Getting Error Message for External IP Address

[Meliath1742]

Last nights game session was cancelled after I was unable to get a successful "Run Test" for connection. When I checked my External IP address (on FG) I started seeing the "Error!" message instead of an actual IP address. As of this morning I've tried all the usual things (Port 1802 open on router, Firewalls turned off, reset of router etc) and nothing has helped. This is a new problem I've never seen before. I'm not sure if it's a red herring but my external IP has changed from the last time we played (by the ISP I presume). My ISP modem has been on a straight thru bridge configuration and I use my own TP-Link Archer router. I'm beginning to suspect the ISP may have done something to change its configuration (i.e. its acting as a router again) but there have been no other internet issues in the household. I'm unable to login into the ISP Arris modem (not sure what the IP address is any more). Any ideas? Anyone seen this error message before?

[Trenloe]

From your GM computer go to https://www.canyouseeme.org/ - does the "Your IP" field populate with an external IP address? If not, try going to that same website from another computer (or device) on the same network and see what it shows.

This should be your Internet (external) IP address - also the address to login to your modem.

[Meliath1742]

Ok, the IP address is showing up (although port 1802 fails). I'll try to see if i can login to the Arris modem.

Update: using the same IP address seen above, isn't working for accessing the Arris modem (simply doesn't connect).

[Trenloe]

Ok, the IP address is showing up (although port 1802 fails).
Using canyouseeme.org to test port 1802 you need to have a Fantasy Grounds campaign up and running and ready for player connections.


Update: using the same IP address seen above, isn't working for accessing the Arris modem (simply doesn't connect).
Type tracert 8.8.8.8 from a command prompt. Try logging into one of the first two IP addresses shown.

[Meliath1742]

Using canyouseeme.org to test port 1802 you need to have a Fantasy Grounds campaign up and running and ready for player connections.

Yes, sorry should have specified. FG was/is running with campaign loaded but no-joy on the 1802 port (External IP address is shown).

Type tracert 8.8.8.8 from a command prompt. Try logging into one of the first two IP addresses shown.

Ok, the first IP (Internal) address accesses my TP-Link router. The second IP address did not connect to anything (timed out).

[Trenloe]

Is the second IP address an internal IP address? 192.168.xx.yy or 10.xx.yy.zz or 172.16-31.xx.yy. Or is it the same IP address as reported by canyouseeme.org?

Try rebooting the router and the modem again.

EDIT: then, after the reboot, do the tracert 8.8.8.8 check again and post the first 4 hops here.

[Meliath1742]

Is the second IP address an internal IP address? 192.168.xx.yy or 10.xx.yy.zz or 172.16-31.xx.yy. Or is it the same IP address as reported by canyouseeme.org?

Try rebooting the router and the modem again.

EDIT: then, after the reboot, do the tracert 8.8.8.8 check again and post the first 4 hops here.

The address was a 10.xx.yy.zz number. I'll get back with the other info...my family hates it when I have to reset modem/router.

Update: here are the first 4 hits, wasn't sure if you needed the whole sequence (I got'em if you need'em)

192.168.*.*
10.118.*.*
10.40.*.*
10.15.*.*

The 7th & 8th hops have my ISP name as part of the description. 15th thru the 24th hops timed out. All the others were in the 25ms range for time.

[Trenloe]

192.168.*.*
10.118.*.*
10.40.*.*
10.15.*.*
Ouch! Those 10.xx.yy.zz IP addresses are all internal IP addresses - i.e. not addresses on the actual Internet. This means, unless you have at least three more routers/modems in your own setup, that your ISP is using NAT (Network Address Translation) to give you your Internet connection - more than likely sharing a single Internet IP address with many users. More and more ISPs are doing this.

Contact them and see if there is an option they can provide to allow port forwarding of TCP port 1802 to your network. Say it's for peer-to-peer gaming, don't say you're running a "server". If they can't sort that out, you may have to look into a VPN solution.

[Meliath1742]

Dang! I figured it was something the ISP had done...now i get to work with "customer service". Joy. Thanks for the help Trenloe...at least I know where to go next. By the way, I do have a VPN service (not using it for FG as of yet). How would VPN help?

[Meliath1742]

I've installed and am running PIA (Private Internet Access) VPN. After I connected to a US East VPN server, I booted up FG. Unfortunately FG doesn't see the new VPN address. Is there something else i'm missing in the configuration?

Update: Contacted my ISP. They believe the problem (change) is at their end since they've had other customers with similar issues (mentioned a guy with security cameras losing his IP). The tech said unless they can sort it out (port forwarding) it could come down to getting a static IP address($). Said he's seen this problem before so maybe I'll get lucky.

Update 2: I discovered that Avast had changed it's protocol when dealing with FG after a recent update. I was able to get an external IP address (instead of Error) to show up in FG. But I'm still unable to get a successful connection test or get my wife's PC to connect to my campaign. Still seeing the 10.*.*.* IP hops on a tracert too. I'll be talking with my ISP tomorrow.

[Meliath1742]

I actually use PIA VPN on my mobile devices. After our earlier discussions I installed it on my pc but FG didn't seem to see it as the new ip address. The wife's pc couldn't connect while I had the VPN running behind FG. PIA doesn't have much in the way of an interface but is there something I need to look for to ensure FG will work with it? I guess I could try a different VPN if they offer a free demo.

[Gwydion]

I've installed and am running PIA (Private Internet Access) VPN. After I connected to a US East VPN server, I booted up FG. Unfortunately FG doesn't see the new VPN address. Is there something else i'm missing in the configuration?

Update: Contacted my ISP. They believe the problem (change) is at their end since they've had other customers with similar issues (mentioned a guy with security cameras losing his IP). The tech said unless they can sort it out (port forwarding) it could come down to getting a static IP address($). Said he's seen this problem before so maybe I'll get lucky.

Update 2: I discovered that Avast had changed it's protocol when dealing with FG after a recent update. I was able to get an external IP address (instead of Error) to show up in FG. But I'm still unable to get a successful connection test or get my wife's PC to connect to my campaign. Still seeing the 10.*.*.* IP hops on a tracert too. I'll be talking with my ISP tomorrow.

It sounds like you've done this, but definitely wait until not only you connect to the VPN server, but wait until you see that you have been assigned an ip address. Assuming you are doing that, I'm not sure what else you can do as I'm not familiar with that VPN provider. There are other threads where we discuss VPN's that seem to work. I use PureVPN, but I had to add the dedicated IP option to get it to work reliably. Now it seems to work great for me (and other folks as well). They do have a 7 day money back guarantee, but not a free trial. I ended up paying about $58/yr including the dedicated IP option.

Perhaps see if your VPN service has a dedicated IP option and see if they will allow you to test it or offer a refund if it doesn't work?

[Trenloe]

PIA say they have port forwarding as an advanced feature. I haven't used PIA before, but I'd look into how to setup port forwarding on PIA so that TCP port 1802 can get through to your FG GM computer. Look in the PIA Firewall/Port Forwarding settings.

Recently, a few community members have had good success with PureVPN and a static address. Discussed for a couple of pages from this post: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20309-GM-Connection-Issues-Tried-Everything-Try-Hamachi&p=335782&viewfull=1#post335782

[Meliath1742]

Thanks guys. Just so happens I was reading your other thread on this topic before this response. I'll look harder at PIA but PureVPN looks promising...assuming my ISP has left me in the cold. Still need to see if they offer a static IP option that doesn't break the bank. I'll keep you updated.

Update: just did a quick test on my phone with the PIA port forward function. You have to connect to specific servers that allow it. Two in Canada were the closest to me. It then assigns a 5 digit port number to input into the "listening" port of your application. It says it's for helping with torrents. I'm not sure this will help my FG situation.

[Meliath1742]

Ok, back at the house to see if PIA works from my desktop w/FG. Logged into PIA. Oddly, FG see's a different IP when PIA is being used but it's not the same IP that's displayed by PIA?! Anyways, still not able to login (with any ip address) from the wife's pc and of course the test still fails. With PIA's port forward dedicating its own 5 digit port number I don't think PIA is the answer.

[Meliath1742]

Spoke with ISP again. They didn't have a good explanation about the 10.*.*.* addresses, only that their modem was still in a proper bridge configuration and FG should be working and anything else would be the "internet". I should point out that this is not a large ISP provider and I'm not sure who is actually providing the NAT protocol. Anyways, I asked about getting a static IP and for an additional...wait for it...$10...they can provide a static IP. So it's probably a little more expensive than going a VPN route, but if it works I'll be happy. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Gwydion]

I don't want to confuse things further as I am definitely not a tech guy, I've just done a lot of troubleshooting on my system and had to get a tech guy involved!

In my case I have an arris cable modem through tds which connects to my apple airport extreme router which provides wifi throughout my house which I use to connect my laptop and run FG. (sound like your situation is similar?)

The one thing I have found is once in a great while, my internal ip address to the apple airport extreme changes. For example, if it is typically 10.0.1.1, it may change to 10.0.1.2. When this happens I just log into the arris modem and change the port forwarding from 10.0.1.1 to 10.0.1.2 and everything is fine. The first time this happened I couldn't for the life of me figure out what happened as everything was exactly the same, I hadn't changed a thing. It usually happens when I have to reboot the modem and/or router.

My only point is, if you haven't already, just make sure the router internal ip didn't change. I didn't even notice mine was off by "1" until I looked closely.

[Meliath1742]

Well, my Arris modem is set to bridge mode (verified twice by the ISP techs now) and just pushes everything thru to my TP-Link router. My router has the 1802 port forwarded as it has been all along. But I get where you're coming from. I'm no IT guy either and I still feel like there's something I'm missing. I'm hoping that a static IP will help but I won't be confident until it does. I've tried turning off my firewall because I'm never completely sure Avast isn't messing with me when it comes to FG (it's worked fine for months prior). So, looking at it from outside the forest, I know of nothing that I changed to make this happen. One week it worked...the next it didn't.

[Gwydion]

Well, my Arris modem is set to bridge mode (verified twice by the ISP techs now) and just pushes everything thru to my TP-Link router. My router has the 1802 port forwarded as it has been all along. But I get where you're coming from. I'm no IT guy either and I still feel like there's something I'm missing. I'm hoping that a static IP will help but I won't be confident until it does. I've tried turning off my firewall because I'm never completely sure Avast isn't messing with me when it comes to FG (it's worked fine for months prior). So, looking at it from outside the forest, I know of nothing that I changed to make this happen. One week it worked...the next it didn't.

Got it. The bridge mode (which I vaguely understand) is where we are different and why the issue I had isn't relevant to your situation. Darn it! Always looking for the simplest issue! :)

Hope you get it resolved shortly.

[Meliath1742]

In the beginning there was Static IP...and static IP was good!

Just got my shiny new static IP address, funneled it into the router...and the FG test feature WORKS! haven't had a chance to check out my wife's connection yet, but this seems to be the answer to my problems. I'll check back later once I get someone online to help check it out.;)

[Trenloe]

Glad you got it sorted.

The key here was the multiple internal IP addresses in the tracert in post #7 indicating that the ISP was no longer giving your router a direct Internet IP address. Just a pity you had to pay for it. We're going to see more and more ISPs doing this as there aren't enough IPv4 addresses to go around.

[Meliath1742]

Ok the Wife's pc connected just fine! I really appreciate the help Trenloe! You were spot on. And yeah...this is going to be a bigger problem as more ISP's go this direction. It would be really nice if they forewarned you, at least that way you don't pull your hair out for days on end trying to figure it out. Thanks again, to everyone.

[Gwydion]

In the beginning there was Static IP...and static IP was good!

Just got my shiny new static IP address, funneled it into the router...and the FG test feature WORKS! haven't had a chance to check out my wife's connection yet, but this seems to be the answer to my problems. I'll check back later once I get someone online to help check it out.;)

Awesome!! Finger crossed....

[Meliath1742]

Awesome!! Finger crossed....

See previous post...it works!!!

[Gwydion]

See previous post...it works!!!

Awesome! Missed that. Very cool.