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[chrisgixer]

Some here know our BB phone line is shite. She works via a vpn, which relies on upload speed at a percentage of 4.5meg. So its always going to be hard work. Slow, loads of errors, and lots of hanging.

Sky bb refuses to allow access to her work VPN.
We don't know why this is, so can't really tell if the new provider will have VPN issues as well. So...


Virgin will obviously mean dumping the phone line altogether, which is good for her. But will Virgin allow VPN access? Anyone with experience of this on virgin? (Jimbob?)

What governs VPN access over broadband service? Or is this just an oddity with sky?

[chrisgixer]

Ps, yes I know this is dragging on, but you know what she's like.

Her boss isn't exactly helping.

Bt fibre means we could get bt sport for nout if work pay for the bb. But that means a phone line based service. Better that the bb is fit for purpose, so no bt sport for me.

[chrisgixer]

The it guy keeps banging on about spitfire, as that's what he has

But that's no good for us, as its phone line based via bt, ( and wouldn't help with bt sport either )

[Kevin Wood]

Most non-toy internet connections shouldn't block a VPN connection, although there are a few different types of VPN. Don't have any experience of Sky though.

Problem is, if that line's a bit cr@p, it will be the same with any provider, so in that case, virgin / fibre might make sense. Need to look at the stats from the router to see if the line is slow, or the ISP.

If it's the provider, then go with someone decent like Zen, not the cheapest but get Mrs. Gixer to expense it. I've never caught them blocking any traffic.

[aaronjb]

What VPN is it? I'd ask "SSL/L2TP/PPTP" but the name of the client will do

I can't see why Sky would block VPNs but it's plausible - a more likely cause is their router (which was woeful last I saw, but that could have improved now).. Certain kinds of VPN (L2TP, especially - IP/Sec stuff) doesn't traverse NAT very well, which your router will be doing. SSL VPNs look like HTTPS traffic so they go over anything..

Anyway, I can tell you for sure that Virgin doesn't block SSL, L2TP or PPTP VPNs - I've used them all (outbound and inbound) here 


I'll second the recommendation for Zen if you go ADSL - I never had any complaints with them and their tech support was refreshingly technical the one time I had reason to speak to them

[Jimbob]

VPN's and home working have always been against sky's  T's & C's as far as I remember..

Know I wasnt allowed to use them when I did so regularly.  (Not that I ever wanted sky broadband, was just a useful get out when the sales people asked

[Jimbob]

Casting my mind back several years here....But memory tells me an old White sky router used to work, where as a black one didnt.  Could easily be the other way around though.

The other issue with sky was using your own router was also against the ts & c's 

They really didnt want you getting around it!

[pscocoa]

I used Sky BBsome years ago and recall some issues which were resolved via the Sky Users Forum which entailed registering with the forum and being allocated an smtp friendly address for example which overcame outgoing email problems. I used VPN on Sky at the time.

Suggest you put your issue to that forum which was very helpful.

[Gaffers]

The lack of support for VPN and the fact that the outer that I have to use as part of their Ts and Cs is the main reason I will be going with someone else when I move.

These issues were an nuisance before, but now with the new job they are a severe hindrance.

[TheBoy]

I lot of mickey mouse ISPs block VPNs, as they can be heavy on data transfer.  For example, my works lappy has been on VPN all day, and done 9Gb down and 12Gb up.

Some others, don't directly block them, but add them to the traffic shapers, which is guaranteed to cause disconnections.

[chrisgixer]

Its a pptp VPN. If that means anything to anyone... ?

[chrisgixer]

Its a pptp VPN. If that means anything to anyone... ?

An yes, I see that's on Aaron's list.

Means nout to me, obviously.

[TheBoy]

Its a pptp VPN. If that means anything to anyone... ?

Hmmm, not sure I would have set it up like that, due to that GRE protocol required, makes firewalling a bit of a pain. But it is probably the easiest to set up.


That aside, it is one of the standard, albeit dated, VPNs, so likely to be blocked by the mickey mouse ISPs I'm afraid.

[aaronjb]

Its a pptp VPN. If that means anything to anyone... ?

Hmmm, not sure I would have set it up like that, due to that GRE protocol required, makes firewalling a bit of a pain. But it is probably the easiest to set up.


That aside, it is one of the standard, albeit dated, VPNs, so likely to be blocked by the mickey mouse ISPs I'm afraid.

But not all of them .. because Virgin don't

[SandBoy]

I think  it's the router that Sky provides not the ISP that blocks VPN.
There is a fix with Sky routers,you have to reconfigure them,or leave them plugged in and buy another VPN enabled router and bridge/link them.
That way Sky T&C is not breached.