Spotify Login blocked by router

[Raptoreverdark]

Hi,

I'm on Three mobile broadband using the Huawei 4G B535-232 router. Recently, I've noticed that I can't log in to Spotify on the mobile app. I know it's a router issue as the issue is not present if I use a different WiFi network. I read that the router could be blocking the ports to Spotify's severs, however, the router settings are not available (On my router, I see the message, "Some features are unavailable in CLAT mode". I think this must be due to a firmware update from Three, as previously I used to be able to open ports on the router.) Just wondered if anyone else is seeing this issue and if there is a workaround? Thank you.

[Raptoreverdark · Accepted solution]

Think the Spotify issue might have been a temporary glitch, but still no longer possible to change port forwarding on this router?

[JonathanB]

Hey @Raptoreverdark,

Sorry this issue seems to be a new one, but off hand  I have a couple of ideas.

Check in your router settings to make sure the APN shows as 3internet as it may have switched over to three.co.uk which is for phone SIMs, this may be stopping port forwarding from working.

I'd also check if there's options for IPv4 and IPv6 and test this on IPv4 only.

Let me know if this seems to help.

Jonathan

[Raptoreverdark]

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the reply. I already checked the APN settings on my router and it's set to 3internet. I cannot find any setting relating to IPv4 or IPv6 as I think this has been disabled due to CLAT mode. Plus I'm not even able to change the DNS settings on the router, so I have downloaded 1.1.1.1 (a free DNS resolver from CloudFlare) from the Google Play store and this fixed the "no internet" issue with Spotify.

[JonathanB]

Hey @Raptoreverdark,

Thanks for getting back to me. It definitely seems to be a new issue, but I'll see what I can find out. There's no options for CLAT mode on/off in the actual router console? Just references to this disallowing changing other settings?

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Raptoreverdark]

Yes, no option anywhere too disable CLAT mode. This is strange as this is only a fairly recent change as I've previously used things like DDNS and VPN. Must have been done via a software update.

[digitaltoast]

I'm having similar problems - since whatever update introduced this wretched "CLAT" mode, I've had problems with various services, so I now run VPNs full-time on phone and PC which solved problems there, but because I can't run them on my FireTV I still get major problems playing video. By which I mean, it does eventually start playing, and once going it's fine, but it can take up to a minute to start playing a Prime Video, but on the PC with WARP running (VPN but same 3BB connection), it's near instant.

I've got a ZTE MF289D which I've been keeping spare and not even opened, but I've not read such good things and in other respects my B535 is fine and works well with my external ant.

And also, if swapping routers DOES fix things, then I've got the rigmarole of changing all my smart plugs, lights, sockets etc, because the "keep the old router name" trick doesn't seem to work for some of them (I guess they're tied to the MAC or something - I must google that a bit more!).

Would prefer to have the previous unproblematic firmware back on the B535...

Current:
B535-232
Current version: 11.0.1.2(H200SP8C21)
APN: 3internet

[Raptoreverdark]

Hi @digitaltoast and thanks for the reply.

.Yes, it does, indeed, seem as if we are experiencing the same issue. I raised a complaint with Three and I received a call from their tech support team yesterday to try to resolve this. To be honest, they were fairly clueless to the issue, blaming Spotify and telling me to contact the app provider (my issues, like yourself, are not just with Spotify). When I explained that I am not seeing the issues with a different ISP, they back-pedalled a bit and offered to send me a new SIM card. I know for a fact that it is not the Three SIM card that is at fault, because I have tried this in my Pixel 4a 5G and Spotify works fine. The issue is definitely with the blasted Huawei 4G B535-232. You have jogged my memory in that I have a mobile 4G router in a drawer at work so I am going to try that when I get home later. My ideal fix would be that Three send me new router, but I can't see this happening. I will see if the new SIM card makes any difference, but I doubt it will. I mentioned that the issue goes away if I use a VPN but tech support seemed quite dismissive of the solution and insisted that that they aren't blocking anything (which I believe they aren't) but the router is! Probably time to look for a new ISP…

[digitaltoast]

Yes, the technical part of 3 is a bit of a concern, which is why I really don't want to go down the route of new sims for this problem, or the other one I'm having which is that some calls seem to build up a delay of up to 5 seconds after a while.

And of course, the fact that I keep having to look in "spam" for notifications because 3 are literally the only company that doesn't sign their messages (like everyone else has been for years).
"The sender hasn't authenticated this message, so Gmail can't verify that it actually came from them". Nice!
If I had the time or inclination, I'd dig deep into it and see if there was some kind of NAT or protocol blocking going on.
My very very wild guess without any evidence is that in the switch to IPV6 (which is about time and a good thing), they've blocked some ports or protocols and services are having to "fall back" to other protocols, for example, UDP to http etc. Which might explain why some video streaming services take ages to get going, but work fine when they do, but then start instantly when I put a VPN on.

At least CS aren't saying what they used to say to almost every problem, which is to wipe the contacts of the SIM with a soft cloth (!!!).

[JonathanB]

Thanks @Raptoreverdark @digitaltoast for all the info around this one, I'm making some enquiries off the back of this, and will let you know if I can share any advice or updates.

JonathanB