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    pfsense openvpn won't connect from certain cable providers ?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved OpenVPN
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    • johnpozJ
      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfchangs77
      last edited by

      @pfchangs77 replacing the modem isn't going to fix the problem of them being able to talk to your IP..

      Them getting a different IP maybe...

      Even if the guy is a complete and utter idiot when it comes to computers.. You can't walk him through opening a cmd prompt and typing in the command ping IPaddress?

      Clearly he knows how to put an address into his browser..

      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
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        pfchangs77 @johnpoz
        last edited by pfchangs77

        @johnpoz

        Time is my enemy and its not a big super rush same with other people time is limited. But I surely appreciate the help and pointers so far.

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          pfchangs77 @johnpoz
          last edited by pfchangs77

          @johnpoz

          So had our first great success with Armstrong. The first owner of the one modem called them to get it replaced and the tech support said oh you don't have to replace it, its blocked, we will unblock you. Took a 5 minute call and worked fine. So after roughly 35-40 tech contacts talking to 3 supervisors at the highest level got some mid range person and knew exactly right away it was blocked, and unblocked it. We can mark this solved.

          thank you for everyone's help so far on this. Truly appreciated.

          Anyone moving forward with stuff like this I suggest you go the route of viragomann do the packet sniff or a ping like johnpoz said if you can get to the other location and have time. Or if you can walk them through it too.

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          • johnpozJ
            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfchangs77
            last edited by

            @pfchangs77 said in pfsense openvpn won't connect from certain cable providers ?:

            its blocked, we will unblock

            @pfchangs77 said in pfsense openvpn won't connect from certain cable providers ?:

            However armstrong isn't blocking the out going

            I thought they weren't blocking ;)

            An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
            If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
            Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
            SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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              pfchangs77 @johnpoz
              last edited by pfchangs77

              @johnpoz

              I apologize I wasn't that descriptive, on the last message with armstrong.

              this was the old pfsense machine >> "However armstrong isn't blocking the out going" (I think there was some settings in the old machine that were set that was able to sneek through the armstrong block)

              this was the new pfsense machine >> "its blocked, we will unblock"

              but its working everywhere now new pfsense machine and old pfsense machine, after armstrong did the unblock.

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              • johnpozJ
                johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfchangs77
                last edited by johnpoz

                @pfchangs77 Your old pfsense was most likely using some other port, like the mention of running openvpn on tcp 443 vs the default udp 1194.. Literally 2 second look at your config on your "old" pfsense would of seen what port it was listening on..

                20 day thread for something that could of been solved in like 2 minutes if just would of done a sniff and understood what port you were listening on ;)

                An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
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                  pfchangs77 @johnpoz
                  last edited by

                  @johnpoz

                  Sorry I thought I did say I already I tried different ports too. Yes I wish I would have done the sniff earlier too. (The people don't know me as well so just showing up at there house etc and trying to figure out everything in between always makes it take a bit longer with the scheduling.) Plus the first thing I did was call armstrong among many other things, thought maybe I had something incorrectly. Again thank you for the help.

                  johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • johnpozJ
                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfchangs77
                    last edited by

                    @pfchangs77 well the important thing is you got it sorted.

                    So amstrong is blocking 1194 udp? That is pretty shitty isp.. I could see blocking smb and or say smtp.. These are not things any home user should be using to connect to.. But in this day an age lots of users use vpn.. I would think they would have users leaving or complaining quite a bit..

                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                      SteveITS Galactic Empire @johnpoz
                      last edited by

                      @johnpoz said in pfsense openvpn won't connect from certain cable providers ?:

                      So amstrong is blocking 1194 udp

                      I might guess some ISPs see inbound VPN ports as requiring a business account. I vaguely recall hearing VPN usage from a home account being an issue around the start of COVID quarantines.

                      I found out AT&T Business Fiber blocks outbound port 25 unless you ask them not to.
                      (ಠ_ಠ)

                      Xfinity maintains a list: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/list-of-blocked-ports (which generally are not a problem)

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                      • johnpozJ
                        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @SteveITS
                        last edited by johnpoz

                        @SteveITS said in pfsense openvpn won't connect from certain cable providers ?:

                        inbound VPN ports as requiring a business account

                        But this isn't an inbound block - maybe they are blocking that too.. But this is an outbound block from this armstrong house to his pfsense at some other location.

                        At least that was my understanding.

                        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
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                          pfchangs77 @johnpoz
                          last edited by

                          would be nice to know whats really going on. They never actually said what was blocked the other day.

                          GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • GertjanG
                            Gertjan @pfchangs77
                            last edited by

                            @pfchangs77 said in pfsense openvpn won't connect from certain cable providers ?:

                            They never actually said what was blocked the other day.

                            Check their web site support pages ?!
                            If they block more then the classic "TCP destination port 25" (and NetBIOS 😊 ) they will have 'exceptions' listed in the contract or commercial documentation, otherwise they would have to invest heavily in the after sales and support department.

                            No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                            Edit : and where are the logs ??

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                              pfchangs77 @johnpoz
                              last edited by

                              @johnpoz

                              Correct, however we did end up trying other armstrong customers around the area which worked fine too. So it doesn't explain why some armstrong customers do and some armstrong customers don't have it blocked. Because I know at least one account was a brand new account. Maybe some old feature? Haven't gotten a straight answer from them.

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                                pfchangs77 @Gertjan
                                last edited by pfchangs77

                                @Gertjan

                                This is all I could come up with https://armstrongonewire.com/Support/Internet/Articles/PortFilter

                                And I asked many times. And when I spoke to the so called supervisors they told me they blocked nothing even though when I asked them about that web page - https://armstrongonewire.com/Support/Internet/Articles/PortFilter

                                Yea I have to agree it would be wonderful to get some answers or closure.

                                GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • GertjanG
                                  Gertjan @pfchangs77
                                  last edited by

                                  @pfchangs77 said in pfsense openvpn won't connect from certain cable providers ?:

                                  This is all I could come up with https://armstrongonewire.com/Support/Internet/Articles/PortFilter

                                  I can't visit that link 😠
                                  But I get it : I visit from France, and that might be suspect. My IP was blocked.
                                  DNS is fine, that is, a A record exists. AAAA (IPv6) : that's a not go.

                                  No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                                  Edit : and where are the logs ??

                                  S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • S
                                    SteveITS Galactic Empire @Gertjan
                                    last edited by

                                    @Gertjan said in pfsense openvpn won't connect from certain cable providers ?:

                                    can't visit that link

                                    It says, "...blocks certain ports. Ports 25, 67, 135-142, 161-162, 445, and 520 are blocked. Blocking these ports reduces network congestion and protects customers .... Email hosting is limited to commercial customers subscribing to Zoom Professional or above upon request."

                                    FWIW we have seen Comcast's built-in but hidden router security do weird things like block specific inbound ports from specific IPs (fixed by restarting, and once powering off the Comcast router).

                                    Pre-2.7.2/23.09: Only install packages for your version, or risk breaking it. Select your branch in System/Update/Update Settings.
                                    When upgrading, allow 10-15 minutes to restart, or more depending on packages and device speed.
                                    Upvote 👍 helpful posts!

                                    johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • johnpozJ
                                      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @SteveITS
                                      last edited by

                                      @SteveITS yeah those seem to be pretty common sense blocks that most ISPs would do.. Since really none of those are things you should be doing to the internet anyway - especially on a residential sort of connection.

                                      520 - why would a home user being running rip to the internet? So yeah block it.

                                      But why they don't list 1194 udp would be the question, if they are in fact blocking it. Seems since you say blocked at one location and not another location for this isp. They might have disjointed rules setup for different netblocks or regions or specific networks of theirs. This is always going to lead to confusion.. You call and one guy says no we don't block anything, call and get another guy and he says oh yeah we block these specific, your port is not on there. Then you call and get another guy and he says - oh your on xyz IP range, or oh your in this location - then yeah web block that..

                                      This is not unexpected - most isp especially level 1 or 2 guys there is normally a huge turnover rate. They most likely do horrible training - here just walk through this script when a user calls with a problem. Their documentation is most likely outdated or just horrible to begin with, etc. And its quite possible as an isp grows and they buy isp X to join with them - their settings and configurations are not always the same.. And they miss something when merging the networks..

                                      This is why you need to have details... Hey here is a sniff where I put it on the wire, here is a sniff at the other end and it never got here.. And let me talk to a level 3 engineer please...

                                      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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                                      • chpalmerC
                                        chpalmer
                                        last edited by

                                        Keep in mind that the Arris CM3200A is a Puma 6 equipped modem. http://www.dslreports.com/hardware/ARRIS-CM3200-h4557

                                        https://approvedmodemlist.com/intel-puma-6-modem-list-chipset-defects/

                                        Depending on the firmware running on the modem UDP can be severely limited causing issues. Try setting your OpenVPN instances to TCP and see if it works..

                                        First thing I would do though is replace that modem.

                                        Triggering snowflakes one by one..
                                        Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz on an M400 WG box.

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                                        • P
                                          pfchangs77
                                          last edited by

                                          Thank you on the extra info. ha oh with armstrong I must have gotten 4-5 TOP supervisors/managers that said they don't block anything. However all of them sounded super young.

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                                          • johnpozJ
                                            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @pfchangs77
                                            last edited by

                                            @pfchangs77 said in pfsense openvpn won't connect from certain cable providers ?:

                                            supervisors/managers

                                            Yeah they not going to know squat, you need to talk to one of their upper level tech/engineers ;)

                                            An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                            If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                            Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                            SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

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