Vonage not active in Dubai, U.A.E. Probable ISP block.

Posts: 86 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 86

hey moh.. i have internet access via DIC.. i currently live in the marina, and for some reason my Vonage went out today also..

i came home during lunch and saw the orange/yellow light.. and thought the internet was just out again (as usual!).. came home, and no luck still!

hopefully the service will start working soon.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 15, 2006 Posts: 1

Oh well --- same thing happened. Yellow lights and no service. Guess DIC got wise and now they seem to be blocking the Voip ports. (You can access web sites just fine - but the ports seem to be blocked.) Upon asking, "they" say they are having trouble and are working on it. Yep. That's what I thought.

Posts: 86 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 86

well.. who knows, maybe it'll work.. but one things for sure.. skype still works from home.. so it can't be voip.. maybe they specifically targetted Vonage, or maybe it really is an issue like they say.

i hope it gets resolved..

Posts: 29 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 29

jumanji wrote:

well.. who knows, maybe it'll work.. but one things for sure.. skype still works from home.. so it can't be voip.. maybe they specifically targetted Vonage, or maybe it really is an issue like they say.

i hope it gets resolved..

I worked with both Vonage and DIC last night and it appears that (for the technical people out there) that DIC have blocked UDP ports 10,000-20,000. Basically this is what Vonage needs to place voice calls.

The DIC technician I spoke to advised that getting a Public IP Address will resolve this as they do not block any ports on these. I am in the process of applying and will post if it fixes it.

If not the only solution will be a VPN

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 20

I posted the following prior to reading srmillar's previous post:

I called DIC telecom support again today and questioned the guy if he knew anything at all about an possible port blocks applied recently. He gave me a speech (sounded like either he was reading from a paper or i was the 500th person for the day receiving the same talk) about how "to better serve our customers, we have recently upgraded our internet systems to regulate bandwith for subscribers....yadda yadda yadda" so i told him that had nothing to do with it, what i wanted to know was if ports were now blocked as part of that 'upgrade', he still insisted nothing should have changed, but did suggest that i wait another 24-48h before reacting as any 'temporary' glitches should be resolved by then. I told him i'd call back if things hadn't improved by then. So, bottom line: DIC's still confident they haven't done anything (or at least this is the impression i've gotten from the 3 tech support people i've spoken to), in light of that, i'll wait another 48h before attempting the following:
1) switching over to public IP service, if that doesn't work then option 2...
2) creating a VPN connection via my router to tunnel my Vonage connection

but for the next 24-48h i'm just gonna chill, and hopefully it'll fix itself *fingers crossed*

lemme know if u guys make progress

Posts: 86 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 86

Glad to see some people here.. if we switch to a public ip address as mohthepro has stated.. will this now cost us 300 a month, or is this a one time 300/- dhs fee?

i will let you guys know how things are holding up in the marina..

Posts: 86 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 86

ok.. so i take it this is 100% that udp ports are being blocked? still curious about the fees.. hope its a one time fee.

thanks

Posts: 86 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 86

Ok.. on the phone with DIC..

Guy said there is no blocks.. on the internet access.. however, i asked if he was referring to websites or port blocking.. he did say that there could be port blocking, but unfortunately.. he didn't know which ports were/could be blocked.. and that i would need to leave my number for a tech to get back to me..

i asked him about the public ip.. and he said that i could get this service and any ports that were blocked would no longer be blocked.. the cost is a one time 300/- dhs installation fee.

i'm still giving it some time before i resort to this..

let me know how things go wtih you.

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 20

I prioritized this issue and went to the DIC office today to apply for a public IP address (as posted before by others, the information is correct it is a 300dhs one time fee). The guy there said I'll be contacted within 48h by their tech department and they'll instruct me on how to change my router/comp settings. I'm awaiting the amendment to my IP services before I can conclude if this will resolve the Vonage connectivity issue, until then, there's not much else I can do. Whether it works or not, either way you guys will hear from me in the next couple of days... Cool

Posts: 86 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 86

posting again.. called DIC to get more information about the public ip.. he says that it takes about 3-5 business days in order to set up.. but he said not to worry.. they're "re-aligning" some ports/internet traffic so that we are guaranteed the speed we pay for (i.e. if you get 512k you will really get 512k). everything should be finished by tonight.. into tomorrow.. so if there is an issue still tomorrow.. to give us a call back and file a complaint. i didn't want to come right out and say my issue was in regards to VOIP.. but i did anyway.. and he started laughing and said "don't worry.. it should be working by tomorrow"

anyhow.. i guess we'll find out for sure.. any updates/additional information from anyone else?