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Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

acidhorse
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎27-05-2012

Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

It this correct? (and no McAfee/Plusnet protect isn't setup for my account)
I have a static IP. Have tested this problem against two routers, and dialing on a friend's account (Virgin) and the NATs/port forwarding working fine so not a router/config/firewall issue.
I am on my second round of trying to get technical help from them.  The first time around, after the canned responses, I managed to get someone to open port 3389 on there end (after they did admit that some of the less common ports were blocked by default).
The ports are open and working within my network, no problems there.  Ports 80, 1433/1434 (and 3389 after the hassle first time around) all work fine. 
But I now need 3690 open (and heaven forbid I need more doing), and I am getting the canned responses again.  Does anyone have any advice to get some there to look at this a little more seriously, other than 'you can find everything you need at http://www.portforward.com'
Cheers
9 REPLIES 9
w23
Pro
Posts: 6,347
Thanks: 96
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎08-01-2008

Re: Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

Have you checked the Plusnet Broadband Firewall: https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=firewall ?
Call me 'w23'
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acidhorse
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎27-05-2012

Re: Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

Yes, sorry didn't mention, but both are off, basic/advanced
Routers:
TG585 v7 - only used for testing, but mostly stays in its box
TD-W8960N - my default router
acidhorse
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎27-05-2012

Re: Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

Ah, so I am not going completely mad then?
Plusnet go from:
"By default, we do not block any ports. If you are finding you cannot use certain ports, you will need to unblock these in the router.
This is not something we can support I'm afraid, but you can find everything you need at http://www.portforward.com, and just search for the make and model of your router."
To:
"Thank you for getting back to us. I am sorry for the previous response which was technically incorrect which you have kindly pointed out. Rather than blocking ports we manage them for certain applications, we open such ports for different types of games for example. I have checked and can confirm that it would appear that we have no previous requests for these ports to be unblocked. In order for these ports to be unblocked, we would request what you would like them opening for. Once we have this information we can then send this information over to our Networks Team to get these opened for you. If you can let us know what you would like them opening for, we can then get this moved over to the relevant team for you. I hope this helps you with your query."
Well, at least it should be getting sorted sooner, rather than later.
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

We don't block ports by default, as has been mentioned we apply traffic management based on traffic signatures and occasionally the port number. If you could provide more information about what applications you're struggling to use on your connect we could give some help on that. It's possible that the types of traffic you're using are identified correctly in our traffic management system hence not working as they should.
I see in your latest ticket you've asked for all port restrictions to be removed, if you want this to happen then you'd need to move to one of our Pro accounts or use the Pro add-on (depending on which account type you're currently on).

The latest response you've quoted is still confusing as we *don't* block the ports, they are managed so stating that we can unblock them is incorrect.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
MisterW
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 14,583
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

I'm not sure that last response is correct either!. I didn't believe that PlusNet 'blocked' any ports. The traffic management system prioritorises most gaming traffic and that is often identified by port. When some new traffic priority is required they need to know what it is being used for how to identify it and I suspect that is what is being asked in the 2nd response. That doesn't mean that if it is not identified it will be blocked, merely that it will not be prioritorised correctly and so may be slowed under some conditions.

Edit: Chris beat me to it!.

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.

Pettitto
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 6,346
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

Quote from: acidhorse

To:
"Thank you for getting back to us. I am sorry for the previous response which was technically incorrect which you have kindly pointed out. Rather than blocking ports we manage them for certain applications, we open such ports for different types of games for example. I have checked and can confirm that it would appear that we have no previous requests for these ports to be unblocked. In order for these ports to be unblocked, we would request what you would like them opening for. Once we have this information we can then send this information over to our Networks Team to get these opened for you. If you can let us know what you would like them opening for, we can then get this moved over to the relevant team for you. I hope this helps you with your query."
Well, at least it should be getting sorted sooner, rather than later.

I must apologise for this mis-information that I provided in that response.
Quote from: Chris
We don't block ports by default, as has been mentioned we apply traffic management based on traffic signatures and occasionally the port number. If you could provide more information about what applications you're struggling to use on your connect we could give some help on that. It's possible that the types of traffic you're using are identified correctly in our traffic management system hence not working as they should.
I see in your latest ticket you've asked for all port restrictions to be removed, if you want this to happen then you'd need to move to one of our Pro accounts or use the Pro add-on (depending on which account type you're currently on).

The latest response you've quoted is still confusing as we *don't* block the ports, they are managed so stating that we can unblock them is incorrect.

This information is much more accurate.
acidhorse
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎27-05-2012

Re: Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

And now I am getting:
"I don't know where the information has been obtained for your previous replies, however I can confirm that outbound ports are not blocked by us at all. However, they may have different levels of traffic management in place.
Inbound ports however, it depends on the setting of the Firewall on our side - Right now, the firewall is set to "Off" - This means that all ports inbound will be open and allowed through. This means that as long as the port forwarding is setup within your router the ports should go to where they need to.
I think my colleague Chris was getting mixed up with the port traffic prioritisation, rather than ports being blocked/opened."
Now I am confused... I would please like these ports to be opened:
11211 - memcached
443 - https
8000 - mercurial
3690 - svn
And to make life easier, it would be nice to have all the ports opened.  I don't know why a Pro account is needed, but you guys aren't exactly filling me with any confidence that this would be sorted by doing so.
What is the difference between a Pro Account or Pro Addons, and how does that get past my port problems?
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
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Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

Well, I just tried forwarding tcp port 3690 to my computer, and the incoming connection attempt reached my computer, so it's not blocked, but I don't have a static IP address.
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Plusnet claim that all ports are open?

Those ports are already open, as is every port.
We don't block ports, we apply traffic management depending on the account type you're on and the type of traffic you're using. Take a look here for the traffic management on your account type: http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/archive/bbyw_archive.shtml#downloadSpeeds
Why do you believe those ports are blocked? What problems are you having? If we can get some more information we can help get to the bottom of the issues you're having.
Also are these for inbound traffic (from the Internet to your network) or outbound (from your network to the Internet). Have you made sure that any ports you want coming in to you are forwarded on the router otherwise how does the router know which machine to forward the requests to.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.