Does Vodafone support incoming mobile terminated connection ?

[Uyenhuynh]

As I have known, most of cellular network operators build their cellular broadband data network GPRS/EDGE and 3G to support the down-link connection from mobile devices for web surfing, checking email, downloading the music, etc . However, there are still some operators such as AT&T in US which provides the up-link connection to mobile devices ( So we can use a laptop as a server for accessing through the cellular network)

I want to know exactly whether or not Vodafone UK or else where support that up-link traffic to mobile devices ?

What APN they use for ? What IP address is provided, Static or Dynamic? User name and password ? Charging rate? idle timer ? Connection timeout?

The problem is that those information I could not get from their customer service support, so I greatly appreciate if you guys could help me to figure it out.

Thanks for your great help,

Uyen

[danger11]

Hi guys,

Thanks for being patient while I was away

Unfortunately, our modems do not use Public IP addresses when they connect, and so it is not possible for a Vodafone Modem to receive incoming connections in the way that a server would. This is because your external facing IP address (the one as seen on the internet), is in fact shared with thousands of other Vodafone users at the same time, via a combination of Network Address Translation and Port Address Translation. This means incoming connections targetting your IP address will not know which individual computer to route to once it hits our internal network.

The way around this is to use a zero-config VPN application, like Hamachi, which needs to be installed on both the client and the server, and gives both machines their own internal IP address. That will then allow the two computers to talk to each other as if connected to the same LAN.

Alternatively, the DynDNS method described by carwashmike above will do the trick too

Jon

eForum Team

A public Static IP VPN Could Solve the OP's Problem, Could it not? I prosume your network uses Multple NAT's And Firewalls. And port blocking.

[Uyenhuynh]

Thanks for your detailed answer Jon. I wonder if there is any other work around solution for this problem? Since the VPN is not possible to deploy in our case. Did you hear about the M2M solution ( Mobile to mobile) using in mobile broadband service that some operators provide for their business customers? With this solution, all mobile devices connected to broadband cellular network can communicate each other. Would you be kind enough to check it out for me?

Thanks,

Uyen

[Uyenhuynh]

Another question, could you please help to check the current idle timer and connection timeout that Vodafone set up for all of connections through their broadband network.

Thanks,

Uyen

[Retired-Reidar]

Hello Uyen

I've forwarded your question to Jon and George who have been following this thread, as soon as one of them is in they should be able to provide a comment regarding the follow up with our data analyst.

kind regards

Reidar

eForum Team

[Retired-Jon_V]

Thanks for your detailed answer Jon. I wonder if there is any other work around solution for this problem? Since the VPN is not possible to deploy in our case. Did you hear about the M2M solution ( Mobile to mobile) using in mobile broadband service that some operators provide for their business customers? With this solution, all mobile devices connected to broadband cellular network can communicate each other. Would you be kind enough to check it out for me?

Thanks,

Uyen

Hi Uyen,

It does sound like a Machine to Machine solution is needed in your case, as you're asking for details which lie outside of the normal scope of usage for Mobile Broadband. I could give you lots of info, but it wouldn't be of any benefit since it's unlikely to work with your particular requirements.

Instead, we need to find out exactly what you need, and what you're trying to accomplish, and we can then work with you to tailor something that will allow this, even if it requires Static IP's or private APN's.

Please call our M2M team on 08700 717 727, and they will give fill out a lead form for you, which can then be passed onto our Sales Team.

For more information about what our M2M team does and what they can help with, please see their page here.

Jon

eForum Team

Please

[Uyenhuynh]

Thanks for your prompt feedback. I will contact your business sector as your suggestion.

By the way, Can you let me know what internet APN do you currently provide your broadband customer who use a Laptop with a cellular modem to connect to Internet? Does that APN provide public or private IP addresses? I would highly appreciate if you could help me with additional information such as Idle timer and connection timeout.

Thanks,

Uyen

Please

[Retired-Jon_V]

Hi Uyen,

All of our APN's use Private dynamic IP addresses, unless they are a a private APN used by business or corporate customers, in which case a Static Public IP can be offered at additional cost.

The APN used for Contract Mobile Broadband is "Internet", and we have two Pay-as-you-Go Broadband APN's which are pp.internet and ppbundle.internet

The timeout period for idle connections is 6 hours.

I trust this helps

Jon

eForum Team

[Uyenhuynh]

Yes, it helps a lot. How about the connection timeout? Is that unlimited?

I just can say that Vodafone UK is doing a great customer support especially from this forum. If I can, I will recommend people using your service.

Thanks a lot for your great support guys,

Uyen

Oh by the way, does Vodafone in other countries provide the same APN?

[Retired-Lee]

Hi there Uyen,

The APN's will vary from country to country and I'm afraid we don't know these APN's.

Regards your first question about connection timeouts, We're not sure, but have a feeling it's 24 hours for an active connection. As I say, we can't be sure.

Regarding your last comment about our service, if you're so impressed, why not take a few seconds to fill out the feedback form contained within the link in my signature. We're always looking to improve our service and your feedback is essential to that

Cheers again,

LeeH
eForum Team