VSS not working with BT Infinity

[tpoulton]

We have recently upgraded to BT Infinity from a 'normal' BT broadband service and now the VSS has stopped working, the power light stays solid for a minute or two and then starts flashing slowly. No other light show apart from when they cycle every now and then.

We have a BT Business Hub 3 and after searching around and reading many, many posts I have enabled port clamping (to set the key exchange to UDP 500) and added the following rules for port forwarding:

TCP 8
TCP 50
UDP 500
UDP 4500
UDP 123

I tried setting the MTU to 1500 however it was already set at the maximum value of 1492. I've done a hard reset and waited well over 24 hours.

What else do I have to do? I read lots of people talking about 'resyncing' however I can't find this option when I login, is this something that has to be done by Vodaphone?

[allegoricus]

"What else do I have to do? I read lots of people talking about 'resyncing' however I can't find this option when I login, is this something that has to be done by Vodaphone?"

You are correct, a re-sync requires the interventio of the Vodafone tech guys. You are usually then asked to do a factory re-set on the Sure Signal.
From what I've observed, this seems to take care of most situations where everything else is in a satisfactory state.

[Retired-Lee]

Hi tpoulton,

Thanks for your post.

Could you post the following information for me please?

Your speed test results from here.
Your ping test results from here.
Your external IP address from here.
The results of a traceroute.

Your Sure Signal serial number:

VSS Traceroute command

On a PC:
Click on Start and select Run
Type CMD into the Run box and press enter/click ok
A black box will appear.
In this box type tracert 212.183.133.177 press Enter
Paste the output of this command into your reply.

This will help us get the quickest possible resolution for you.

Thanks

LeeH

[tpoulton]

Speed test:

Ping - 33 ms

Down - 7.97 Mbps

Up - 8.83 Mbps

Ping test:

Packet loss - 0%

Ping - 19 ms

Jitter - 1 ms

Grade - A

External IP:

213.123.219.8

Serial number:

21230718377

Traceroute:

1 4 ms 3 ms 6 ms BTBusinessHub.home [192.168.1.254]
2 16 ms 15 ms 15 ms host81-134-112-1.in-addr.btopenworld.com [81.134.112.1]
3 14 ms 15 ms 15 ms 213.120.182.141
4 16 ms 15 ms 17 ms 213.120.161.82
5 16 ms 15 ms 15 ms 31.55.164.177
6 15 ms 15 ms 19 ms 31.55.164.107
7 22 ms 22 ms 20 ms acc1-10GigE-0-2-0-4.bm.21cn-ipp.bt.net [109.159.248.104]
8 20 ms 23 ms 23 ms core2-te-0-4-0-4.ilford.ukcore.bt.net [109.159.248.6]
9 20 ms 20 ms 21 ms peer1-xe3-0-1.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net [109.159.254.219]
10 21 ms 23 ms 23 ms LNDGW2.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.124]
11 26 ms 22 ms 22 ms 85.205.116.14
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 * * * Request timed out.
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.

Trace complete.

[Retired-Kay]

Good Evening tpoulton, 

Thanks for supplying the information, everything in your post looks correct so there shouldn't be an issue with it working. 

I've just arranged a resync of your Sure Signal device. Along with this I'll need you to do a factory reset following these instructions; 

• Hold the reset button till all the lights come on or flash (about 30 seconds)
• Keeping the rest button held, remove and re-insert the power lead
• Once all the lights come on or flash, release the reset button
• The VSS should come online within the hour

Let me know if you're still experiencing issues and we'll investigate further. 

Kay

[tpoulton]

I have tried twice over the weekend and it's still not working

[Jimfew]

Lots of people have problems with the BT Business connection on Infinity. I have spoken to BT and they are not sure why it works with some and not with others.

In my own case, I needed to find a good alternative router to the BT V3. I ahve tried loads with little success but now I have found one that works and gives me the other capabilities I need, such as VPN.

I went for the ASUS RT-AC66U router. It is a seriously good piece of kit and allows jumbo framing and handles the VSS packets properly. It really has a lot of options within it but the web interface is easy to set up and it is the best interface I have seen on any router.

The VSS works well with all my 3G phones.

[allegoricus]

Hi jimfew,

I read your other post after I posted that and, yes, the router looks an excellent choice, although not cheap.

I also briefly checked out the matter of jumbo frames - this may indeed turn out to be the key to the problem, although it's far from clear.

Maybe it's something that Vodafone will choose to investigate in their test lab (assuming they have one), as anything that prejudices service places them in a bad light.

TTYL,

Peter

[Jimfew]

Hi Peter,

Vodafone have known about the issue of jumbo frames with the VSS on PPPoE networks with a maximum MTU of 1492, as BT is, for a long time. I notice that they have launched the V3 VSS and hope that they have included a Path MTU Discover macro in their setup routines which can then adjust the size of packet to match the network capacity downstream. The Tech guys on here don't seem to knpow if this is included or not in the new VSS.

Curiously, until recently the VF response to the problem was a blanket "use the BT router supplied" one but more and more people have found that for some, the BT fibre router does not work with the VSS. I contacted BT and they are still looking at this issue but have no solutions as of now.

However, now I have found a router that works well, is very advanced and is available, my problems have receded.

Jim.

[Retired-Dave]

Hi tpoulton,

Can you check that your router's MTU is set to 2500 - or the maximum available - for me to check this isn't getting in the way?

Can you also check the following ports are open for forwarding:

 - 8

 - 50

 - 123

 - 500

 - 4500

 - 1723

Finally for now, if these don't sort things, can you try the Sure Signal box on an alternate connection and let me know if the issue persists? Make sure you change the postcode to the correct one for that location just to ensure that this doesn't affect the test.

Some users are reporting that the BT Infinity/Sure Signal combination works, so it's not a block incompatibility. By checking all these factors, we're looking to rule out anything else which may be causing what you're seeing.

Dave