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

[Neil_Brown]

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

Ah — no. People are generally told that they need to have the mylan flag on their account, but I am not aware of anyone using it as their APN; as I say, I am using the WAP APN, although I've had no problems using the internet APN either.

I'd never thought of using mylan as the APN, to be honest, although that does make sense in the context of what you are saying. However, having not had any problems using VPN over the WAP APN, I've never considered it!

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.....

[petesnhs]

Hmm, so the mystery deepens

So is the 'mylan apn' just a flag to be switched on for a user account (& therefore the specified apn should have been left as 'internet' in my case. Although vodafone instructed me to use the mylan apn with mylan as the user & password!).
Or, is the mylan apn the apn which should be specified in the vodafone connection software?

Come on vodafone techies, where are you?

Pete

PS. all I know is, we have 150+ workers using laptops.

They had been set up using the internet apn, which proved to be unusable in making a stable / dependable vpn connection to secure resources. So in effect the laptops were useless for their needs. We contacted vodafone asking why this was so. They said 'ah ha! you're using the wrong apn, you need to use the mylan apn if you're using vpn connections'. So we requested that they enabled mylan on the sims & we've started to reconfig the vodafone connection sotware to use the mylan apn settings as instructed, but now users can't access the internet unless they first connect to the vpn - which isn't ideal, but if that's the limitation of using mylan then so be it.

But, is this indeed how mylan is expected to behave?

Also, is there such a thing as mylan2?!??!!?

So as I said above - Come on vodafone techies, where are you?

[Neil_Brown]

vodafone instructed me to use the mylan apn with mylan as the user & password

The mystery has indeed deepend... I look forward to the answer, as I'm learning something here!

[petesnhs]

Still no answer from the vodafone techies about the apn questions / clarifications!

Some response that they've read this would be good, even if they can't provide an answer.
At least then I'll know that there is no answer coming to my apn questions!

Cheers

Pete

[petesnhs]

bump,bumperty, bump

[Ben_H]

Hi petenhs,

I've asked one of our technicians about Mylan and Mylan 2. They're both basically test APN's for customers to try before purchasing a corporate APN from us. They are slight variations of the same test service though. If you're a corporate customer, your account manager will be able to discuss availability with you.

Cheers, Ben 

[petesnhs]

Many thanks Ben.
Yes we are corporate customers & we've been advised to use mylan - so I guess that's my answer.

We have 150+ users of the vodafone mobile broadband and many aren't happy / are experiencing very poor, irratic, unstable service (slow download speeds, continual vpn disconnects, unable to establish connections even though a signal maybe good, etc). So I was trying to get a better understanding of the various apn's and their use, for my own benefit in order to offer a solution for them - or at least an explanation of the service they're experiencing.

Given all the questions regarding apn's on here perhaps this info would also benefit many others.

So any help in this regard (ie. a general overview of the apn's and their use - or a link to such info) would be great.

Pete

[Neil_Brown]

Interesting — that confirms it is at least a APN and not just a flag on an account to permit specific behaviour. It rather leaves me with the quandry that, having had the mylan APN available to me for years but never having used it as an APN, why I would have needed it in the first place, since VPN has been absolutely fine!

[petesnhs]

Neil - if it ain't broke, don't fix it

Our problem is that neither apn (internet nor mylan) seems to give a stable vpn connection.
Even with the mylan 'fix' I'm getting feedback about vpn disconnecting when signal strength seems / is reported as adequate!
I'm assuming that the vpn 'heartbeat' is timing out / losing packets, as when I turn logging on on the vpn client I see vpn heartbeat packets arriving out of order; and when the vpn disconnects, the vodafone connection stays connected.

If I connect to a wifi broadband network these vpn heartbeat packets arrive in order and the vpn stays rock solid!!!!!

I have noticed that the vodafone DNS servers also seem to be irratic - manual testing shows nslook-ups time-out more often than not, which I'm sure won't help.

But just try getting any network guy to admit a problem with 'his' network - 'no mate everything works our end. It must be your set-up' Every time I've heard this, it has always turned out to be a problem at their end or it miraculously starts working soon after - 'no mate, we didn't change anything!' Rant over

Pete

[Neil_Brown]

vpn disconnecting when signal strength seems / is reported as adequate!

It's an extra cost, but you might try with a Mi-Fi device rather than a dongle, and see if that helps? In the first place, you can site the Mi-Fi wherever you want (within reason!), to get a better signal on the WAN (well, Vodafone link) side, and, in the second, and this is only personal observed experience rather than anything scientific, network performance seems to better than using the same SIM and the same settings in a dongle... it might be coincidence, but it *might* be worth looking into?

I have noticed that the vodafone DNS servers also seem to be irratic

Ah — I would not know for VPN'd traffic, as I use my own... at least that way, if I have a problem, I know who's fault it is