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Is Verizon Blocking Any Ports Used by TIVO?

Is Verizon blocking any of the following ports UDP 37 or 123 or TCP ports 37,80,443,5005,5222,5223,7287,7288,8000,or 8080-8089. Or is the fact that they are throttling my service to a speed so slow that the TIVO box eventually determines it is being port blocked and gives up?

Comments

John_Getzke

We do not have a comprehensive list of all the ports that are blocked by the VZW NAT firewall configuration. The best you can do is trial and error the ports of interest using a port checking tool. For example attempting to Telnet into something over a specific port.

What usually gets people is that the NAT firewall hides your personal machines public IP address behind the IP address of the NAT. This makes any communication into your VZW device break without that device reaching out first and establishing the connection. It is a well documented feature and limitation of the 4G LTE network since its launch.

The current work arounds to the NAT firewall are:

1. Setup and configure a VPN

2. Purchase a static IP from Verizon

3. Switch to a VZW product that offers a static IP

4. Terminate and switch to a provider that offers a real public IP

> Or is the fact that they are throttling my service to a speed so slow that the TIVO box eventually determines it is being port blocked and gives up?

That depends on your plan and your service area. For example if you are on unlimited and hit the soft limit you will be restricted to 3G speeds for the remainder of your billing cycle. Other scenarios exist that could explain slow performance too.

Verizon_Support

Having slow speeds while streaming can be a bummer Hacksw00. What device are (Jetpack, Android OS, iPhone OS, etc.) you using to watch TIVO? What plan do you have currently? What's your zip code?

AmberF_VZW

If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

HACKSAW00

AmberF_VZW, thank you for your reply. I wish it was as more technically through and complete as John Getzke's reply. I can answer your specific technical questions. I have an unlimited plan that typically gets throttled during the first few days of a new billing cycle. My zip code is 78641.

I am using various devices I purchased from Verizion to connect to the internet. Normally, my home network utilizes a Novatel U620L 4gLTE MiFi. I also attempted to test for the issue using both of my Kyocera DuraForce Pro phones. They have a separate issue that needs to be address regarding network password characters on the Tivo boxes I will discuss in another post.

I think I have managed to determine the source of the problem. It would appear that the throttled network speed of ~.5 or 1/2 of a MB/SEC will not allow my Tivo boxes enough time to download the needed updates. The updates typically contain TV programming schedules with a somewhat small file size. Larger updates my arrive randomly.

This morning when my throttled connection was returned to 60MB\sec at the beginning of a new billing cycle...my Tivo boxes updated fully. BTW, all testing was run with only the tivo boxes connected to the network. (Huge [removed] )

An interesting side note, these Tivo boxes have been updating without failure for about a year. I was not monitoring for this failure before Dec of this year. I spent hours on the phone with Tivo before they accused my ISP of being the culprit.

In Verizon's defense I would say this issue is really not their fault. The Tivo folks could do more to deal with slow network conditions. Namely, sensors to tell if the updates are failing then applying a fix.

As a result of this inadequate bandwidth issue I am purchasing an additional ISP service through another company called Western Broadband.

Content removed as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service.

Message edited by Verizon Moderator.

HACKSAW00

John, Thank you for your reply. It has to be one of the most informative replies I have ever read. After spending 10 years in IT support I have seen a few...bad ones and a few good ones too. Thanks again and see my reply below to Amber at Verizon.

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