[ipad] (LINK2ICT/ BGFL) iPad apps wont download in school

[benjaminstevens93]

Our internet is provided through link2ict/ bgfl in our birmingham school. Since purchasing iPad's last year we have had so many problems with download apps and updating ios on them. We was given an alternative proxy by link2ict which worked for a little while, but now appears to be dead. I've logged a call but had no reply.

 

Has anyone else had this problem? Or found a solution?

[Michael]

Setting up a proxy.pac file allows you to use some Apps with the proxy, but I still have problems updating iOS despite Link2ICT telling me it works, when it blatantly doesn't. Grr!

 

In the end I found downloading an offline copy of iOS7, then using iTunes to manually install large updates. The trick is to hold the shift key, which'll allow you to specify your offline file instead of it downloading a 1GB+ file from Apple every time.

 

Small incremental updates such as 7.1.1 will update via BGfL, if you were running 7.1 for example.

[Tricky_Dicky]

The long and short of it, is that it sucks.

 

I'm afraid to say that almost anyone who has BGFL network connectivity suffers with these sorts of problems and the "delivered on a truck, far to technical for a lowly technician to set up" new firewall hasn't helped in the slightest. Calls are still being logged for network change requests using the old method of ports and IP addresses and no one seems to be able to give an actual date of when things will improve.

 

Sorry to rant, but it's beyond a joke now and if Andy does read this I hope he actually employs some proper technicians not more middle managers who don't do anything!

[Brimstone]

2 words.

 

Caching Server

 

I can guarantee some bright Apple Reseller salesperson has sold a BGFL school a Mac Mini Server to manage the iPads and turned on caching server as well without setting up any static public I.P.'s for the school. Thats why you are getting intermittent downloads as BGFL will be using a pool of public I.P.'s. here's a more descriptive reason..

 

Most LEAs tend to have a round robin type installation of proxy which means that they can have multiple external addresses. How would this affect the caching service within a private network.

I assume that the issue would be something like:-

LEA Proxy

Public IP address pool:

194.15.16.23, 194.15.16.24, 194.15.16.25

School 1 Network School 2 Network School 3 Network

192.168.1.x 172.19.10.x 10.13.12.x

School 1 places a caching service on its network at 192.168.1.10. It goes online and gets the public IP 194.15.16.23. It registers this IP address with Apple’s Servers.

School 2 has 10 iPads that go online. 5 use 194.15.16.23 and are told that a caching service exists on their network and to use it. However they cannot connect since it is a different network entirely.

The other 5 are OK since no caching service exists on any other public IP at this time.

But if the caching service was granted a different public IP the next time it went online then the caching service would update Apple with the new IP and then the affected devices would differ.

[Michael]

Well whatever the reason(s) behind it, the problem's still there Link2ICT.

 

The first generation of iPads were released in 2010 - a whole 4 years ago. I think it's about time a real solution was put in place, instead of bodging a proxy solution that was released in the late 1990's.