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New VSS3 Set-up not happening - FIXED !

PEZUK
4: Newbie

Hi

 

I have a new VSS3, arrived on Monday, I have dutifully followed the instructions for initial set-up; waited the requested 24hrs and then reviewed the troubleshooting post and have opened up ports etc etc.

 

Current state:

 

VSS pluggedin; solid red power light and slow flashing first light - no other lights.

 

VSS is registered and confirmed to be by text and myvodafone.

 

I have reviewed my router logs and there seems to be a failure in the route to VF servers. The failure is at an IP address also owned by VF.

 

The VSS3 attempts to connect to 88.82.13.179 on port 4500 - it tries to do this twice 30 secs apart every 5 mins.

 

1. That IP is not one of the IPs listed in the Troubleshooting guide

2. Ping and Tracert fail to reach 88.82.13.179

3, Tracert times out at 85.205.0.93 - This is a VF IP registered in Germany according to IPLookup info.

 

So if my VSS3 can't reach its target IP how can it initiate configuration?

 

UPDATE - Having spoken to 3rd line support - it seems this issue relates to IP Whitelisting - if your external (ISP assigned) IP address is not on the VF whitelist then the connection will be refused.

 

I will now wait to see if this resolves my issue.

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

OK So ... I was right ... the culprit was the MTU setting on my router!

 

TL : DR Last night I made a breakthrough and got my VSS working by setting my router WAN MTU setting to 1500

 

The VSS needs to have a high MTU in order to set-up / configure - ideally 1500 - otherwise it cannot create the secure network tunnel it requires.

 

The problem with the Netgear DGND 3700v2 is that the Max MTU is fixed in the firmware to be 1458 for a PPPoA ADSL - you can't make this higher through the Netgear router GUI admin / config screens.

 

However ....

 

You can telnet to the router and issue command line instructions :Smiling:

 

To telnet to a netgear router you first enable debug mode -

 

http://www.routerlogin.com/setup.cgi?todo=debug 

 

Then you open a telnet session using the admin login credentials - I used PuTTY to do this.

 

Telnet to {router ip address (192.168.1.1 default)} username: admin password: {admin password (password default)}

 

Then you need to change the MTU on the WAN interface - at first I thought I could do it using ifconfig ( whilst it changed the interface MTU it stopped internet access - more of less)

 

I then stumbled on this Fixing WAN MTU limitation on NetGear DGN2200v3 ADSL router

 

Which gave these instructions:

--- 

The following commands will then directly write an MTU value of your choosing into the router's non-volatile memory:

# nvram get wan_mtu
wan_mtu=1458
# nvram set wan_mtu=1500
# nvram commit
# reboot

The router will then reset, and should reconnect with the specified WAN MTU, as long as it's set to a value supported by the ISP. The new MTU value will be displayed in the web admin interface, but should not be touched there as the limitation will be applied again.

 ---

And then when I checked the router logs - the VSS was connecting on port 4500 and after about 1-2hrs i had a full functioning VSS 3.

 

Very pleased. :Smiling:  :Smiling: :Smiling:

 

So if you've tried all the trouble shooting and opened all the ports ... check your MTU and try to set it to 1500 and see if that helps.

 

You can see what you effective MTU is by going here - http://www.speedguide.net/analyzer.php

 

@VF Tech team - can I strongly recommend you validate and add guidance on MTU settings to your troubleshooting FAQ - it would have saved me a solid week of investigation and frustration.

View solution in original position

8 REPLIES 8

peterduke9
4: Newbie

Im just a vodafone user like you but Ive had a major outage recently (along with the other virgin media customers) and hopefully learnt a couple of things along the way.

 

Maybe try taking your router somewhere else and connect it? I took mine to work, plugged it in and within an hour it was working fine. It just needed to update i think. maybe a temporary fix for you until the whitelist thing is resolved?

 

 

Good luck.

Hi Peter

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

TL : DR - Whitelisting didnt help, probably problem with router.

 

The whitelist aspect was a thing but only one aspect - on a Dynamic IP ISP service (such as BT) the IP changes and normally VF have them all already in a whitelist, it happens that co-incidently when I was speaking to the 3rd line support the one I was ising at that time wasn't but since then I have had 5 other IPs and they all were - but VSS still wasn't working.

 

I think it is a problem with my router - a netgear DGND3700v2 I have done further net searches and found a post on the netgear forums from 3 years ago Vodafone Suresignal  - it recommended using old firmware and putting the VSS in the DMZ - I have done this and still no joy.

 

So currently - 

 

My Router has all the suggested ports open inbound and outbound - this is redundant though because...

 

The VSS 3 has a fixed IP on my LAN and is in a DMZ (effectively not firewalled)

 

However I am still not getting any connection to the VF servers :Sad_face:

 

Looking at my router logs. It tries to open up a connection on port 4500 and doesn't get a response - it keeps doing this every 15 mins.

Options:

1. Take VSS to another location / router and try-it - (possible but not easily done for me)

2. Use another router (don't have another one currently)

3. Leave it plugged in and see if something changes

 

Currently at option 3 until an opportunity for 1 presents itself - option 2 will happen sometime in next 3-4 weeks as changing my broadband supplier.

 

Sorry for war and peace - but the info may help to inform others struggling.

 

PS I will say that they only help you will get from VF on Sure Signal is from their 3rd line support - they are good and no-one else gets it [chap I spoke to twice was called Martin and +rep to him] - you need to be persistent and then have them place a note on your account to say you should be put through to 3rd line support.

 

PPS - My network stats are D/L 2.5MB U/L 0.3MB Latency 30-150ms - so within working ranges albeit on the low side.

 

Yeah I know its not easy to take it somewhere, i didnt have any permission to plug into my work ethernet connections! lol

 

Good luck! 

ChazzD
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@PEZUK

 

Could you please let us know the serial number of your Sure Signal? We'll do a resync of the device on our end to see if this resolves the issue. 

VSS 3 Serial # 42152177319

 

I don't think it is the issue as it has yet to connect even once to your servers - according to 3rd line support chap - it is recorded as registered but never connected.

 

Further reading today suggests it may be related to the MTU requirements.

 

My Netgear router (DGND 3700v20) has a maximum MTU of 1458 for a PPPoA ADSL 2 connection. [1458 is the reccommended ADSL PPPoA setting for BT's network btw]

 

I have read that (historically at least) the VSS servers send a  large packet to initally set-up the secure communication channel / initial set-up software ? I have read that the fragmentation issue can prevent this secure connection being made?

 

Anyone care to comment as I am startring to exceed my knowlegde / understanding boundaries...

OK So ... I was right ... the culprit was the MTU setting on my router!

 

TL : DR Last night I made a breakthrough and got my VSS working by setting my router WAN MTU setting to 1500

 

The VSS needs to have a high MTU in order to set-up / configure - ideally 1500 - otherwise it cannot create the secure network tunnel it requires.

 

The problem with the Netgear DGND 3700v2 is that the Max MTU is fixed in the firmware to be 1458 for a PPPoA ADSL - you can't make this higher through the Netgear router GUI admin / config screens.

 

However ....

 

You can telnet to the router and issue command line instructions :Smiling:

 

To telnet to a netgear router you first enable debug mode -

 

http://www.routerlogin.com/setup.cgi?todo=debug 

 

Then you open a telnet session using the admin login credentials - I used PuTTY to do this.

 

Telnet to {router ip address (192.168.1.1 default)} username: admin password: {admin password (password default)}

 

Then you need to change the MTU on the WAN interface - at first I thought I could do it using ifconfig ( whilst it changed the interface MTU it stopped internet access - more of less)

 

I then stumbled on this Fixing WAN MTU limitation on NetGear DGN2200v3 ADSL router

 

Which gave these instructions:

--- 

The following commands will then directly write an MTU value of your choosing into the router's non-volatile memory:

# nvram get wan_mtu
wan_mtu=1458
# nvram set wan_mtu=1500
# nvram commit
# reboot

The router will then reset, and should reconnect with the specified WAN MTU, as long as it's set to a value supported by the ISP. The new MTU value will be displayed in the web admin interface, but should not be touched there as the limitation will be applied again.

 ---

And then when I checked the router logs - the VSS was connecting on port 4500 and after about 1-2hrs i had a full functioning VSS 3.

 

Very pleased. :Smiling:  :Smiling: :Smiling:

 

So if you've tried all the trouble shooting and opened all the ports ... check your MTU and try to set it to 1500 and see if that helps.

 

You can see what you effective MTU is by going here - http://www.speedguide.net/analyzer.php

 

@VF Tech team - can I strongly recommend you validate and add guidance on MTU settings to your troubleshooting FAQ - it would have saved me a solid week of investigation and frustration.

Retired-Wayne
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@PEZUK

 

That’s great to hear. Thanks for letting us know.

 

It is mentioned on our troubleshooting thread, but I’m glad you’ve managed to get things sorted now.

Oh yes - missed that - it was under a specific condition that did not match mine.

 

Can I suggest you also include that MTU section in the Solid Power light and flashing first light section. [Light one on. Light Two Flashing]