Unrestricted APN

Do you want/need an APN that allows connections initiated from outside the APN?

  • No thanks, no idea what this means - don't think it applies to me

    Votes: 17 8.5%

  • No thanks, I know what it means and I will never need it

    Votes: 15 7.5%

  • Yes please, for [desktop or other] remote support

    Votes: 110 55.3%

  • Yes please, for hosting

    Votes: 61 30.7%

  • Yes please, for some other reason explained in my post in the thread

    Votes: 27 13.6%

  • I clicked a 'Yes' option above, and am prepared to accept the risk of being hacked

    Votes: 93 46.7%

  • I clicked a 'Yes' option above, and am NOT prepared to accept the risk of being hacked

    Votes: 6 3.0%
  • Total voters
    199
anyone got a server on the internet that allows ssh - Could a SSH tunnel from a remote host back to the 3g connected host allow that machine to be reached from the outside world

eg http://hosted.server:12345 goes to 3gHost:80 -- now you surfing?

obviously having a Web host on the internet obviates the need to serve up port 80 but for remote support via msRDP etc, you install openssh and mail your users a shell script that creates the tunnel?
 
just as I thought that the service from Vodacom is OK, we start to see as soon as it looks to go somewhere, nothing happens.
A lot of people have asked for this service, but it looks like the customer is not the priority here. We all pay for our service, but can't use it as we wish.

Is Vodacom doing us a favour by looking at the hosting APN? It will most definitely not be free and if they decide to make it free, the traffic is going to be higher and that we will pay for.
 
I am also needing this service asap.( I did not need it initialy)
My original 1gig 24 month contract is looking mighty expensive and feature-"less" than most offerings on the market today.
Vodacom3g - we as well (read: OVER? ) paying customers cetainly deserve this feature ? How are those plans going ? ( nude nudge )
 
My requests for an update seems to disappear into a black hole. Will chase up again.

It is a niche product with a fraction of a percentage (about 0.01%) of the user base needing it. However, for that fraction, it's a very important service, so I'll keep on pushing the deployment. It's already approved.
 
ic said:
v3g, how's that event horizon looking? :)
Click to expand...

Much better. Just as Hawkings recently proved that black holes actually emit matter; the same happened here, things are coming out of the black hole.

It's in testing and will be announced in due course.
 
Yes it can - but the 3ghost has to make and setup the tunnel :)

Look into ssh -g -R options ;)

Laterz !

andrmash said:
anyone got a server on the internet that allows ssh - Could a SSH tunnel from a remote host back to the 3g connected host allow that machine to be reached from the outside world

eg http://hosted.server:12345 goes to 3gHost:80 -- now you surfing?

obviously having a Web host on the internet obviates the need to serve up port 80 but for remote support via msRDP etc, you install openssh and mail your users a shell script that creates the tunnel?
Click to expand...
 
vodacom3g said:
Neither :) , rather standard corporate process. I just got word that all final approvals were received, so now it's up the (normally very quick) engineers to configure it. There's no hardware requirements as such, it's just a different set of config rules that must be provisioned.
Click to expand...

Let's hope it's not the same guys that's working on the prepaid data bundles :(
 
vodacom3g said:
The connectivity strategy is being expanded and cleaned up at the same time with multiple access points across the country but only to one SP.

It's also important to not have to many APN's as this can cause configuration and support issues.

Currently we have a number of APN's focused on specific functionality:

- blackberry
- mms
- vlife

The open APN's are:

- internet - NATed IP with incoming port blocking. Used for general internet access
- internetvpn - Routable IP with incoming port blocking. Used for general internet access and when a routable IP is required by a specialised app.

Proposed new APN:

- hosting - Routable IP with no incoming port blocking. Used for hosting, support or other incoming requests.
Click to expand...


Hi Vodacom3G,

:cool: Do you have any feedback as yet as to when subscribers can expect a Routable IP with no incoming port blocking.
 
Is this ever going to happen? It's months later, and I suspect the answer is no. Clearly, this will damage the corporate market for Vodacom APN connections which are charged at ~R4000 a shot plus monthly subscriptions. Am I right? It only seems reasonable that an internet enabled device should be able to receive connections as well as send, except not in the world of SA telecoms where GPRS/3G/Edge/HSDPA data only costs R500 per GB which is only 50 times more than overseas rates, and somehow we should be grateful about this?
 
Vodacom would love to open up all ports for all users.

Just think of all the extra revenue Vodacom will get, as you get port scanned and attacked by every man and his dog out there, driving up YOUR data bill.

If you like we can open up your connection as a test case and see how much your bill shoots up?

Unfortunately the same people that always complains that they get shafted by Vodacom will now complain again, so this product is sitting at legal to ensure subscribers fully understand what they will get.

Vodacom 3G tariffs are of the lowest in the world, and at one point was the lowest worldwide. So not sure where you get the 50 times statement from?

Please give us a list of the networks whose GPRS/3G/EDGE/HSDPA rates are 50 times lower than Vodacom, i.e. 1c / Mb.
 
If you can't provide uncrippled internet connectivity, then maybe you shouldn't provide it all, and instead of using 3G modems in the thousands of sites we're rolling out over the next few years we'll wait for Sentech or someone else to expand their coverage - at least they actually implement the TCP/IP protocol in the way it was intended to be used.

Let's be honest, the only reason that opening the ports would be such a cost factor is due to the incredibly high price and per packet billing model. If it wasn't for this, what reason would there be for your internet service be any different from the rest? I don't see Telkom ADSL, or Sentech or iBurst blocking inbound data ports because they care about the traffic overhead from port scanners - why is Vodacom/MTN data so special?

TCP/IP was designed to be a pervasive robust protocol allowing communication in both directions and for any device to be a server or a client or both. It was not designed to be a unidirectional push mechanism for corporate marketing campaigns, overpriced ringtones and pay per view TV. Perhaps it is a mistake for the cell companies to be using the TCP/IP platform at all, since clearly embracing the communication potential of the internet is not really what the business model is about, but rather about maximising revenues. Look at it objectively - why implement an IP network if you don't want IP?

vodacom3g said:
Vodacom 3G tariffs are of the lowest in the world, and at one point was the lowest worldwide. So not sure where you get the 50 times statement from?
Click to expand...

Nonsense. Vodafone Japan now offers UNLIMITED 3G bandwith for R200 per month - I don't know how to divide by infinity so I can't really work out how many times more expensive Vodacom 3G is than that.

Even competing local wireless bandwidth providers are orders of magnitude cheaper - with Sentech Classic you'll get a 10GB soft cap for R500 per month - how much is 10GB on GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA? Oh yes - R4990!!!! Even Telkom's DSL pricing works out to about R90 per GB which is less than a fifth of the price.

vodacom3g said:
Unfortunately the same people that always complains that they get shafted by Vodacom will now complain again, so this product is sitting at legal to ensure subscribers fully understand what they will get.
Click to expand...

I can't help thinking of the post office 30 years ago. Vodacom may as well be a government department. I think somewhere along the line someone has lost track of what a telecommunications company is supposed to be providing (Hint: Telecommunication).
 
ic said:
v3g, I welcome the day when I can unstick this thread - please could you tazer the legal department - they need a good cattle prodding to get this out into the field...
Click to expand...

Can't agree more. Have upped the voltage to the point where they're probably quite crispy by now. The did promise it's soon now, if not im****nt. :)
 
Hi V3G

Any news on the hosting APN?

Becoming an urgent need here!

Regards

F
 
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