Microsoft Direct Access connection for work has stopped connecting

Stevep1987 · ‎08-08-2023

I have had a EE data sim for the last 18 months which is my home broadband and also my work laptop has been configured for Microsoft Direct access for me to connect to servers at work. This has always worked fine until some time after 17:00 on 27/07/23. It now just says direct access connecting and eventually times out.

Internet is working fine as usual and the speed is very good on the 5G network. Our office IT department have checked all the systems and it didn't a issue their end. If I hotspot to my laptop via a Phone in the O2 network direct access connects fine which suggests it is something to do with a change that has recently happened on the EE network but as a customer I haven't been notified. I am now unable to work from home.

My Open VPN server still connects from my EE connection so it's not a EE blocking VPN scenario I don't think? Direct access is not a VPN in a traditional sense.

Does anyone have a solution and experiencing the same issue?

Regards

Steve

James_B · ‎08-08-2023

Hi @Stevep1987,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

I'm not aware of any network changes that would affect your ability to connect to your network using DirectAccess.

Our Technical Support Team will be happy to take a look at it if you get in touch.

Thanks

James

Stevep1987 · ‎09-08-2023

Hi James,

Thank you for coming back to me @James_B

According to out I.T department EE are blocking these ports:

TCP 62000

UDP 3544

When I try and connect work have confirmed that a connection attempt does not reach the direct access server.

This must have only been changed recently as my direct access has worked perfectly up until the 27/07/23. My home sim is a EE data sim and it does not work, I have tethered it to my private phone and it does not work also. I have tethered it in several locations in the UK and its not working which rules out a regional issue. I have tested with a O2, Vodafone and Giff Giff sim card and they all work fine so its has to be related to something EE's end.

Other work colleagues have also tethered their work laptops to EE phones and have discovered that direct access does not connect.

Is there a tech support team that can look into this for me?

Regards,

Steven

Christopher_G · ‎09-08-2023

Hi @Stevep1987

Thanks for that extra information. Yes, there is a technical support team who you can contact: Contact us | Get in touch for help and support.

Hopefully they can help you with this.

Chris

Stevep1987 · ‎09-08-2023

Hi @Christopher_G I have called the Tech support Team and they were unable to help me they thought it was a issue with my local mast which when checked was fine. They also advised me that EE block VPNs and I explained that MS Direct access is not a VPN in the traditional sense. The message us service isn't available either to contact tech support.

Do you have a email I can contract to speak to a network level engineer?

Regards

Steve

Christopher_G · ‎09-08-2023

I understand that you've already spoken to someone within technical support, but this would need to be escalated through them, @Stevep1987.

They'll run through a question and answer session with you and escalate it to the next level of support, if needed.

Keep us posted on what happens please.

Chris

XRaySpeX · ‎09-08-2023

@Stevep1987 wrote:

According to out I.T department EE are blocking these ports:

TCP 62000

UDP 3544

In which direction?

EE block no outgoing ports.
You need yourself to open incoming ports of any server you are running.

If you think I helped please feel free to hit the "Thumbs Up" button below.

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Stevep1987 · ‎10-08-2023

There must be a issue somewhere in the EE network as it is not allowing the Direct access connection to work, I have tried this on a mobile broadband sim and a Monthly contract sim Via a iPhone tether in several locations. If I swap these sim cards for another network then it connects fine. Traffic routing to our office Direct Access server is being blocked by EE.

I have found a fix wont apply to a lot of people but as I have a Unifi router I have set up a Client VPN service on it to a cloud VPN Server and then routed all traffic from my work laptop via the VPN this now allows me to connect work Direct Access servers.

I would recommend EE looking into this as more people working from home and in the field may now not be able to connect remotely to their work place.