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Vodafone Smart E8 Talking Home to Vodafone?

TMWCM
2: Seeker
2: Seeker

Hello,

 

My wife has a Vodafone Smart E8 handset. I noticed today in our home firewall that the handset attempts to use TCP port 5094 talk back to various IP addresses registered to Vodadfone in Germany.

 

Examples of these IP addresses are: 47.73.170.165, 47.73.170.213, 47.73.170.225. Looking at the firewall logs it's trying to do this about 500 times a day whilst on Wi-Fi.

 

I've had a look on Google and can't find any info on what might be going on here. Does anyone have any idea what this is for or how I can get more technical information from Vodafone on the purpose of this communication?

 

I suspect this is beyond the knowledge of the normal customer service helpline people to assist with.

 

Thanks

14 REPLIES 14

Josh
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@TMWCM You've mentioned this happens when connected to Wi-Fi? Please can you confirm whether you currently use ourselves as your ISP?

Josh

 I can't say this doesn't also happen on cellular internet, it's probably more likely it does, but when on Wi-Fi everything goes through my network and I have visibility over it then of course which I don't really on 3G/4G.

 

I am using Vodafone VDSL at the moment with an enterprise grade network firewall behind it which is where I noticed this traffic.

Thanks

@TMWCM Hi there, port 5094 is normally used to route traffic between smart devices and the internet. It looks like the device is using the port to connect to the Vodafone servers for verification, then its being sent to the internet from there.

 

Hope this helps

 

Joe

Joe,

 

I'm aware that TCP 5094 is used by certain smart devices and IoT, it typically relates to the HART protocol which is used for communication in industrial processes. However, as this is a phone and clearly not an industrial process device, I would like to find out more information on why it is communicating to Vodafone servers over this port and what kind of telemetry it is sending.

 

I'm not sure from where or by what means I can obtain this from Vodafone however.

 

THanks

MarkF
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

Hi @TMWCM, we'd like to investigate this further for you. I've sent you a private message with details on how to get in touch. 

Hi @MarkF & @TMWCM

 

Was there any resolution on this query? I am experiencing the same issues and wanted to know how to resolve?

 

Thanks,

 

Tash
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing similar issues @SkinnyDogg.

Are you using us as our Internet Service Provider (ISP) too? If so, please follow the details that I've sent to you in the private message you'll receive shortly. 

If you're using an alternative ISP I'd advise you to contact them directly for further assistance. Should you need any further assistance after speaking with them, please don't hesitate to update us on the thread here.

I hadn't had chance to follow up on this.

 

I've done a little more digging by analysing the network traffic being sent over Wi-Fi from the device with wireshark.

I can see some alpha numeric data within these packets but not sure what it means, I also see a domain name mpluswf.ims.vodafone.com which leads me to believe these packets relate to the Vodafone Message+ application.

 

Can't offer any more info on what their purpose is though.

Hi ,

 

did this ever get resolved?

I am seeing the same activty on my phone however it is trying to shout out to vodafone on port 5094 14 times every second.

My phone is behind a corp firewall on wifi.

It is causing my phone to be come very hot and drain the battery.

When i switch to 4G (no firewall) it stops this issue.

 

if this is a vodafone service can you let me know what it and why it needs to connect?

 

attached screenshot for your reference

 

Screenshot from 2019-08-14 15-00-47.jpg