.

 

You check the IP here which will give you a PBL reference, if you click on this it will take you to an explanation (I won't post a direct link to the PBL reference as it will show your IP address in a public forum). Other than this and the previously noted listing for being a dynamic IP I cannot find it on any other list. Please feel free to point out which ones list it's on that you've been provided.

 

As I said if it's an issue and the VPN service is sensitive to the IP being dynamic then by all means change to an static to see if this resolves the issue, if it doesn't we can refund the one off fee. 

Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,920
Thanks: 9,537
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: Problems getting online

One question to consider - is your IT department using current information on IP status? It’s not uncommon for geolocation and blacklist checking to be using stale data.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.