Does PlusNet block opening of ports on router?

[#1]

I've set up an OpenVPN service, and can connect to it locally.
I've opened up the port (UDP 1194) in the "game and application sharing" on the default Thomson TG585 router.
However, I can't connect to it from outside. 
The traceroute (below) indicates it is getting as far as PlusNet, but not to my IP, so:
- does PlusNet prevent you from opening these ports (and is there a way of getting around this)?
- or is the Thompson router just rubbish (as indicated in other posts!).  If this is the case, I'll get something else, but want to make sure this isn't a PlusNet issue first.

 ~ $ traceroute -U -p 1194 212.159.xx.xx
traceroute to 212.159.xx.xx (212.159.xx.xx), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1)  3.650 ms  3.511 ms  3.332 ms
 2  host81-148-96-1.in-addr.btopenworld.com (81.148.96.1)  28.594 ms  29.522 ms  30.032 ms
 3  213.120.178.141 (213.120.178.141)  30.595 ms  30.431 ms  31.085 ms
 4  213.120.177.98 (213.120.177.98)  33.178 ms  33.843 ms  33.692 ms
 5  217.41.168.187 (217.41.168.187)  34.412 ms  34.261 ms  34.915 ms
 6  217.41.168.107 (217.41.168.107)  35.822 ms  51.625 ms  51.596 ms
 7  acc1-10GigE-0-0-0-5.l-far.21cn-ipp.bt.net (109.159.249.78)  51.274 ms acc1-te0-0-0-14.l-far.21cn-ipp.bt.net (109.159.249.88)  23.742 ms 109.159.249.68 (109.159.249.68)  24.157 ms
 8  core3-te-0-0-0-18.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.41)  25.825 ms core4-te0-12-0-18.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.17)  26.640 ms core3-te0-9-0-19.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.39)  26.467 ms
 9  peer1-xe-11-1-0.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (213.121.193.181)  27.335 ms host213-121-193-183.ukcore.bt.net (213.121.193.183)  33.967 ms  33.759 ms
10  195.99.126.183 (195.99.126.183)  33.520 ms  33.362 ms  33.201 ms
11  ae2.ptw-cr01.plus.net (195.166.129.4)  32.999 ms  33.724 ms ae1.pcl-cr02.plus.net (195.166.129.3)  30.916 ms
12  ae2.pcl-cr01.plus.net (195.166.129.6)  30.607 ms ae1.pcl-cr01.plus.net (195.166.129.1)  30.387 ms link12-central12.pcl-bng04.plus.net (84.93.249.118)  30.566 ms
13  * link12-central12.pcl-bng04.plus.net (84.93.249.118)  31.754 ms  31.596 ms
14  * * *
15  * * *
16  * * *
17  * * *
18  * * *
19  * * *
20  * * *
 ~ $

Thanks,
Jonny.

[#2]

You should be able to open that port without too many issues. However if there is nothing on your internal network responding to requests on that port they will likely time out. I'm not sure how OpenVPN works, so I don't know if you'd be able to trace to it, or whether you'd need someone using the VPN at the other end to test.

[#3]

Could it be your PN Firewall settings?

[#4]

Two possible areas that could cause this:
1.  Have you turned off the Plusnet firewall (Settings in the Member Centre)?  If you make a change here, you'll need to disconnect and reconnect for the change to have an affect.
2.  How have you configured the IP address of the device on your LAN running the OpenVPN server?  There have been issues with port forwarding not working to devices that have been manually configured rather than using DHCP.  Try DHCP as a test and see if all springs into life.
HTH

[#5]

@Chris - The "server" (paspberry pi) is listening on that port on my internal network (I can connect to it from another client locally), but externally it seems that it is getting stopped before it gets to my IP (hence I was asking if PN block it).
@RobPN - Never seen those firewall settings before (!), but they're set to "Off" anyway!
Cheers,
Jonny.

[#6]

@pwatson It is set up as a static IP.  I could try changing it to DHCP, but not sure how the router will now which IP to send the requests through to.

[#7]

When set to DHCP you should be able to select the Pi by name in the forwarding menu (IIRC).  If this works, you can set the DHCP to always offer the same address.  If you want to lock it ot a specific address you'll need to delve into the command line...

[#8]

I was looking into a problem recently affecting the blocking of UDP traffic across port 80 at the edge of our network. Wondering if this could be related. I'm out of the office at the moment but give me a nudge tomorrow and I'll look into it.

[#9]

i've certainly had issues with UDP traffic for VPN and DNS.

[#10]

Here's the other example I was thinking of.
Looking at that traceroute again though ^, the traffic reaches the Plusnet network and makes it all the way to the edge router where your connection is terminated.
This suggests that it's the router, port forwarding or listening device that's the source of the issue.
Presumably you did specify UDP rather than TCP when creating the port forwarding rule?

[#11]

Hi Bob,
Yes, definitely used UDP.
I'm at work atm, but could provide a screenshot later?
Jonny.

[#12]

Have you tried temporarily testing any other port forwards eg run a web server on the Pi as a test and forward port 80 TCP?  This would show whether the problem is TCP/UDP related or not?
My money is still on the DHCP issue but you seem to have discounted that... 

[#13]

@pwatson I'm still open to the idea!  The static IP is outside the range of the DHCP pool (192.168.200.100-192.168.200.199), server is 192.168.200.200 - so that could in theory confuse it.  I'll also try a TCP port to see if that works.  I'm at work atm, but will give it a go tonight/over the weekend.

[#14]

Just to clarify - Are you using your PN router as your DHCP server?  The server address you mention suggests perhaps not?
I should have been more precise when I mention DHCP - The issue that's cropped up in the past is that Thomson routers don't seem to work reliably when setting up port forwards to devices that they have not issued the IP to.  You may need to set your router up as the DHCP server as well in order to conduct your test.

[#15]

@pwatson Yes, the lovely (!) Thompson TG585, and yes it is providing DHCP.  I've changed the DHCP range as I don't like keeping defaults 🙂  But I agree with the other part.. as the router didn't issue the 200.200 address, maybe that's why it is complaining.