Dear Valued iPass Customer,
The communiqué below is to advise you of a potentially service affecting issue for anyone who has installed Microsoft’s last security patch and intends to use a scripted dial PoP. I obtained your email address from data stored in our May support tickets.
The communiqué below provides all of the detail available.
Please do not reply to this email but do refer to the iPass Network Status Page, available in the support section of the iPass portal, for updates.
Regards,
Bob Brace
Director, Customer Operations, iPass, Inc.
 
 
Important iPass Update on Microsoft Patch KB911280 impacting connections to all scripted dial POPS.  June 16, 2006
 
What is the problem and what caused it?
After installing KB911280 (MS06-025), users of any application that leverages Dial Up Networking (DUN), including iPassConnect, are unable to connect to any scripted dial POP.
 
NOTE: Connections to Wi-Fi, Ethernet, ISDN and iPass Mobile Data networks are not affected.
 
Microsoft and iPass are investigating the issue and options for resolution.
 
When did this occur?
After Microsoft’s release of MS06-025 (KB911280) on June 13, 2006.

Who is affected?
Users running all Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP (all service pack levels), and all Windows Server 2003 (all service pack levels) which have installed MS06-025 (KB911280)
 
How to recognize this issue:
When an affected user attempts to connect to a scripted POP they will receive a username/password error (691).
 
How do I confirm that if a POP is a scripted POP:
In iPassConnect 3.x click on the information button  of the selected POP (to the right of the phone number). In the bottom field of the window that appears is the "Script" field which indicates whether a script is used.  If the field is blank, this is not a scripted POP (follow normal troubleshooting procedures).
 
In iPassConnect 2.x the user must right-click on the selected POP phone number and select the “Details” menu item. In the window that appears, the field second from bottom indicates whether a script is used. If the field is blank, this is not a scripted POP (follow normal troubleshooting procedures).
 
What are the connection “work arounds” I can use?
·         Select an unscripted POP for the next attempt.
 
·         Use another connection type such as Broadband (Wi-Fi or Ethernet), ISDN or iPass Mobile Data Service.
 
·         If there are no unscripted POPs or other connection types  available, you must choose whether to uninstall the patch or connect long distance to an unscripted POP.  In the case of a long distance call, the user will bear the cost of the long distance toll. (*see below for scripted PoP data and countries of particular concern)
 
Further communication:
Please check the iPass Network Status Page for updates on this issue.
 
            *Scripted PoP data
 
iPass has 1,976 active scripted analog dial POPs (11.4% of all active analog dial POPs).  Top countries are:
 
USA: 1496/13488   = 11%
Mexico: 126/160   = 79%
Brazil: 114/1294  = 9%
Canada: 27/473    = 6%
Russia: 13/17     = 76%
Finland: 11/12    = 92%
 
 
Countries with no unscripted POPs: A user with the patch would be unable to dial up (except internationally) in the following countries:
 
 
CG,Congo Republic
CV,Cape Verde
ER,Eritrea
GA,Gabon
GF,French Guiana
GI,Gibraltar
GN,Guinea
GP,Guadeloupe
HT,Haiti
KG,Kyrgyz Republic
MD,Moldova
ML,Mali
MQ,Martinique
MR,Mauritania
MW,Malawi
MZ,Mozambique
PY,Paraguay
RE,Reunion Island
RW,Rwanda
SL,Sierra Leone
TG,Togo
ZM,Zambia
 
 
Elsewhere there will be cases where all dial POPs in a given city are scripted and the user would need to dial national long distance to connect