FF 150 Problems: Slow Speed, Instability, Account Dashboard, IP Blacklisting & VOIP Blocking

[LivingWise]

I am a TalkTalk customer since 2012. I recently moved to a house that has only Full Fibre, so I signed up to 150 with a Hub 2 Sagemcom FAST 5464-2.T4 router running SG4K100158 software. I do not use WiFi (only ethernet) so required the 4 LAN ports on the Hub 2 and was advised on this forum that this would not affect the quality of the service.

The TalkTalk 150 went live on Monday 3rd July. Because there is no copper service to this property now, and TalkTalk do not offer a VOIP service, I took out a phone service with bOnline who provided me with a Yealink T31P deskphone. I also have a Gigaset N300 IP Base Station to run 6 Gigaset C530 handsets. I was told by TalkTalk Full Fibre Sales that this would be fine.

These are my current problems:
1. Speed is only 93 mbps down and 31 up, unstable and keeps dropping. Devices plugged directly into the back of the router keep disappearing from the list of connected devices on the router web interface (eg tablet and phones).

2. I cannot access my online TalkTalk account Dashboard without the error message “Oops. Let’s get you back on course… Sorry we’re unable to find the page you’re looking for”. Doesn’t matter what browser or device I use – this is always the response I get when logging in. Clearing history makes no difference.

3. The IP address of my router is showing as blacklisted with SORBS and Spamhaus on MXToolbox.

4. I have been unable set up my Yealink desktop or N300 Base Station. Following an onboarding session with bOnline earlier today, the phone was activated their end and then we added it to the IP Reservation list under the TalkTalk Wi-Fi Hub 2 settings tab. The phone still shows ‘No Service’. We reduced the Firewall in Access Control to Low so that LAN>WAN and WAN>LAN are both now ‘Allow All’. That made no difference, nor did restarting the phone or the router. bOnline advised that we needed to ensure SIP ALG was disabled and QOS enabled on the router but I cannot find those settings anywhere on the Hub 2 control panel.

I had the most distressing phone call with Angel in TalkTalk technical support who told me that there is nothing I can do about any of this other than to wait for 10 days. This will apparently resolve all my issues of speed, stability, online account access and IP blacklisting. If that wasn’t bad enough, I was then told that I don’t have a phone service so of course VOIP won’t work! It didn’t matter how many times I explained that I have a VOIP subscription with bOnline and that I just want to check the router settings, Angel kept repeating that I have no Voice service! I asked if what she meant was that TalkTalk Full Fibre somehow prevents VOIP from working – because I am able to make calls via my PC from the bOnline app just fine… (well until the connection drops out as the line is so unstable), but that I needed to plug a VOIP phone into a LAN port on the back of my router and use it, and she said “yes”!

I am now extremely concerned that I am stuck with a broadband contract that won’t allow me to have a phone in my house, and a VOIP service I can only use on my PC… which is not at all how I need it to work!

So, my questions are:
a. Is the speed, instability, account access and backlisting really going to spontaneously resolve in 10 days? If so great, but I just can’t see how all these are linked!

b. Is it true that I have been mis-sold a full fibre package by TalkTalk in terms of being unable to use VOIP phone devices with it? If so, how do I get out of this contract as it is not fit for purpose!

c. If it is not true, how can I go about ensuring SIP ALG is disabled, and QOS enabled on my Hub 2 as that may be the cause of the Yealink not working (I’ve not attempted to sort the issue with the N300 yet… one problem at a time!).

I would be so grateful for any advice or signposting as I really can’t take much more stress after what I’ve been through with Solicitors and this house move!!! I joked to my husband just last week that if I had issues with the broadband and phone not working that would finish me off… and ta-da! Here I am ;o)))

[LivingWise]

Hi Chris, Thank you for the escalation. I tried tweaking the firewall in the router and it made no difference so I've left it as is. Fingers crossed my account will be reset quickly. 

[Superdews]

Hi Livingwise,

I switched off HomeSafe in May because a message in My Account asked me to do so. I have since been trying to get it back on but unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, if this is what is blocking voip, nobody has been able to help me. Therefore, I can confirm that my setup is the same as yours other than me using hardwire and wifi. I can use the services of a third party voip provider but I have HomeSafe switched off.

I hope you manage to get access to My Account and that switching off HomeSafe resolves the issue. My contract is up for renewal in a few weeks and I have already a backup plan to use my own wifi6 router if I decide to renew. I think sometimes it is better to have more control in ones own hands when it comes to routers if something is not working correctly. Best of luck.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

I've escalated it myself so it hopefully shouldn't take the full 10 days, unfortunately I can't make it any quicker I'm afraid. There is a firewall in the router settings that unrelated to HomeSafe, you could try setting it to a lower setting although we do recommend leaving it at the default setting

Chris

[LivingWise]

OK. Well I certainly need to get HomeSafe disabled, but I also need my VOIP working. Is there any way we can find out what else may be blocking it in terms of TalkTalk firewall settings or is HomeSafe the only possible option?

Considering how long I've been trying to get this resolved, is there any way of escalating the reset of My Account? I reported it back on the 5th July by phone and a case was supposedly opened to sort it out (REP-13108924?). No one ever got back in touch with me about this though!

[Chris-TalkTalk]

To be honest I don't know if it's HomeSafe that causing the issue with your VoIP service but it will certainly be stopping TeamViewer working as HomeSafe's scam protection feature blocks it.

Chris

[LivingWise]

Hi Chris,

So could this have been the problem all along? Is it HomeSafe that is blocking my VOIP?

I've never been able to access the Dashboard of My Account it always loads with the "Oops. Let's get you back on course. Sorry, we're unable to find the page you're looking for" message. I've reported this countless times and it has supposedly been escalated but it has never been corrected. Is this linked to my inability to get into HomeSafe and is this what has been stopping my service operating correctly?

[mrwrighty]

Further to my last post as well. Do not buy flat Cat6a, they work, but they are not shielded in the same way as round Cat6a. They are fine over short distances but I would not recommend them.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi LivingWise,

I can't access your My Account either but I can see what the problem is. I'll have to raise this to have your My Account reset, this can take up to 10 days to complete but it shouldn't be that long. Once it's been reset you'll need to register again for My Account and hopefully you'll be able to access My Account and the HomeSafe settings 

Chris

[LivingWise]

Good to know. I wanted to put the router in my office rather than downstairs so I needed a 30m cable. This one fit the bill on Amazon and had excellent reviews. It's sold and branded as Cat 7 and I'm now getting 150 in the speed tests on my PC so clearly it works, but I'll send that back and buy the Cat 6 instead which is indeed 3 times cheaper 👍

Any insights re: HomeSafe?

[mrwrighty]

Not wanting to be picky here, but a note for everyone, Cat7 is not a recognised TIA/EIA standard and uses a proprietary connector. Cat7 was never standardised for domestic/commercial use.

Cat7 does not exist in a domestic/commercial market, any cable marked as cat7 is likely cat5e or cat6a marked up incorrectly (or correctly in the eyes of the seller to justify a higher price.) by unscrupulous traders.

A true cat7 cable will unlikely work for you. Bigger numbers in ethernet standards do not mean faster speeds as both Cat5e and Cat6a are more than capable of sustaining the speeds of domestic internet and domestic networks.

Cat8 is essentially used as inter-server connectors capable of speeds up to 40gbps over short distances. 

Cat7 is not a recognised standard, DO NOT BUY. Stick with Cat5e or Cat6a.

Cat7 cable if you can get it is very very expensive as it is not generally made for standard installs.

[LivingWise]

Update:

First the good news… I purchased a Cat 7 cable for my PC and am now getting a full 150 speed so I can confirm that the speed of the service to my property is not an issue. I have not noticed any drop outs on the ONT so I believe the service is also stable. The current IP is still showing as blacklisted though, so every IP I've had since the 4th July has been blacklisted.

The second Sagemcom Router arrived (thanks Michelle) and was tested last night – same issue, no VOIP service. I also bypassed the router and plugged the Yealink directly into the ONT – still no service.

This morning, I spoke with bOnline again who have confirmed that the Yealink phone is correctly setup but their technical team can see that there is a Firewall on the TalkTalk end that is blocking my phone from communicating with the bOnline servers which is why it cannot obtain an IP address on the phone. On trying to allow bOnline access to my PC via AnyDesk to see my router settings for themselves, I was greeted with the message that HomeSafe was blocking this website. Never having used HomeSafe before, nor realised it was actively running on my broadband, I got very excited thinking that I may finally have found the cause of my VOIP service not working. However, on logging into my TalkTalk Account to turn it off, I’m greeted with the message “Sorry we had a problem updating your HomeSafe settings. Please try again later.”

I’ve been on a chat support with TalkTalk since 9.35am trying to get this sorted. I explained to each person I was transferred to that I had a VOIP Subscription with bOnline (because TalkTalk couldn’t offer to it me) running over my data only TalkTalk fibre 150 with a Sagemcom FAST 5464-2.T4 and needed to turn off HomeSafe. I was finally transferred to Fibre Technical support where not only was I told I don’t have a Voice subscription on my '500' fibre service, and I needed to add that via sales, but that I don’t have HomeSafe as I have an EERO router at which point my chat connection got disconnected by the TalkTalk advisor. So that was another two hours wasted 😡

My questions now are:
1. Can we now eliminate the router as the cause of the blocking problem?
2. Is HomeSafe the ‘firewall’ that is blocking my VOIP service?
3. If so, how can I get this disabled as the one thing I was able to glean from my chat was that the same error I was seeing my end was showing the TalkTalk end also?

I have been without a phone service since 4th July and I really need to get this working so I pray these latest insights will finally lead to this problem getting solved! 🙏

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

We've requested that a replacement router be sent and this should arrive in around 48hrs. Please let us know how the connection compares with the replacement router.

Thanks

[LivingWise]

"Thanks for the update. Would you like us to send a replacement router for testing purposes to rule this out? We would also send a router returns bag so that one of the routers can be returned."

Hi Michelle, I think it's certainly worth trying please. It's going to be a process of elimination I guess! Can you please ensure that it's the Hub 2 that's sent and not the Eero as I was sent the Eero initially and it was quite a fight to get the Hub 2 😉 Many thanks.

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Morning,

Thanks for the update. Would you like us to send a replacement router for testing purposes to rule this out? We would also send a router returns bag so that one of the routers can be returned.

Thanks

[LivingWise]

"I've checked and it's been confirmed that the third party VoIP should work fine. Could you try resetting the router to factory default settings and retest"

Good Evening Chris, It's great news that VOIP should work so that's one worry out the way! It would seem this is a configuration issue?

I unplugged all devices from the router and powered them down then reset the router as per your link. I then plugged just the Yealink back into the router - sadly still no service. The software of the router is now SG4K100174. Previously it was SG4K100158 so does this mean that the router now has the latest version? Is there any way we can find out if SIP ALG is disabled on my router and if this is related to the SW version? I have again added the Yealink to the router IP Reservation via http://192.168.1.1/2.0/gui/#/mybox/DHCP and rebooted the phone but this hasn't made any difference. Are there other settings that I should try with the router?

What I have found odd is that this router seems quite temperamental. Yesterday it would not let me log in all day then late last night suddenly I could access it. Then all of a sudden it's as though it locks up - the SW version disappears from the bottom left of the screen and nothing responds, and I get chucked out the interface, but on checking the light on the box it's still white and all 3 lights on the ONT are green. It's done it to me again just now. Could I have a faulty router?

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi LivingWise,

I've checked and it's been confirmed that the third party VoIP should work fine. Could you try resetting the router to factory default settings and retest - Restore your router to factory settings - TalkTalk Help & Support

Chris

[Chris-TalkTalk]

OK thanks. I'll check with one of our network engineers to confirm that 3rd party VoIP will work

Chris

[LivingWise]

"How are you getting on, are you any further forward? If not then I'll ask our Future Fibre team to take a look"

Hi Chris, Things have gone from bad to worse I'm afraid. Still no joy with my Yealink and now I have yet another new IP address that is still blacklisted (SORBS, Spamhaus and RATS Dyna) and I can no longer log into my Router Interface. I get the "wrong login information" warning. I've not customised it from the pre-set login details so I have no idea how or why this has happened. I have ESET Smart Security and I can my network via the Network Inspector UI - all items are present and correct (whether connected directly to the router or via DLAN) - nothing seems to be 'not working' or 'blocking' so I'm at a total loss. 

On logging into my TalkTalk Account I'm still getting the "Oops" message at the Dashboard, but I can select from the top right menu so can navigate around the account. On running a connection test it shows there is a fault ref no. REP-13127732 - which I believe is linked to the Dashboard issue, which has not been resolved. 

On clicking on 'My Router' to check its status I'm advised my router or software cannot be detected. 

Earlier today on checking my network status I got the "We think there is an issue with your line" message so allowed it to run line tests. These took hours to run and I finally got a text and email at 17:57 that just said to contact Tech Help if problems persist so presume that meant all was clear?!

I read through the link kindly posted above by mrwrighty and I honestly couldn't find anything in that to assist my situation and on following a further link in that thread to Yealink documentation I arrived a library of so many PDFs that I had no hope in knowing what to look at! 

Could you please escalate this to Future Fibre as I really do need to get a 'landline' working. I cannot rely on my PC for phone calls especially on the days when I'm bedridden and not able to get upstairs! If my TalkTalk 150 is really not going to let me run a third party VOIP service then I need to come out of this contract. Reading back through my notes I can see I was advised I had 30 days from my GoLive to leave the contract if it did not suit my needs so I hope that 1) that is true and 2) we can find a fix because I don't want to shop around for another provider after I think I have finally sorted out the billing issues on my Fibre Account (which took 2 hours with Billing via phone and chat today 😖).

Thank you.

[LivingWise]

Thank you Superdews for taking the time to share your experience. It's reassuring to know that you have a Hub2 running the same software as mine and you have a functional VOIP service which would indicate that this should be possible with my router. Also appreciate your sentiments that a full fibre BB should be sold to work with a third party VOIP service 😉

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi LivingWise,

How are you getting on, are you any further forward? If not then I'll ask our Future Fibre team to take a look

Chris