Microcells Won't Connect Through Cox Network
I have three Microcells in our home. They allow us to have a cell site in our home using the internet connection. Microcells are made by CISCO and they're pretty much "plug and play" units - you plug them in to the internet, and they bring your cells phone full bars, etc.
These microcells have been here in our home for 4 years with very little maintenance - ATT replaces them if there is a problem. There has been no changes in configuration or hardware in our home in the past 2 years.
Yesterday they stopped working.
Our internet was the first suspect because what would affect all units at once? But our internet tests rock solid, no jitter, plenty of speed.
We also thought well perhaps the Netgear CG3000DV2 router changed but we tested it and Cox says it is OK.
We spent hours working with ATT troubleshooting the units - restarting them and attempting to reload the software from the ATT servers but the units just cannot contact the ATT server.
So we looked into the ports they use. They use 123, 443, 500, and 4500. It appears from speaking to ATT that port 4500 is where they do the remote management and download of the software including updates. And we checked these ports on our router. All ports on the router are open.
So now we know that the problem is most likely port 4500 being blocked but not inside our house.
I have called Cox and explained the problem and asked for help. I know that Cox is more equipped to solve this problem than ATT because they are only able to help with devices - they will send me replacements for free but I know that won't fix my problem. I reviewed the ports that are blocked by Cox for "policy" - that means that they have a policy for instance of not allowing people to host a file server or web server at their home - they block those ports by policy.4500 is not one of the ports they block by policy.
So how can I work with Cox in a manner that would get them to help me find the problem?
Does anyone have any insight into how to solve this complex problem?
The problem definition is simple - Cox is blocking port 4500 somewhere and I need their help to find out where."
I have gone through a lot more troubleshooting and verification than I have listed here so just ask and I'll tell you if we've done it.
