Three Home Broadband blocks incoming connections

[Ihuss]

Does anyone know why Three blocks incoming connections on their 5G Home Broadband network and how I can circumvent this?

I need to be able to remotely access devices such as NAS, Media server, DVR/NVR, VPN, etc hosted on my home network which was I was able to easily do before with previous ISPs (like Virgin Media, Sky, BT). I have the 5G Outdoor Hub set as IP Passthrough/Modem mode but the traffic is not even reaching my internal firewall router and Three Technical Support said they can't help as it's not supported to port forward and I can cancel my contract within the 30 day cooling off period. 

[MymsMan]

I have managed to get access to my NAS, Humax PVR and local webservers by installing a VPN connection to one of my local computers.  

This avoids the need for opening ports or needing to use my wan address which appears to change frequently. A static IP address appears to only be an option on some business plans.

I am using NordVPN's meshnet because i already had a (cheap) Nord subscription but it should be possible with other VPN providers.   While I have some issues which I am exploring with Nord support it was quite easy to set up.

[Barnbow_Tech]

Just to update. Got the replacement hub today and have it a test run. Same issue with port forwarding in IP Passthrough mode - it doesn't work! Hub arrived with the same firmware as the last one installed and no sign of an option to update (which says to me that I didn't update the last one!). 

Sorry to report no fix for this one. I'm going to contact the sales guy who set me up and say I am cancelling, but will see if they can register my issue as a bug that can hopefully be fixed in future. 

PS. I did test NAT via router mode and it works, and also works as double NAT, but I don't want double NAT and am not willing to wait for a fix.

[edmond]

Thanks for the information. Although I would argue given all the iptable and dhcp log we found, double NAT is unavoidable no matter how you setup the hub. The “real IP” you get in ip pass through mode is just the same ip as your public ip given from the hub’s dhcp. So I would say this is stone dead until the actual manufacturer greenpacket do something on it.

the easiest would be DMZ the WAN IP. But still double NATing. Luckily, three isn’t that fast to max out the hardware. LOL

[Ihuss]

That's a shame...thanks for trying.

Unfortunately you probably won't get anywhere with their sales or tech team.

[Barnbow_Tech]

You are probably right unfortunately 😞. If I do hear anything then I'll post back here.

In the meantime I will have to go back to researching my own 5G router purchase!!

[WM1990]

I would be interested to hear what 5G routers could replace the Three outdoor hub, something you could just put the SIM card in but not brick it by changing settings

[Barnbow_Tech]

Oh there are lots of alternatives. Been doing my research for a while but opted for Three directly in the end as I wasn't 100% sure of compatibility. 

Most support the bands Three use though so should be ok. Feel free to look in to it. List below. My current fave is the TP-Link NE210 as it's not that expensive and is in Passthrough mode by default. As to whether it allows port forwarding to work direct to internal router though I am not yet sure....

 • ZTE MC7010 5G Modem Outdoor

 • ZTE MC889 Outdoor

  • ZTE G5F

 • Magenta AT 5G Outdoor Box (http://magenta.at)

 • TP Link Aginet NE210 outdoor ( https://www.tp-link.com/uk/service-provider/lte-router/ne210-outdoor/#specifications)

 • TP-Link Aginet NE211 outdoor

 https://service-provider.tp-link.com/lte-router/ne211-outdoor/#specifications

 • FNB600 Outdoor 5G

 https://www.3grouterstore.co.uk/product/four-faith-fnb600-outdoor-5g-router/

 • Other at Outdoorrouter.com

https://www.outdoorrouter.com/product-category/outdoor-cpe-router/outdoor-5g-nr-router/

[WM1990]

Thanks, I'll have a look at these options

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to chime in here to say I'm having the same issue. I've googled this and found similar posts from Three customers so I've tried various suggestions and nothing so far works.

Hub APN is set to 3Internet. I was being given a public IP so not behind CGNAT. Even set the hub network settings to IP only rather than IP and IPv6 as it is by default.

Port is forwarded correctly in router and I also use DDNS. I know this setup works fine and has no issues because I used it previously with my last ISP and their router (Sky). The only difference now is I'm with Three and use their equipment and it no longer works. So whatever the problem is my conclusion is it's either the hub (which seems unlikely as it's set by default to IP Passthru mode so shouldn't be blocking anything and just passing it to the router) or Three are in fact doing something on there end - even if they're not actively blocking ports they're doing something that has that effect.

Only thing I have seen suggested that I haven't tried is to contact customer support and ask them to set the account to an IPv4 profile (or something to that effect).