Whats going on with three/smarty

Having a lot of issues with work VPN. Grabbed a copy of LTE-H monitor to find my IP is changing way too often. Anyone else seeing this ?

07/11/2020 11:30:41 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.9 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:31:12 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.12 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:31:42 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.15 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:32:41 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.24 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:33:11 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.21 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:33:41 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.12 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:34:11 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.1 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:36:11 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.4 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:36:41 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.1 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:38:41 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.12 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:39:11 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.1 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:40:11 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.4 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:40:41 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.1 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:41:41 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.4 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:42:11 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.12 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:43:11 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.1 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:44:12 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.4 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:44:45 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.9 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:45:18 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.1 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:46:53 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.4 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:47:22 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.1 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:50:22 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.4 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:51:22 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.1 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:51:23 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.4 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:51:52 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.9 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:51:53 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.12 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:52:59 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.1 VPN-Down
07/11/2020 11:54:37 PublicIP 0 New public IP address : 92.40.182.4 VPN-Down

I was seeing this for a day or two last week, but not for a while. Are you using the 3internet APN, or three.co.uk?

edit: If you're using Smarty, the APN is ignored. If you want a "real" IP address, without CGNAT, you need to buy a service branded Three.

Edited by richi (Sat 07-Nov-20 16:10:03)

I’m
Using the smarty one mob.asm.net
I have tried the three ones and get similar issues

In reply to a post by alunj:

I have tried the three ones and get similar issues

If your SIM is from Smarty then the APN you set is ignored. You would need to buy from Three to have control. (and a better experience). Smarty is bargain basement, not really intended for home working.

Thanks for that info
Why do they ask you to change the apn ?
Just asking . I’m getting completely teed off with issues at the mo . We have a three mobile bb som in a router in a remote spot. Thee are now blocking the vpn completely

If anyone has a good recommendation for a mobile broadband sim only deal I’m
All ears as my smarty will renew shortly

In reply to a post by alunj:

Why do they ask you to change the apn ?

On the actual Three network (with a Three SIM) you have two different APNs, one which gives you a normal internet address as on fixed line broadband, so you can set up port forwarding if needed. The other APN is the same as the other mobile networks, which use Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT). You can think of this as if your connection is behind a router that the ISP runs, where you cannot change any settings or do port forward.

OpenVPN, Cisco AnyConnect and others all work over EE, Vodafone, and Three mobile. Not sure what your VPN is and why it is having problems, but it may be it is a problem VPN?

I understand the CGNAT stuff but still not sure why smarty (which is really three) ask you to set the apn to mob.asm.net . Are you saying it completely ignores that becuase I see completly different egress IPs on it compared to the other APN

The other VPN is PPTP on a 3 mobile BB package in a draytek.

My work VPN on smarty is Junos Pulse (SSL) I don't think it likes the rapid changes of IP

In reply to a post by alunj:

I understand the CGNAT stuff but still not sure why smarty (which is really three) ask you to set the apn to mob.asm.net . Are you saying it completely ignores that becuase I see completly different egress IPs on it compared to the other APN

The other VPN is PPTP on a 3 mobile BB package in a draytek.

My work VPN on smarty is Junos Pulse (SSL) I don't think it likes the rapid changes of IP

Yes, smarty ignore the APN. You could put “three stink” and it’ll still work.

In reply to a post by alunj:

not sure why smarty (which is really three) ask you to set the apn to mob.asm.net .

They ask you to set it, but whatever you set they force all traffic to use it.

Smarty is a "virtual operator" on the Three physical network. This means they get to use the mobile signal, but once your data is over the air, it is routed differently to Three traffic. It

Are you saying it completely ignores that becuase I see completly different egress IPs on it compared to the other APN

Difficult to tell as quite possible Smarty have a lot of IP addresses that jump around. They may even share egress IP's with Three, however have very different traffic management between UE and internet. Given the price, I think Smarty are using HTTPS proxying, which Three do not.

The other VPN is PPTP on a 3 mobile BB package in a draytek.

Uhh, PPTP isn't great. Not really encrypted.

My work VPN on smarty is Junos Pulse (SSL) I don't think it likes the rapid changes of IP

Could also be the transparent HTTPS proxy.

So Replying to myself, I splashed out on the licence for LTE-H monitor
And here is the odd thing , when it moved to another mast its stops.
Only on my local mast does this happen, moving the CPE Pro so it attaches to a different mast seems to have stopped the issue.
I'm back to 60 m down low latency and long leases .
Very odd ; I didn't think it could be a mast thing but who knows how the backhaul works !

I'm still keen for recommendations for "proper" mobile BB so I can run some webcams etc and Ideally loose the CGNAT.

EE/BT looks good but the cost is mad . I burn 60-100 G a month