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Strange apparent router authentication failure

FIXED
RealAleMadrid
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 2,728
Thanks: 1,405
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Registered: ‎07-07-2009

Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure

@hquaint  Not sure why you have the ASUS router in port 2 of the ONT it's not going to work there. To use the ASUS as your router (you may not want to if it is old)  remove the Plusnet Hub2 and put the ASUS in Port1 then set up a PPPoE connection on it with your Plusnet username and password and no VLAN id configured, that is done by the ONT.

The worrying thing about this fault is that neither Plusnet customer service or Openreach seem to know anything about it and waste hours of time looking for something when it is a configuration error in BT Wholesale's system. Why it has happened to a number of Plusnet customers is another unanswered question. Maybe other suppliers have had the same problem, who knows.🤔

hquaint
Newbie
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Registered: ‎22-09-2022

Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure

2 routers in hub was due to OR engineers and PN previously running tests and diagnostics, we’ve since connected ASUS to port 1 and all working fine. 
 
My cancellation of the engineers visit also seems to have gotten lost in the system, an OR engineer turned up today with a job request to do a brand new install of fibre for a new customer. Back in early September when problems started, we were sent an ADSL copper engineer who apologised and said he couldn’t work on the system because he was only equipped for copper.  He also thought there didn’t seem to be any problems on the premises and it was most likely to be a configuration issue.  We’ve since been going round the houses until i started googling the issue and came across this post and Gandalfs kind solution.
SpendLessTime
Hero
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Registered: ‎21-09-2009

Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure


@RealAleMadrid wrote:

The worrying thing about this fault is that neither Plusnet customer service or Openreach seem to know anything about it and waste hours of time looking for something when it is a configuration error in BT Wholesale's system. Why it has happened to a number of Plusnet customers is another unanswered question.


That's the worry here too. Seems to have been customers who were FTTP Trialists but have they all move to Full Fibre causing the issue or were some still Trialists as the issue is more complicated?

As one of the trialists still, I'm wondering if this will hit me at some point.

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT
RobPN
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 5,107
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Registered: ‎17-05-2013

Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure


@SpendLessTime wrote:


That's the worry here too. Seems to have been customers who were FTTP Trialists but have they all move to Full Fibre causing the issue or were some still Trialists as the issue is more complicated?


 

 

@SpendLessTime 

To answer your question, I was affected and I'm still on the trial, also with a static IP if that's relevant.

Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,573
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Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure


@RealAleMadrid wrote:

The worrying thing about this fault is that neither Plusnet customer service or Openreach seem to know anything about it and waste hours of time looking for something when it is a configuration error in BT Wholesale's system. Why it has happened to a number of Plusnet customers is another unanswered question. Maybe other suppliers have had the same problem, who knows.🤔


@SpendLessTime wrote:

That's the worry here too. Seems to have been customers who were FTTP Trialists but have they all move to Full Fibre causing the issue or were some still Trialists as the issue is more complicated?

As one of the trialists still, I'm wondering if this will hit me at some point.

It is a rare issue, but once we knew there was a problem, we raised an incident straight away and we communicated it to agents. It did take longer than I’d have liked to identify the problem, but now we have done, our suppliers are investigating to learn what went wrong and to fix any remaining affected connections as soon as possible, which I’m told is genuinely a small number. Additionally we can put steps in place to hopefully stop the same issue from happening again in the future. Appreciate the worry though and I hope this provides some reassurance.

 

@hquaint wrote:
My cancellation of the engineers visit also seems to have gotten lost in the system, an OR engineer turned up today with a job request to do a brand new install of fibre for a new customer. Back in early September when problems started, we were sent an ADSL copper engineer who apologised and said he couldn’t work on the system because he was only equipped for copper.  He also thought there didn’t seem to be any problems on the premises and it was most likely to be a configuration issue.  We’ve since been going round the houses until i started googling the issue and came across this post and Gandalfs kind solution.

When I checked last night, the fault was cancelled in the supplier systems, but as the appointment was imminent for the next morning, I suspect the job had already reached the engineers workstack. When this happens it’s what’s known as “past point of no return”, so the job with the engineers likely wasn’t/couldn’t be cancelled. 

Sorry again for the trouble you’ve had.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
SpendLessTime
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Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure

Thank you @Gandalf for getting back to us with those words.Appreciate your efforts in this issue.

@RobPN I'm the same as you, trialist and static IP and I've still to decide my way forward re: long term contract.

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT
Gandalf
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Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure

No problem @SpendLessTime. I doubt that having a static IP would have caused or even contributed to this as the issue was down to the provision on our suppliers side. IPs are assigned from our network. 

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Hiems89
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Registered: ‎21-12-2020

Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure

@SpendLessTime, as I mentioned at the start, I am also a trialist, but I don't have a static IP, though I did have one some years ago - I think that is just how they used to set things up.

Again, thank you @Gandalf for fixing this.

As others have said, it is troubling when something like this comes along that doesn't show up as an error on the system. Is it just (another) case of problems with OR databases, or does it have to do with the way trialists are setup with OR? I know that PN is encouraging trialists to move to long-term contracts, but TBH and notwithstanding @Gandalf's excellent support, when you've just had a problem like this, it doesn't feel like the best time to commit to PN for 24 months.

Gandalf
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Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure

Cheers for the feedback @Hiems89,

Yeah I appreciate what you've said. I may be wrong and I'm not trying to make the issue seem less important btw, but looking at it a different way, this probably is the first problem we've had with a small number of FTTP trial connections. 

Either way we've taken this seriously by raising an incident and carrying out an investigation into the problem. Smiley

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Hiems89
Grafter
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Registered: ‎21-12-2020

Re: Strange apparent router authentication failure

I really appreciate how seriously you take these problems, @Gandalf, and how much you do to solve them. It's definitely a plus to the PN experience.