port forwarding

[staceyw]

Can someone please help.  I have recently had to get a new router from talk talk as my previous linksy died.  On setting up the talk talk router my sure signal no longer works.  I have been round in circles with talk talk about opening ports but there reply is that they are not trainned to do this and cannot help.  I have therefore tonight attempted this myself, after doing a port forwarding test the results are that the ports are open on my computer, but the result that concerns me is it was unabe to ping my router.  Have I solved my problem or not.  I am getting really stressed and am fed up with having to use my mobile in the garden in the rain!!!   Someone please help. 

[Retired-AndyD]

Hi staceyw,

Can you take a look at our Sure Signal Troubleshooting thread, and then post back your results if you’re not directed to an existing thread?

Thanks

Andy
Moderator

[staceyw]

hi I have read all the troubleshooting threads but none can solve my problem.

[jeffkinn]

This type of issue is horrible for those that are not technical - which is most of us. I have found this website that might be able to help you

http://www.notsosuresignal.com/sure-signal/compatibility/compatible-routers/linksys-wag325n/

or perhaps this one

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Linksys/E1000/Vodafone_Sure_Signal.htm

Good luck

[staceyw]

Thanks for the reply i used the portforward.com for the instructions on opening the ports required as far as i know when i have done the test it confirms the ports are open but the sure signal is still not working. The router i have now is a dlink 2680. I am so confused.

[jeffkinn]

I trawled through a few forums and it there are a lot of postings about that router and problems with Sure Signal. It looks as though there is an incompatability with the Sure Signal and Dlinks implementation of their firewall.

Here is one website it might be worth looking at

http://www.notsosuresignal.com/sure-signal/compatibility/compatible-routers/

What ISP are you using? I suspect you will have to change the router to one that is know to be compatible to Sure Signal.

[staceyw]

my isp is talk talk but could call them something else!!! I will take a look at the website. It looks like i may have to purchase another router. thanks again for your help.

[philip42h]

Stacey,

Is it safe to assume that your SS used to work, on TalkTalk, until you changed your router? And that the only thing that has changed is the router?

You say that it doesn't work, but you don't say what model of SS you have, nor what the light configuration is ... that might help folk understand 'how far it gets' before not working.

You say that "the result that concerns me is it was unabe to ping my router" ... this is a red herring and has no bearing on whether or not you have set-up port forwarding correctly - its simply reflects whether or not your router responds to ICMP pings from the Internet. Apparently the Dlink does not - which matters not one jot as far as the SS is concerned. (I can't see any option in your router manual to change this behaviour.)

All that said, it does appear likely that this is a router configuration issue - most likely with setting up the required VPN connection or an over protective firewall blocking the required traffic between the SS and the VF servers. I'm not a fan of the port forwarding 'solution' - it's something of a blunt instrument but may be necessary in some business environments. In the case of your router, I'd be inclined to try putting the SS into a DMZ (demilitarised zone) which means from the router's point of view the SS is placed outside the firewall and is 'unprotected' from the Internet (which is fine).

To do this:

• Ensure that the SS has a statically allocated IP address from the router. See your router manual, page 42 - identify the MAC address of the SS in the DHCP table and set the status to static. You should have done this already before setting up port forward rules and is in any case a good idea for the SS. Take a note of the allocated IP address.
• Place the SS IP address into the DMZ. See your router manual, page 47 - enable the DMZ feature and supply the SS IP address.

You should then clear out the now redundant port forward rules to avoid any confusion, restart the SS and keep fingers crossed for 24 hours or so ...

[staceyw · Accepted solution]

just a quick update. Thanks for all your replies I am up and running again with the sure signal. Went on portforwarding.com followed instructions to open ports. Called vodafone 191 and with a litle adjustment from a tech its all working again. So for anyone with a talk talk D link 2680 it is possible!!!.

[Retired-AndyD]

Hi staceyw,

Thanks for the update, it's great to hear you now have a fully functioning Sure Signal

If you do have any questions in the future, you know where we are.

Thanks

Andy

Moderator