Three... no longer giving out public IP addresses

[#1]

And no.. I don't mean static, I mean public.. why does everyone keep getting those confused today?

Anyway... as the title says.. three are no longer using public IP addresses. The rotten swines have for some reason called it a day on that - which was a rather useful feature. I can only presume that they decided it's too expensive or the government got difficult about it being misused by the lergy called terrorism.

Anyway... this leaves me in a bind because I can't use a dongle at a remote location and keep in touch with that devices / network to monitor or view cameras etc.

Any ideas? I've never used a VPN before but i'm wondering if i can somehow create a vpn thing to my network which will then allow me to access it as if its part of my network?

Anyone else using a mobile network for a remote device? - How do you connect and stay in touch?

Thanks for the input...

7up

[#2]

Can you clarify what you said.

Is the dongle connected to a remote network which includes cameras ?

or

Are the cameras on a broadband connection somewhere, and you are remotely monitoring elsewhere with a PC using a dongle ?

[#3]

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@7up wrote:

Anyway... this leaves me in a bind because I can't use a dongle at a remote location and keep in touch with that devices / network to monitor or view cameras etc.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can you clarify what you said.

Is the dongle connected to a remote network which includes cameras ?

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Sorry.. thought i'd made it clear but reading it again it does look a tad ambiguous!

What I meant is a remote network connected to the internet via a dongle. My aim is to be able to then connect to it from home using our plusnet landline broadband.

Without a public IP I can't do that as it will be behind a NAT setup (why, why, why did they have to do this?).

So.. is there a way to get around this? - Will an outgoing VPN from the remote location to my home provide the network access I need to that remote setup?

[#4]

VPN initiated from the remote will probably work, depending on the exact VPN implementation at both ends. We have some customers doing this particularly where they have offices where fixed IP is simply not available.  By the way 3G/4G services have been using private addresses for a while now, so it's not just a 3 thing.

[#5]

While a VPN initiated by the remote network would probably work, you should investigate how much of your mobile data plan would be used by VPN 'keep alive' traffic, as the remote end would need to constantly attempt to make contact with the monitoring end of the VPN link even when it is not in use.

Or you could just use a different companies SIM which makes use of the 'Three' network, some even provide public and static IP blocks so you wouldn't even have to use port forwards to bypass NAT in order remotely access different camaras.

[#6]

I had a funny hunch about all of this 3 malarky.. so i've connected to them... and topped up with the daily £2.99 package.

They've only gone and given me a public IP address 

Not sure how long that'll last... they might disconnect my sim... or might not do anything... not entirely sure but they told me point blank they don't do public IP addresses anymore... and then give me one.

I'll have to continue testing this over the next few weeks and keep you updated.. in the meantime i need to find a supported webcam for the pi...

[#7]

How much included data allowance do you get for that £2.99 ?

[#8]

500mb.

I know it's not much.. and it's only for one day.. but for 3 quid it was worth a risk rather than losing a tenner!

[#9]

Do you have a link regarding their (possible) cessation of offering public IP addresses?

[#10]

Nope, they say they don't do public IP addresses anymore at all! They certainly don't offer a concession or even admit to it. Funny old company.. It's possible though that this only applies to newer equipment or sim cards. Mine  is from 2010 so maybe they're just honouring it? 

[#11]

the email I got suggested they were moving over to ipv6 and abandoning ipv4 addresses, it also suggested they were going to stop allowing 3g internet in the coming months and use that for voice/text only, not sure if that's right but it was just a policy update letter and very poorly worded

if those suggestions are correct though it would explain why the new generation of sim cards don't work in older devices /

[#12]

That's really interesting; thanks Nanotm. Could you post a copy of the email?

[#13]

If 'Three' is soon to do IPv6 (which I doubt),  I'm ready to try it.

I have a 'Three' USB dongle, with a 'Three' SIM card, plugged into a WAN socket on a DrayTek "2110N" IPv4+IPv6 wireless router - which I use as a mobile WiFi hotspot when I go away on holiday, or as an internet backup at home (if my ADSL ever failed).

My home network is fully IPv6 ready - except the Xbox 360, and my Gigaset VoIP base-station.

[#14]

Have a look at: http://aa.net.uk/telecoms-mobile-data.html

[#15]

I was aware of that SIM card, which was why I was doubtful about 'Three' offering IPv6, my reasoning being that if 'A&A' can't offer it yet, then it is unlikely anyone else can.

You cannot (yet) negotiate or pass native IPv6 or indeed any other protocols than legacy IPv4.

However, I do agree that product might suit  @7up's requirements, assuming his traffic usage was quite low - as the £/MB is quite high, compared to typical mass-market consumer mobile data plans.