VPN stopped working

[#1]

I've been using a (Cisco based) VPN over Plusnet without issue for a few weeks through router reboots etc.

So today after being away for a few days the connection was fine but the VPN connection was blocked/failed. Reading in the forum it appears there is/was a problem with some IP ranges Plusnet use. Rebooted router and it didn't help. I disconnected router and modem for 30 mins or so and all was well after that. I didn't check my before/after IP addresses, but I'm guessing there was an address change after the 30 min.

1. Does the Plusnet IP related VPN issue still exist?
2. Should I have to disconnect my (separate) modem as well as the router to get a new IP address or just the router?
3. Seems problem can be avoided by my connection being assigned a static IP? How do I get this done? 

[#2]

@wibblyw

• Does the Plusnet IP related VPN issue still exist? Yes
• Should I have to disconnect my (separate) modem as well as the router to get a new IP address of just the router? No
• Seems problem can be avoided by my connection being assigned a static IP? How do I get this done? Login to the member centre, the Static IP option is on the Broadband menu. There is a one-off charge of £5.

[#3]

Thanks

1. How do I know an appropriate IP address will be allocated that will avoid the issue?
2. A point of principle, but why should I be paying anything for a fix that's caused by a network architecture issue at Plusnet? Perhaps someone at Plusnet support can chime in?

[#4]

So I called support and they made a "complaint" note on my account. The guy actually said he "didn't know the ins and outs of it" (!!!) but also said:

• It was my problem I was using a VPN. He couldn't explain that they were clearly blocking some traffic on some Plusnet IP addresses.
• He couldn't guarantee a static IP would fix the problem and I would end up in an IP pool that didn't have a problem as he couldn't predict what IP I would get and what IPs had a problem
• It was down to me to choose to go for a static IP at £5 if I wanted to try and if it didn't work I could disable it and try another (at another £5!) repeated as many times as I wanted.
• This was all after he went away and asked someone else!

At the end of the day, according to Plusnet, static IPs might work/might not and it's my problem and I'd have to pay to try to fix the idiosyncrasies of their network...

Ironically, I've just noticed Plusnet do say they support VPNs on static IPs...

Can someone from Plusnet who does "know the ins and outs of it" please reply here to clarify/confirm?

[#5]

I'm not surprised that the CSC don't understand the problem. I believe ( and I may be wrong ) that some of the IP blocks used by Plusnet were at some time in the past used internally by BT. Some VPN clients seem to think they are still internal IPs and thus don't route them, so it's not really a PN problem it's a VPN client problem. As for static IP's , they have ( and presumably always will?) be allocated from a completely different IP block which up to now has not given any problems.

[#6]

@MisterW Indeed. But the support person explicitly said a) they don't support VPNs (even though their own website says they do when using Static IPs, and b) they can't say a Static IP will fix the issue. Hence conflicting advise and all at my risk and cost to try a static IP in the hope it works, which is pants.

From https://www.plus.net/AddOns.html :

----

Static IP

A permanent Internet IP address that's assigned to you - and only you. With a static IP you can:

• Host websites or mail servers
• Start webcasting
• Connect with others online using VPN

[#7]

> Some VPN clients seem to think they are still internal IPs

If that's the case, it should be easy to track down and those IPs should be listed at least by Plusnet.

[#8]

When CSC say they don't support VPNs , they really mean they don't support diagnosing problems with them.

In terms of diagnosing which IPs cause problems, PN don't have any control of the VPN clients so what doesn't work now may work when the client is updated and vice versa.

I think the response you got from CSC regarding static IP really relates to the absolute need to have one if you are hosting a VPN server. Aside from the routing issue with some IPs , strictly speaking there's no need for one when using a VPN client.

[#9]

My client is actually a corporately configured (Cisco) router, and it does work reliably via Plusnet so long as Plusnet have allocated an appropriate IP. So the only variable here is which IP pool I happen to sit in when it gets allocated. And even if Plusnet say their Static IPs are for hosting VPN servers (which they don't state clearly), strongly suggests they expect VPN protocols to traverse their network without issue when using Static IPs. Indeed they might encourage the VPN clients connecting to those servers to use Plusnet connections too, potentially exacerbating the problem if they happen to get a 'bad' IP address!

Anyway, this seems all a bit of mess. Hopefully someone from Plusnet can chime in and clarify.