mylan apn - how should it function?

[petesnhs]

Hi

I have a question regarding the mylan apn.

When making a mobile broadband connection to mylan apn, should the user then be able accesss internet / web pages (as one would if using the internet apn)? Ie. Is mylan just same as internet, but with added VPN capabilities / security?

I ask because, when using a contract sim in my laptop, if I connect to the internet apn I get access to internet as you'd expect.

If I connect using the mylan apn (and yes mylan has been enabled by vodafone) I can't access internet / webpages - it'll take 3 minutes to load google page, if it doesn't ime out that is!?!?!??

If I then connect to a vpn (a BT N3 vpn in my case, to access nhs resources) I can then access internet / webpages (through the N3 vpn network I'm guessing!?!?!).

So is the mylan apn acting as it should, or should it allow internet access without a vpn connection?

Thanks in advance for any input / info

Pete

[Retired-Dave]

Hi petesnhs,

I think I may have the answer for you in an old thread here.

The MYLAN APN removes the HTTP header from files by design. If you want to use applications such as browsers which use these, that's when you need to use the standard Internet APN.

Dave

If I've helped at all today, why not leave me a little feedback?

[petesnhs]

Hi Dave

thanks for the reply. I tried using your link to the past answer, but I get an Access Denied message / webpage.

Pete

[Retired-Simon]

Hi petesnhs

Thanks for your reply. I've now moved the thread so it's visible to all users and you can see the solution here.

Thanks

Simon

[petesnhs]

Hi Simon

thanks for the link fix.

Following on from my orig question, I found a reference to a mylan2 apn [ sixth post down at http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Mobile-Broadband/Vodafone-Mobile-Broadband-Dongle-VPN-Connection-Erro... ] which (I assume from the description) allows secure vpn connectivity and also internet access.

Can anyone confirm the existance of mylan2?
Does it indeed allow secure vpn connectivity as well as internet access?

It'd be nice to have one apn which allows both!

Pete

[petesnhs]

mylan2?
Anyone?
Does such a thing exist and does it allow secure vpn + internet access?

Cheers

Pete

[Neil_Brown]

I'm not sure what is meant by "secure" VPN in this context? Is the security of the VPN not predominantly determined by the quality of the tunnel you are establishing, rather than the underlying connectivity (given that it's not a leased line or anything like that, specific for you)?

[petesnhs]

In other posts on the forumn regarding using vpns on the vodafone mobile broadband network its been explained (by vodafone techies) that the internet apn can be used to establish a vpn connection, but that it isn't guaranteed to be secure - hence the need to use the mylan apn.

I also found that using the 'standard' internet apn for a vpn connection was very unstable; the vpn connection kept severing itself after a few minutes at best.

So I've now got mylan enabled on my sim to get a stable (and secure) vpn connection, but I can't access the internet (unless I connect to my vpn).

Hence my asking about the mylan2 apn!

So does anyone from vodafone know if mylan2 exists?
Does it offer the same stable & secure vpn connection of mylan apn, along with the internet capability of internet apn?

Cheers

Pete

[Neil_Brown]

but that it isn't guaranteed to be secure

Indeed — but I'm not clear that this means in the context of a VPN. To me, part of the point of a VPN is that the underlying carriage network *can* be insecure, hence the secure tunnel being created. Nothing important is passed in the clear before the tunnel is set up (since that would defeat the point of it being secure) so I am not additional benefit stripping the http headers conveys here.

I ask this since I've had the mylan flag attached to my account for quite some years now, and have no problem connecting to my VPN (and then proxying web traffic) or to the Internet directly from the device — I use the standard WAP APN for this. This leads me to wonder whether switching APNs is the answer in your case, or whether there is some other problem in your set up causing the problems. If everyone who had the mylan flag attached to their account had problems access the web, I would have expected this to have come up before.

[petesnhs]

Thanks for the reply Neil. The more I discover / hear the stranger it gets / the more confused I get.

So you can access the internet okay using the mylan apn?!?!?!??!

As I say, if I set the apn used to 'internet' all is fine - I can access the internet, but set it to 'mylan' and no internet access (or very slow - 3 minutes+ to load google page - and / or unstable - google, or other, page time out message) .
So, this, to me, points at vodafone for the performance / functionality; but.....

Anyone from vodafone care to comment / add their 2 cents worth as to how mylan should perform?
Is mylan2 the answer? Does mylan2 exist?
Is their a definitive description of the available apn's and how they work / what they're intended for?

It seems that getting this info is like pulling (hen's) teeth!

Pete

PS. I'm using 'internet, web, web' & or 'mylan, mylan, mylan' for apn, user, password as instructed by vodafone.

Neil, If you're using 'WAP' as the apn then, I guess, this gives a different performance spec than 'internet' or 'mylan'!?!??!