ADSL not authenticating

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › ADSL not authenticating

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#220274 3-Aug-2017 09:22

Customer got a new naked VDSL connection provisioned last Friday. It synched up but would not authenticate.

The Draytek modem reported "no response from server" and Xtra confirmed from the RADIUS logs that "an invalid character was received"

After much nashing of teeth during long phone calls to Manilla?, customer chose to downgrade to ADSL which was promised to be possible within a few hours and without any change at the Exchange .. is this possible by the way?

Ok now it is a day later and we have ADSL signal synching up but still no authentication .. and I am trying to find out what the RADIUS logs are saying this time ..

The VDSL synch rate was 24M/1.5M and the ADSL rate is 15M/1M .. there is no splitter installed which is another interesting issue, I thought that for VDSL-installs a splitter was mandatory and part of the Chorus provisioning?

Can anyone help here to get this sorted? I am assuming that this is a jumpering issue at the Exchange?

cheers mark

DarkShadow

1647 posts

Uber Geek

#1836288 3-Aug-2017 09:54

It's not possible to change from VDSL to ADSL without changes at the exchange/cabinet. That's where your DSL signals are generated from afterall, of course it needs to be changed. Good thing is that this change can be done remotely via computers and no tech needs to go on site, it certainly can be done in a few hours but usually take a day or so.

A master filter is no longer mandatory for naked VDSL connections.

Since your line did drop to ADSL sync when it's supposed to, I don't think the jumpering is incorrect. Two possibilities: wrong modem configuration, or no PPP fault. The first one is up to you to fix, the other one you'll have to check with your ISP.

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#1836302 3-Aug-2017 10:01

DarkShadow:

It's not possible to change from VDSL to ADSL without changes at the exchange/cabinet. That's where your DSL signals are generated from afterall, of course it needs to be changed. Good thing is that this change can be done remotely via computers and no tech needs to go on site, it certainly can be done in a few hours but usually take a day or so.

A master filter is no longer mandatory for naked VDSL connections.

Since your line did drop to ADSL sync when it's supposed to, I don't think the jumpering is incorrect. Two possibilities: wrong modem configuration, or no PPP fault. The first one is up to you to fix, the other one you'll have to check with your ISP.

Thanks .. but I thought that ADSL and VDSL on the Spark network both authenticate by port, not login credentials (which ARE set correctly in the router). Doesn't that therefore mean it must be a port problem?

DarkShadow

1647 posts

Uber Geek

#1836310 3-Aug-2017 10:08

Foiler:

DarkShadow:

It's not possible to change from VDSL to ADSL without changes at the exchange/cabinet. That's where your DSL signals are generated from afterall, of course it needs to be changed. Good thing is that this change can be done remotely via computers and no tech needs to go on site, it certainly can be done in a few hours but usually take a day or so.

A master filter is no longer mandatory for naked VDSL connections.

Since your line did drop to ADSL sync when it's supposed to, I don't think the jumpering is incorrect. Two possibilities: wrong modem configuration, or no PPP fault. The first one is up to you to fix, the other one you'll have to check with your ISP.

Thanks .. but I thought that ADSL and VDSL on the Spark network both authenticate by port, not login credentials (which ARE set correctly in the router). Doesn't that therefore mean it must be a port problem?

There's more to the modem settings than just the username and password (which you're correct can be anything you like). If you have confirmed the settings, ask them to log a no PPP fault.

cbrpilot

955 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Spark NZ

#1836504 3-Aug-2017 12:39

If the helpdesk are reporting invalid characters in our RADIUS logs it will be your username in your modem that is the problem.

The username must be alphanumeric (with an optional @ and of course full stops).

No funky commas, brackets, colons etc.

Fix that and your connection will come up.

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

cbrpilot

955 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Spark NZ

#1836509 3-Aug-2017 12:47

Examples of bad usernames that we see:

USERNAME="‎user@spark.co.nz"

USERNAME="(null)"

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

hio77

12999 posts

Uber Geek

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Lizard Networks

#1836514 3-Aug-2017 12:52

cbrpilot:

If the helpdesk are reporting invalid characters in our RADIUS logs it will be your username in your modem that is the problem.

The username must be alphanumeric (with an optional @ and of course full stops).

No funky commas, brackets, colons etc.

Fix that and your connection will come up.

per above, this would be first step..

Alternatively, sounds like you have already been through the struggles of trying to log a job.

If we are getting hits on the radius this will not be a missjumper, but i can work with you to confirm that - Flick me some details if you would like me to skim over things.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

cbrpilot

955 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Spark NZ

#1836539 3-Aug-2017 13:24

cbrpilot:

Examples of bad usernames that we see:

USERNAME="‎user@spark.co.nz"

USERNAME="(null)"

Just looking at the top one there - the characters in front of the user@spark.co.nz are possibly not visible to the user - they are special HTML codes which are likely not a printable character. Not sure if that is the original poster in this thread, but here is a description of that code. In all cases whether he can see anything funky in the username field, I'd recommend deleting all characters from it and writing in a new username.

Unicode Decimal Code ‎

‎

Symbol Name:

Left-To-Right Mark

Html Entity:

&lrm;

Hex Code:

‎

Decimal Code:

‎

Unicode Group:

General Punctuation

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

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hio77

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Lizard Networks

#1836593 3-Aug-2017 14:29

Just spoke directly with @foiler

in this case, i can confirm the VDSL Authentication issues are relating to invisible chars- was the username copy and pasted from a webpage?

Currently the line has been downgraded to ADSL, There is currently someone on site switching between two modems...

Looks like Draytek is still configured to VDSL (Expecting Vlan 10 PPPoE) thus no authentication - This theory is also supported by chorus who were seeing one way traffic originating from the modem.

As explained on the phone, Looks like service has been restored with the new modem and the issue with the draytek may need looking at - Atleast you have a hg630b there to push vdsl over again though :)

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#1836599 3-Aug-2017 14:36

hio77:

Just spoke directly with @foiler

in this case, i can confirm the VDSL Authentication issues are relating to invisible chars- was the username copy and pasted from a webpage?

Currently the line has been downgraded to ADSL, There is currently someone on site switching between two modems...

Looks like Draytek is still configured to VDSL (Expecting Vlan 10 PPPoE) thus no authentication - This theory is also supported by chorus who were seeing one way traffic originating from the modem.

As explained on the phone, Looks like service has been restored with the new modem and the issue with the draytek may need looking at - Atleast you have a hg630b there to push vdsl over again though :)

Thanks for that .. yes I did initially copy and paste the username and password from this page,

https://www.spark.co.nz/help/internet-data/getstarted/broadband-settings-for-third-party-modems/

but then I also manually typed in user@xtra.co.nz abc123 and user@xtrabb.co.nz abc123 and neither of those worked

Is there any other reason why the Draytek could be sending some extra characters? ie a config error in the DSL side of things?

hio77

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Lizard Networks

#1836601 3-Aug-2017 14:42

Foiler:

Thanks for that .. yes I did initially copy and paste the username and password from this page,

https://www.spark.co.nz/help/internet-data/getstarted/broadband-settings-for-third-party-modems/

but then I also manually typed in user@xtra.co.nz abc123 and user@xtrabb.co.nz abc123 and neither of those worked

Is there any other reason why the Draytek could be sending some extra characters? ie a config error in the DSL side of things?

i'd highly suspect firmware fault, check you have the latest firmware

http://www.draytek.com.au/support/downloads/vigor130/

Past that, this is the first time i have seen the issue happen with drayteks.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

pillmonsta

73 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#1836637 3-Aug-2017 15:26

Foiler:

Customer got a new naked VDSL connection provisioned last Friday. It synched up but would not authenticate.

The Draytek modem reported "no response from server" and Xtra confirmed from the RADIUS logs that "an invalid character was received"

After much nashing of teeth during long phone calls to Manilla?, customer chose to downgrade to ADSL which was promised to be possible within a few hours and without any change at the Exchange .. is this possible by the way?

The other day a client who is also with Spark asked me about Xtra-mail alternatives, after having receiving a storage limit warning along with suggestion to upgrade she wasn't happy.

Since her inbox holds 50 messages tops I decided to take a closer look at the email in question....

Now, if it were any other day, a Spark email originating in Croatia with an "upgrade your acount" hyperlink to a recently blacklisted website hosted in Europe would make me suspicious, if it were any other day.

However because the unclickable Spark.jpg hyperlink logo stuck to the header was only slightly crooked, I decided to give this one the benefit of the doubt. :P Just this once.

(I didn't even know Spark had branches in Croatia). I'm kidding ofc.

Seriously tho, the kicker is this: when my client called Spark Residential to report a Spark phishing scam, the rep on the other end replied it was a legitimate email which SPARK HAD SENT HER.

That's outsourcing for you. :P

Ok now it is a day later and we have ADSL signal synching up but still no authentication .. and I am trying to find out what the RADIUS logs are saying this time ..

The VDSL synch rate was 24M/1.5M and the ADSL rate is 15M/1M .. there is no splitter installed which is another interesting issue, I thought that for VDSL-installs a splitter was mandatory and part of the Chorus provisioning?

Can anyone help here to get this sorted? I am assuming that this is a jumpering issue at the Exchange?

cheers mark

A splitter is not at all mandatory, or even necessary in many cases. Particularly with naked broadband.

It totally depends on the line quality, other devices and your individual requirements.

Chorus wanted to put a $200 master splitter in my parents house which I declined. They get 14mbs ADSL2

Personally I have never used a splitter in my life. We get 18mbs on ADSL2 where I live.

hio77

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Lizard Networks

#1836640 3-Aug-2017 15:29

pillmonsta:

The kicker though, is this: when my client called Spark to report a Spark phishing scam, the rep on the other end replied it was a legitimate email which SPARK HAD SENT HER.

That's outsourcing for you. :P

Please DM me further details on this so we can investigate.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

pillmonsta

73 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#1836669 3-Aug-2017 15:41

hio77:

pillmonsta:

The kicker though, is this: when my client called Spark to report a Spark phishing scam, the rep on the other end replied it was a legitimate email which SPARK HAD SENT HER.

That's outsourcing for you. :P

Please DM me further details on this so we can investigate.

PM sent. Cheers. :)

Foiler

220 posts

Master Geek

#1839823 6-Aug-2017 12:46

hio77:

in this case, i can confirm the VDSL Authentication issues are relating to invisible chars- was the username copy and pasted from a webpage?

Currently the line has been downgraded to ADSL, There is currently someone on site switching between two modems...

Looks like Draytek is still configured to VDSL (Expecting Vlan 10 PPPoE) thus no authentication - This theory is also supported by chorus who were seeing one way traffic originating from the modem.

Thanks for all this, all going fine now .. just to recap, the Draytek was configured with PPPoA but NOT authenticating, and according to RADIUS logs there were no logs, not even with invisible/invalid characters. However, after manually typing in the username the ADSL came up immediately.

I think Draytek could do well with a future firmware to prevent html code being pasted invisibly into the username field !!!

hio77

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Lizard Networks

#1839825 6-Aug-2017 12:48

Absolutely agree, the field should be a non rich text.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.