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Lost access to news.plus.net

Firepig
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-05-2014

Lost access to news.plus.net

As of Friday afternoon I am suddenly unable to access usenet via the Plusnet server news.plus.net . I use Windows Live Mail as my newsreader and have not made any changes, but I now get an message "480 authentication required". As a workaround I have created an account with Mixmin.net and i can access Usenet through that, but the Plusnet server appears to be denying access.
Normally no authentication is required on news.plus.net and my settings are as per the Plusnet website, but i have also tried adding authentication in account properties - that didn't work.
Incredibly, Plusnet support are telling me that they do not provide support for their own server and have directed me to try here.
I am running Windows 8.1. I run Norton 360 and have tried turning off firewall and antivirus.
Thanks for any help,
Firepig
13 REPLIES 13
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

I have changed the title to reflect what I think is the problem as it originally referred to mail.plus.net
Firepig
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-05-2014

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

Whoops! Thanks Oldjim.
dick:quote
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

You shouldn't need to use authentication to log in to our news servers. As long as you're connected via your Plusnet connection, that should allow you to access news.plus.net
Have you tried using a different news client just to test and make sure that's not causing the issue?
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
Jaggies
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,700
Thanks: 34
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎29-06-2010

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

Some people have reported this issue on the support newsgroup - it appears to be related to the same issue with IP address ranges that caused problems with some streaming services.
@Firepig - try a disconnect/reconnect via your router interface and then try newsgroup access again. Of course, if you have a static IP address, it won't help... Cool
avatastic
Grafter
Posts: 1,136
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

Can a mod / etc, confirm if the IP the OP was made from is indeed one of the 'new' ones that probably hasn't been added to an ACL for the news (and probably IRC) server?
F9 member since 4 Sep 1999
F9 ADSL customer since 27 Aug 2004
DLM manages your line the same way DRM manages your rights.
Look at all the pretty graphs! (now with uptime logging!)
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

The IPs assigned recently to the OP aren't from the new range.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
Firepig
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-05-2014

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

Quote from: Jaggies
Some people have reported this issue on the support newsgroup - it appears to be related to the same issue with IP address ranges that caused problems with some streaming services.
@Firepig - try a disconnect/reconnect via your router interface and then try newsgroup access again. Of course, if you have a static IP address, it won't help... Cool

Thank you Jaggies, that solved the problem. Looking at the connection details, it seems the router reconnected on Friday when the problem started.
Still pretty shocked that Plusnet support refused to deal with this; not the service I'm used to from them. Definitely a Plusnet problem, as I was able to access Usenet through another provider.
Jaggies
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,700
Thanks: 34
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎29-06-2010

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

Bob Pullen posted this on the plusnet.service.customer-feedback newsgroup on May 21st, so not the same issue as I previously posted, but possibly some sort of issue at Giganews.
Quote
FWIW guys, I've had the allowed subnets for our Giganews config checked and the recently introduced IPs are already allowed.
The whole block (146.200/16) was added late last year.
Please shout up if the problem occurs again so we can try and work out why it's happening.
--
|Bob Pullen                  Broadband Solutions for
|Support                            Home & Business @
|Plusnet Plc.                            www.plus.net
+--------------- twitter.com/plusnet ----------------

Anyway, no further reports, so hopefully all is well (for now!).
2d
Newbie
Posts: 2
Registered: ‎05-06-2014

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

So pleased I thought to look in here in case someone else had the same problem.
I too was getting 'error 480 authentication required' but turning the router off and on again has sorted it - many thanks.
It really would be great if support knew about this...
avatastic
Grafter
Posts: 1,136
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

If people rebooting their routers and getting a new IP address is the solution to this problem, it screams "The list of valid IP addresses needs updating" to me.
F9 member since 4 Sep 1999
F9 ADSL customer since 27 Aug 2004
DLM manages your line the same way DRM manages your rights.
Look at all the pretty graphs! (now with uptime logging!)
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 16,869
Thanks: 4,950
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

Sorry to bump an old thread. Just thought I'd mention that this issue was specific to those assigned an IP in the  80.189.0.0/16 range. An internal problem was raised (ref: 81915) and everything should now be working again. Please shout up if you encounter any further issues.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

avatastic
Grafter
Posts: 1,136
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

So, are you saying that the MadasaFish/FNN CIDR needed adding to the nntp servers ACL?
F9 member since 4 Sep 1999
F9 ADSL customer since 27 Aug 2004
DLM manages your line the same way DRM manages your rights.
Look at all the pretty graphs! (now with uptime logging!)
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 16,869
Thanks: 4,950
Fixes: 315
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Lost access to news.plus.net

The /17 had already been added. That only covered half the IP's from the block though.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵