Static IP address for remote access

Ell
Switched-on
3 Replies 4995 Views

Hi AGL neighbourhood / other AGL customers

 

Before signing up with AGL a sales rep said Static IP addresses were available for 7.50p/m. I changed to AGL and asked for a static IP, tech support said yes, will be added to bill and take effect within the "next few hours", didn't happen. I asked again 4 days later, "within 24 hours". 3 days after second call, still nothing. I need the static IP address for a remotely accessible photo/media server.

 

My question is, am I being lead on? Do you even support static IP addresses? 

 

P.S please just disable the "live chat" it is not "live" in the slightest

 

10 REPLIES 10
David_AGL
AGL Community Manager
1 Reply 4840 Views

Hi @Ell

We certainly do support static IP addresses, but as to what the hold up has been in this instance, I have no idea. It sounds frustrating.

Rather than use the live chat or wait on the phones, we do have a Messaging service you can access via the AGL app or by logging in to your My Account page. Response times vary by issue and the wait time is currently around 24 hours, but you might find it more convenient than the other options, and the conversation history will be saved, so there's an ongoing record of your repeated contact with support about this issue.

Ell
Switched-on
1 Reply 4839 Views

Thanks for the tip, however I have tried the messaging service within the AGL app but after 27 hours I received the old restart your router or call the 13 number for support. I did jump on the phone this morning after my original post and the technician escalated the issue for me (whether that means anything I will soon find out). Anyway, cheers for the response, it was nice getting a response from an AGL rep that isn't copy paste. Thanks David

Nuella
Semiconductor
1 Reply 4115 Views

I have requested for a static IP address since friday. And it still not working. They said they already upgraded my plan to have static IP address but until now it is not working. 

David_AGL
AGL Community Manager
0 Replies 4093 Views

Hi @Nuella , when you say it's not working, what do you mean? Are you not seeing a static IP, or are you not able to connect at all?

NeilC
Powerhouse
1 Reply 4083 Views

Hi,

why waste $7.50 a month when you can set up your router to use Dynamic DNS.

 

Check that your router supports Dynamic DNS (most do).


https://www.noip.com/ to create the account.

 

Then enter the account details into your router.

 

NoIP will send  a message every month if you do not take up a paid account, otherwise it will $US1.99 a month

Cheers Neil


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willuzn
Switched-on
2 Replies 4061 Views

Replying here because AGL tech support doesn't have a clue and frankly neither do many people posting here.

 

Firstly, some important information. AGL uses CGNAT (Carrier Grade Network Address Translation). To put it in simple terms, imagine you share a house with 4 other people. As far as the world is concerned, all 5 of you have the same address and when mail comes to your house it is up to someone to sort it to make sure that the right mail gets to the right person. CGNAT is effectively the same thing your internet address (IP) is shared among tens if not hundreds of AGL internet subscribers and AGL has a sorting machine (router) which sorts internet traffic so that it reaches the right place. Now imagine mail comes just addressed to the house, there is no way to know who it should go to and the router isn't going to let everyone see it (imagine it had important details in there).

 

This means that no amount of dynamic dns, port forwarding or firewall rules on the users end will ever get outside traffic into your home network. You need AGL to turn off CGNAT - but don't mention this they won't have a clue what you are talking about. Instead you need to ask for a static IP - this isn't the same thing but AGL charges $7.50 for this service. When you ask for a static IP, tech support will assume you are running a business and try to get you on a business plan. No, I'm not running a business, there are many services today that need outside traffic to be able to come into the home e.g. google home, security cameras, etc.

 

You don't need to believe me, go into your router and if you look at the "supposed" address that AGL provides you. It will be in the 10.X.X.X private IP pool - this is akin to your internet address being "Unit 5"; that's great but Unit 5 of what address?

 

Here are some tips when talking to tech support:

1. Don't mention CGNAT - they have no clue what you are talking about.

2. Ask for a static IP.

3. Tell them that you are not running a business (otherwise you will pay costly business internet rates).

 

Now, once you get your static IP, AGL tech support still has no idea how their product works.

 

Normally, your static IP is configured from your internet providers end using a protocol known as DHCP. In basic terms, you home router goes "Hello AGL, I'm John Smith and I need an address" and AGL responds "Okay John Smith, I see you have a static IP, your address is 123.456.789.000".

 

However, for whatever reason this is not how it works with AGL. Once your static IP gets provisioned (you'll either get a text or an email), your internet will go down and you won't have a clue why. Calling up tech support will be fruitless the only thing they know how to do is to turn off your static IP (which will give you your internet back).

 

Basically, you need to manually put your static IP address into your home router (good luck with that if you aren't using an AGL provided device they can't help you with instructions) - this is akin to the conversation going "Hello AGL, I'm John Smith and I know my address is 123.456.789.000". You will also need to manually configure your DNS servers in your router.

 

If you get this far, you have probably spent about 4 hours over 2 days over the telephone with tech support like I did. Unfortunately for me, there's some kind of incompatibility between my router and this bizarre way that AGL is set up. It works for around 15 minutes and then I need to restart my router for it to work for another 15 minutes. It's frustrating, their tech support has no clue about basic internet networking concepts and if your anything like me you will leave AGL internet 4 days after you signed up with them.

NeilC
Powerhouse
0 Replies 3942 Views

@willuzn 

 

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Connection Protocol.

 

This means that you send out a DHCP request and the host at the other ends sends back your DHCP Address and your DNS entries (normally 2).

 

This data is only valid for the length of time that it is available for after that time the address expires and you need to renew your DHCP ADDRESS and DNS ADRESSES AGAIN.

 

Now you can RECONFIGURE the DNS SERVER to respond to the DHCP REQUEST with the details of a STATIC IP ADDRESS and the Domains DNS Server Addresses, however AGL's Supplier may not do this even though its standard practice because if they try and configure the DNS server to use a duplicate IP number it will tell the operator configuring the DHCP server of the issue.

 

Now the reason that Service providers provide a BRAND and TYPE of BRAND router is so that their help desk operators can quickly respond to your queries regarding set-up. They also assume that if you are bringing your own router is that you have a router that you know how to setup. For instance I use FritzBox and can easily log in and change its settings.

 

However behind that I have a second router that blocks unwanted traffic into my home network.

 

On average I have been having around 50 attempts a day by hackers trying to get into my Fritzbox every day, I have one IP address that has tried 42 times today alone.

Cheers Neil


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lawleo
Switched-on
0 Replies 2807 Views

very similar experience.  I wish I read your message earlier before switching to AGL.. 

Salonpas
Switched-on
1 Reply 1257 Views

Regarding to this CGNAT issues, I just had this issue successfully solved via Live Chat with AGL support team. I have the same trouble when switch to AGL NBN then my CCTV and NAS server stop working over internet when I was outside, because DDNS service setup in my router can only get the WAN IPv4 from AGL Private Local IPv4 address via their CGNAT will look like 10.15.xx.xxx while the Global IPv4 address is 203.xxx.xxx.xxx which impossible to direct to my NAS server and CCTV. What I tried via the Live Chat is to asked for supervisor or someone can understand what are CGNAT and Global IP address when the current support team have no clue about that. They then transfer me to another support team named Glenn. I explained again the situation then he only asked me “so what you need is the Public IP address, right?”, I said “Yes” then after like 15 mins he responded “I have just assigned. Please power cycle your modem and NBN box. Anything else I can assist with today?” Then he left the chat not even waiting for me to power cycle my modem. I had to power cycle twice in 10 mins time then surprisingly I got the normal Global IPv4 address from the WAN IP in my router and my NAS & CCTV back to live 😱🥳 

 

So maybe I have a lucky day or AGL is slowly upgrading to get rid of their CGNAT due to so many complains about it or something else I don’t know but the result after 3 hours via Live Chat is great that keeping me staying with AGL NBN for now. At least I don’t need to pay for Static IP or weeks waiting for this stupid CGNAT issue 😅

 

Good luck guys 🤗🤗🤗