Xtra complex technical support helpdesk

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sampler

319 posts

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#54014 15-Dec-2009 10:45

Hi Everyone,

Well after 40+ mins on the phone on behalf of a customer I have found that the "complex technical support" rep I was dealing with has no understanding of what SSH is.

Is anyone aware of a different number which can help get past the "lower" levels of customer support to a team that understands a little more ?

All we would like todo on behalf of the customer is allow SSH traffic through to their server. Three routers later, I am sure its something todo with the account or filters outside of the site.

The person I spoke with last didnt even know it was possible to allow port 25 traffic (with an additional charge).

Do telecom supply stress balls of any kind while on hold ?

Cheers

Lee

codyc1515

1598 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#282592 15-Dec-2009 10:55

Simply ring 0800-TELECOM, and press 0, five times after the voice starts talking, then press 2 when it asks about taking a survey, has always worked for me :)

(PS: I don't think they supply stress balls, probably too expensive or from some foreign company if its coming from Telecom :)

cr250bromo

222 posts

Master Geek

#282595 15-Dec-2009 10:59

have you tried running SSH on a different port? I tend to avoid 22 as your server will get hammered with random people looking for SSH servers. I use port 22222 and this has worked fine on xtra in the past.

sampler

319 posts

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#282603 15-Dec-2009 11:13

There are a few ports that need to be allowed, most way out of band above 10000.

I was using SSH as an example with the rep I was dealing with, but I kinda lost faith when he asked was SSH was used for as he had never heard of it.

Interesting enough, they did suggest I review content on both portforward.com and geekzone.co.nz for the correct proceedure.

The first of the DSL routers we tried today (xtra's thomson 585) has now been proven operational on another ISP's DSL connection and proven to work as expected.

The customer does not need a static ip etc, but I am interested to know if there is something in the profile for the default user@xtrabb.co.nz account that would stop this working ?

Next step would be to confirm their particular login details I guess.

Any suggestions very welcome

Cheers

Lee

Lurch

1054 posts

Uber Geek

#282629 15-Dec-2009 11:50

Not sure what you are trying to do but have had no problems opening any ports on my linux box. The only port that Telecom blocked was port 25 which you can opt out of (except for the Big Time plan from what I understand).

I did have an issue with getting port 25 open through the opt out page but that was because I was logging in with the wrong password on the router.

XXXXXX.xadsl@xtra.co.nz.

But thanks to another geekzone member I managed to get my password reset and then the router could login correctly and it picked up I had opted out of the port 25 restriction and email started flowing again :-)

Lurch

1054 posts

Uber Geek

#282631 15-Dec-2009 11:53

Laughed a bit that the guy didnt know about SSH very surprised especially the role he is doing, almost applied for the CTS role... (currently redundant/bum) wonder if the role is still available. :-)

Lurch

1054 posts

Uber Geek

#282633 15-Dec-2009 11:59

From my other forum post.

Advice I received from Nitrotech.

So in the router should be USERNAME.xadsl@xtra.co.nz and your password.

If it's still not working then try changing the password

http://selfservice.xtra.co.nz/live/selfservice/ChgPwd/

So I'm guessing this would be the same situation you are currently in.

exportgoldman

1200 posts

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#282651 15-Dec-2009 12:45

Lurch: Laughed a bit that the guy didnt know about SSH very surprised especially the role he is doing, almost applied for the CTS role... (currently redundant/bum) wonder if the role is still available. :-)

To be fair SSH is only really used on Linux which has a tiny market share, so to expect a tech to know every protocol used on every OS is a bit harsh. It sounds like Xtra are sending you to the right places to check for problems.

I would first setup SSH on a different port (say 222) on the inside network and test it, then pinhole it and test it to confirm your SSH server is allowing traffic from non-local then once you have it working on a different port then move it to port 22 and see if it then breaks.

I don't think Telecom are blocking SSH, I suspect it's something in your setup...

Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.

Lurch

1054 posts

Uber Geek

#283095 16-Dec-2009 13:25

exportgoldman:

To be fair SSH is only really used on Linux which has a tiny market share, so to expect a tech to know every protocol used on every OS is a bit harsh. It sounds like Xtra are sending you to the right places to check for problems.

I'd have to disagree with the above statement, SSH is very commonly known and for a role that has the word complex in it, it should be common knowledge.

I'd agree if it was some first level role but 2nd level or higher any decent tech would know. SSH is also available on Windows but this is taking the message thread of topic.

Hopefully the OP has managed to access SSH.

rphenix

897 posts

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#283100 16-Dec-2009 13:52

exportgoldman:
To be fair SSH is only really used on Linux which has a tiny market share, so to expect a tech to know every protocol used on every OS is a bit harsh. It sounds like Xtra are sending you to the right places to check for problems.

Sorry I disagree. When a remote windows server is down one of the first things I do is ssh tunnel into a remote access card so i can access the bios see whats stopping the boot process. I would expect any competent Windows support person to at least have heard of SSH.

redmouse

69 posts

Master Geek

Subscriber

#283230 16-Dec-2009 21:09

I've just reconfigured the port forwarding on my router to allow SSH on port 22 and it works just fine, I'm on the Telecom Pro plan.