VPN Issues with O2 Wireless Box II

April 16, 2010 at 1:50 am Christopher Shennan 24 comments

For the last few months I have been connecting to the VPN at work via my O2 Wireless Box II quite happily until it suddently stopped working about 2 weeks ago which has caused me no end of headaches (tight deadlines looming etc). Each time I tried to connect I got presented with a “Error 619 – Disconnected”

VPN Error - 20100413 - 2020

I have had my laptop checked out by the IT guy and everything connected fine when it was in at the office and even my iPhone could connect to the VPN when using 3G but this Error 619 kept appearing each time I tried to connect to the work VPN via my O2 Wireless Box II using either the laptop or iPhone.

I had a sneaky suspicion that O2 had been in and done one of their remote updates so I logged into the router administration pages, noted the firmware number (8.2.23.0) currently running on my O2 Wireless II box and had a quick look around in Google for VPN issues with this firmware version. There were a number of people with a similar issue to mine but it seems that the VPN issues are only related to PPTP VPN connections, which is the type of VPN connection I was using.

I have managed to resolve this and get everything back up and reverting back to the older firmware version (7.4.20.4) and now I can connect to the work VPN again through my O2 Wireless II box.

The steps I took to sort this VPN connection issues are as follows:-

Take a note of any static IP details (I did not actually do this step so I had about 30 minutes of paper rummaging as O2 Customer Services has closed by 2.30am)
Follow the steps outlined in http://www.o2help.co.uk/router-upgrade-firmware/
At step 4 run RT-585v7_74K4EJ.exe to revert to the 7.4.20.4 firmware version. Note this will result in a factory reset of your router and all configuration settings will be lost.
Run router setup and get connected to internet again.
Check VPN works
Configure and secure LAN / WLAN

In addition to this I thought it would be a wise idea to stop O2 from coming back in and updating the firmware automatically again which would give me the same problems so I opted to disabled the port O2 use to do their automatic updates.

References

O2 Help – Lots of useful help regarding O2 broadband

O2 Help – How to upgrade the firmware on the O2 Wireless Box II/III

O2 Help – How to close port 7547 on the O2 Wireless Box II/III

Computer Maintenance o2, o2 broadband, o2 vpn issues, o2 wireless box II

About Christopher Shennan

I am a web developer specialising in web driven applications using PHP, MySQL, Symfony and Zend and I am currently working for Line Digital in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Most days I can be found frantically coding away with EuroDance in my ears and consuming what I hope to be a never ending supply of coffee... happy days!

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#1 | Written by Rich Chaney about 3 years ago.

Wow; like a lot of people out there – I though this might be my fault! Then I took my laptop around to a friend’s house ad the VPN worked fine… so I did some Googling and ended up here. Thanks for confirming that its an O2 Wireless Box II firmware issue, and nothing else. I will muster up the courage to downgrade – or sit it out in the (futile?) hope that they sort it. BTW; does this affect SSTP and L2TP VPNs as well? I be able to switch protocols at the server end.
#2 | Written by Christopher Shennan about 3 years ago.

Hi,

As far as I believe this only affects PPTP connections. Other people have reported no problem with the 8.2.23.0 firmware but by the content of the forum posts I found, it sounds like it is only affecting PPTP connections. The people that said it was working for them did not specify which type of connection they were using.

Chris Shennan
#3 | Written by Andy Harrison about 3 years ago.

Hi,

Thanks for the guide, proved invaluable to get me connected to VPN after a firmware upgrade last week.

One wrinkle that affected me was that the firmware downgrade process kept failing with the message ‘authentication failed for your thomson gateway device’.

The issue is that the firmware installation software is expecting the ‘SuperUser’ pwd to be O2Br0ad64nd, mine was set to the serial number of the router.

Thanks.

Andy Harrison
#4 | Written by Christopher Shennan about 3 years ago.

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the update. I had noticed a few article mention that the ‘SuperUser’ password was the serial number of the router but I guess I forgot to mention that as during my attempt the O2Br0ad64nd password worked fine.

Sorry about that and I hope it did not cause you too much hassle.

Many Thanks

Chris Shennan
#5 | Written by bob about 3 years ago.

Spoke to o2 today they said it’s known issue and 3 to 5 days to do the downgrade
#6 | Written by Simon about 3 years ago.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the guide. I received an email from O2 informing me of some remote upgrades to the firmware on my wireless box and like you found that my VPN wasn’t working. I’ve checked my wireless box and I’ve been upgraded to v 8.2.23.0
I have looked on my O2 CD and there is a program that will recover my firmware to v 7.4.20.3 – you mention going back to 7.4.20.4? Does it matter if I go back to 7.4.20.3?

Are O2 looking to fix this VPN issue (apart from a firmware downgrade?)

Simon
#7 | Written by Christopher Shennan about 3 years ago.

Hi Simon

It should not matter too much if you use the 7.4.20.3 instead of the 7.4.20.4. The 7.4.20.4 may have some minor updated over the 7.4.20.3 but it is really just to get you off the 8.2.23.0 firmware that is causing problems.

I have not contacted O2 regarding this problem (as I do onsite computer support as part of my profession so I’m used to this type of issue, and, I was fully expecting the “we do not support VPN” response) but from the forum posts I’ve seen O2 are simply doing a remote downgrade for the customers who report this problem. Bob, in the comment above, has advised us that it is taking between 3 and 5 days after you’ve reported the problem for this downgrade to take effect.

I’ve not doubt that they will release another update to resolve this issue, but I’ve no idea when and because I need my VPN connection for work I would much rather block their automatic updates and install any firmware upgrades at a time which is more convenient to me and I can ensure it’s not going to cause any major problems work-wise.

I hope this helps.

Chris Shennan
#8 | Written by Bob about 3 years ago.

Got a text from O2 yesterday saying they have fixed my router, Version 7.4.20.4 back in place :-)

Wow I wish we had thought about that one.

VPN and also my shiny new Cisco VOIP phone are working fine, both of which were stopped but the upgrade previously.

Thanks for the info Chris
#9 | Written by Veronica B. about 3 years ago.

Thanks a lot for posting this! Without SuperUser and O2Br0ad64nd it fails to authenticate. I had some trouble with mine because I needed to log in using the serial code as password and then change the password to the one above. It then prompts for username and pwd again and finally after this the flashing utility runs and vpn is restored soon after. The O2 page should really be changed to give the right information to users.
#10 | Written by HeathrowTaxiDriver about 3 years ago.

We went through it couple of weeks ago. Now the CPE WAN Management Protocol on port 7547 is DISSABLED!- no more unwanted firmware updates for a while.
#11 | Written by Andy about 3 years ago.

Chris, thanks SO much for this. I am now connected again without needing to talk to O2 at all.
#12 | Written by masai about 3 years ago.

Thanks for this I was going mad trying to figure out why I could’nt get connected to my VPN on my desktop and iphone via the o2 broadband router.

Downgraded to 7.4.20.4 and it worked first time! Also the router pages load much quicker which is a bonus.

as Veronica says you need to use SuperUser and O2Br0ad64nd username and password when running the firmware. I had to change my password back to this or esle the fimware kept failing. Also change the compatibility to Windows XP SP3 if like me you are running windows 7.

Thanks again Chris!
#13 | Written by Lee about 3 years ago.

Thank You Very Much my friend, this article has been incredibly useful in avoiding having to contact some dreary o2 call centre to resolve the issue. Thank God there are helpful people like you out there.

Just for info, I didnt even have to do anything after step 4, the recovery tool fixed it immediately.

Thanks again
#14 | Written by Christopher Shennan about 3 years ago.

Not a problem. Glad I could help.
#15 | Written by Matt Chambers about 3 years ago.

Thanks Chris, great coms, spoke to O2 today and they confirmed the firmware is at fault.
They are doing a remote downgrade of the firmware within 24 hours.
#16 | Written by Foot about 2 years ago.

thank you for this excellent guide. my vpn to work had randomly stopped working. i followed the instructions in this guide and flashed to the older firmware. immediately it started working again.
#17 | Written by clarkee about 2 years ago.

Great article. I have the exact same problem since firmware upgrade to version 8.2.7.7. VPNs don’t work now.

However O2 have changed the firmware upgrade files on their site, so the old version 7 firmware is no longer in download that you refer to.

However, if you call O2 on 0800 230 0202 then they’ll do a remote firmware DOWNGRADE back to version 7…..(unless you’ve blocked the remote access port, in which case they can’t!!)
#18 | Written by clarkee about 2 years ago.

i spoke too soon. O2 now saying they won’t rollback the firmware since 8.2.7.7 supports VPNs. They won’t let me talk to the 2nd-line support people to discuss why my VPN only fails if I’m behind my O2 router with 8.2.7.7 firmware.
#19 | Written by Christopher Shennan about 2 years ago.

Hi Clarkee

I am sorry to hear you are having so much trouble trying to get this sorted out. I downloaded the CD and took a look at the files and it appears they ave updated the files on the CD and removed the older version. Fear not though… I did a little digging around and managed to located the 7.4.20.4 firmware (RT-585v7_74K4EJ.exe) and I have upload it for you.

Download the O2 Firmware 7.4.20.4 (RT-585v7_74K4EJ.exe) for the O2 Wireless Box

Just remember and disable O2′s ability to come in an auto-upgrade you otherwise it will not be long till you are be back to square one.
#20 | Written by Ruth about 2 years ago.

Hi, Chris any idea if you can turn off the remote access by O2 to the router completely? I tried to follow your link to the o2help page to close port 7547 in the hope that would help, but the link didn’t work. Is that just me, or has the page been removed?
#21 | Written by David Halligan about 2 years ago.

I was having the same issues with PPTP VPN connectivity using an O2 Box II updated to Firmware version 8.2.23.0.

Out of curiosity more than anything else I tried updating the firmware version to 8.2.7.7 to see if O2 had really fixed the problem. I can confirm, as far as my PPTP VPN connection is concerned, the updated firmware does NOT resolve the VPN connectivity issues and therefore the resolution described in this article is still valid.

If anyone else is considering an upgrade to the latest version “out of curiosity” i wouldn’t waste your time. It seems like this is a fob-off from O2/Be.

I will say something for firmware version 8.2.7.7 though, the administration website http://192.168.1.254 is very quick. Previous firmware versions always had huge delays in response times from clicking a link to the router responding with a webpage. I never understood why since there should be no network latency or bandwidth issues, the only conclusion is that the administration console is bloated and slow. The new firmware does seem to have been optimised and response times are now in milliseconds (as you would expect). If VPN is not a big concern for you, I would recommend this upgrade for that reason alone.

Anyway, back to firmware version 7.4.20.4 for me.

A quick question though, I appreciate closing port 7547 will prevent administrative access for O2 / Be to remote update the box, this is my personal preference. However, given that updating the firmware requires login to the router as the SuperUser account, will changing the SuperUser password to something O2/Be will not know be an alternative solution and a simpler fix for less technically adept users?
#22 | Written by Martin about 2 years ago.

Hi all, there is an even easier fix for the O2 VPN problem unless your budget is limited. Use a non-O2 ADSL router. I bought Bipac 7200N which, although not cheap, is better in every respect than the O2 Wireless Box III: Faster up and down, more stable, much faster wireless (just as fast as wired when testing to http://www.speetest.net) and more features such as the ability to act as a PP2P server.

Keep your O2 Wirelss Box II or III around in case you need O2 support for some other issue – line speed or whatever. O2 will only support you if you’re using their handware. Once that problem is fixed, switch back to your independent ADSL router.

Cheers, Martin
#23 | Written by Ed about 1 year ago.

If you are on 8.2.7.7 and cannot get VPN working, try factory reset (you will loose your settings unfortunately) – it did the trick for me and now I’m able to VPN!
#24 | Written by David about 1 year ago.

“Written by Ed about 1 month ago.

If you are on 8.2.7.7 and cannot get VPN working, try factory reset (you will loose your settings unfortunately) – it did the trick for me and now I’m able to VPN!”

Worked for me too (Y)

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