New Plus Net Installation - Fibre

[#1]

Just some feedback on our installation yesterday:
BT OpenReach engineer - EXCELLENT
Plus net service - Poor - line was not activated, had to spend 50 mins sorting it out including 30 mins in a queue at the call centre. Was given incorrect information about Engineers arrival: told at 1.00pm that he would be here soon. In fact had arrive at 8.15 and had already left.
Connection Quality: Speed and reliability GOOD so far.  VERY DISAPPOINTED that the routers default is to leave Port 21 not stealthed. The installation therefore  FIALED the Port Authority test https://www.grc.com/port_21.htm. ; Find this a worrying attitude to security in the current climate.
Allyson Cole

[#2]

Hi allysoncole,
Welcome to Plusnet and the community forum.
I'm sorry you had to call to get the account activated, that should have happened automatically after the fibre order was closed by our suppliers after the install.
Apologies if someone you spoke with though the appointment was after 1pm, that surprises me as we updated ticket  75984767 on 24/10/13 stating that the visit would be between 08:00 and 13:00

Quote

VERY DISAPPOINTED that the routers default is to leave Port 21 not stealthed. The installation therefore  FIALED the Port Authority tes

Thanks for the feedback but why would that mean the installation failed?
Adam

[#3]

The installation failed the Port Authority Security test.

[#4]

No, the router may not be stealthing port 21. Your installation however was successful as the internet is working. There is a difference.

[#5]

Interesting... which router are you using?
I have the PN supplied TG582n, do not have the PN (server-side) firewall enabled and I find port 21 to be stealthed.
It is not the prerogative of the ISP to stealth ports for you.  That is generally a decision for you to make.  Look here for the server-side firewall options available to you.

[#6]

dvorak
I know there is a difference. I did not say said the installation failed, I said  "the installation therefore failed the port authority test".
I also said "Connection Quality: Speed and reliability GOOD so far." - which hardly indicates that I thought the installation had failed.

I am beginning to wish I had not supplied any feedback!!
Allyson

[#7]

townman

Quote from: townman

It is not the prerogative of the ISP to stealth ports for you.

I disagree - the default should be the most secure as most people do not understand how they can alter the settings on the router.

[#8]

I think you'll find this thread http://community.plus.net/forum/?topic=104493.msg889959 explains why port 21 isn't stealthed, and what you can do to change it.

[#9]

I have already changed it.

[#10]

Adam Walker
Just to say that I completely regret taking the time in all good faith, to give Plus Net some (what I thought was balanced)  feedback so that you can improve the service.
I will be very reluctant to do so again.
And I'm from Yorkshire ...and I mean it.
Allyson

[#11]

Quote from: allysoncole

I disagree - the default should be the most secure as most people do not understand how they can alter the settings on the router.

That is one of the great things about forums - we can all have valid points of view, which not everyone will agree with, but none the less all of the different perspectives might all be valid.  I asked which router do you have - you did not respond other than to disagree with me.
I have the PN supplied TG582n, I do not have the PN firewall enabled, yet when I test port 21 it reports STEALTH.  I have no recollection of setting any controls on this in the router GUI, indeed I do not think there is a means of doing so.  Thereforefrom my perspective (experience), the default position is secure with the PN supplied router.
However note that the the telnet command (referenced on the above link) report suggests that the port is enabled...

{Kevin}=>service system list
Idx Name             Protocol         SrcPort  DstPort  Group            State
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  7 FTP              tcp                       21                        enabled

However I suspect that this is a report on the "internal" network view as an attempt to FTP to the router's external IP address goes nowhere, confirming the port is stealthed.  What this could be pointing to is a difference in configuration between versions of an essentially similar router.  My TG582n is at firmware level 8.4.4.J.  Possibly this is something which might need examination.

Please do not be discouraged from making contributions just because I (or others) have a different perspective to you on what is right or wrong.  I'm from Yorkshire too, but I fail to see what difference that makes.

[#12]

Is it possible that what is being seen here (the difference between Allysoncole and myself) relates to a variance in the version of routers (with or without USB port) shipped by PN?
Having reread the other thread and assigned the (external) FTP service of my TG582n (without USB) to 192.168.1.253 my router now (as expected) responds to the GRC port 21 probes as CLOSED rather than STEALTH.  Removing the mapping causes the port to become STEALTHED again.  So in summary, do PN routers with USB ports ship with port 21 open, but those with out USB ports are closed on port 21?
Further to Allysoncole's suggestion of making things easier for less IT aware users, would fixing the default value of the PN fire wall to LOW - as discussed here be beneficial?

[#13]

Personally, I don't lose any sleep about all ports showing as 'closed' on my connection:
http://www.insanitybit.com/2012/05/30/stealth-ports-or-closed/
and more completely:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~peterb/network/drop-vs-reject