Guess what? Another connections problem message

[Ghuulk]

Hey all,

FG has been working great for months. No issues. Suddenly, three days ago, I started getting connection failures. I have worked through the (very helpful) messages and posts on the forums, and tried all the various recommended remedies, but with no luck. Clearly I am missing something. Hoping someone with a little more technical expertise might be able to lend a hand.

[Trenloe]

Welcome to the forums Ghuulk and sorry you've suddenly started having issues.

Hopefully it's something simple that's changed.

To start, please run a Windows command prompt (assuming you're on Windows) and type the following: tracert 8.8.8.8 and press return. Post the results here please. This will help us get an idea of your network architecture and if maybe there's been a change from your ISP's point of view.

[Ghuulk]

Sorry. I should have done that up front. And yes, its a Windows machine.

Here ya go...

1 8 ms 3 ms 2 ms hitronhub.home [192.168.0.1]
2 15 ms 28 ms 20 ms 173.35.184.1
3 43 ms 45 ms 13 ms 24.156.149.45
4 25 ms 18 ms 52 ms 209.148.233.217
5 34 ms 30 ms 57 ms 209.148.235.137

[Nylanfs]

I bet your router restarted or had to assign a new IP address.

[Trenloe]

1 8 ms 3 ms 2 ms hitronhub.home [192.168.0.1]
2 15 ms 28 ms 20 ms 173.35.184.1
OK, this is good - your ISP hasn't suddenly shared your Internet IP address.

Login to your router (192.168.0.1) and check to see if the port forwarding for TCP port 1802 is correct - i.e. it is pointing to the current IP of your FG GM computer. If you're relying on UPnP (Universal Plug-n-Play) to automatically do this, check the UPnP settings - i.e. it's enabled and if it lists current devices check to see that it is showing the IP address of your GM computer.

[damned]

I would restart the router and try again.

Did you make any changes to the router in the first instance to make it work?

[Ghuulk]

Hey there, and thanks for the fast response.

Router/modem port forwarding looks good. Matches up with FG computer. UPNP is enabled (doesn't list devices).

MacAfee shows open for FG, with correct port, etc.

[Ghuulk]

I would restart the router and try again.

Did you make any changes to the router in the first instance to make it work?

The only thing I had to do in the first instance was set up the port forwarding, and that is still up and enabled. I tried a router reset the other day, and started from scratch. No change.

[Myrdin Potter]

Do you remember if you did an update for FG before the problem started happening. Sometimes the update convinces your anti-virus program that FG is new and the one that appears on the list no longer works.

[Ghuulk]

Do you remember if you did an update for FG before the problem started happening. Sometimes the update convinces your anti-virus program that FG is new and the one that appears on the list no longer works.

There was definitely an update recently. I will try deleting the old permission and creating a new one in McAfee, and see if that works.

[Ghuulk]

OK. Re-did the permissions in McAfee. Then did the connection test. Got the little warning window from McAfee alerting me that FG was attempting to contact the internet. I hit "allow always". The connection test started... took a little longer than usual... then failed.

[Ghuulk]

Follow-up: I applied the same logic to the ports controller in MacAfee. Deleted the existing permission and created a new one. SUCCESS.

Thank you so much, folks!

So, the key lesson here is that updates can trick your anti-virus. Connections occurring after an update could be cause by this. The solution is to delete old rules (even if the numbers are all correct), and create them anew.

I knew on of you would have the solution.

Thanks again, all. I was stumped!

[Myrdin Potter]

I would double verify the ip address in the router table matches the computer ip address and then redo it. I also would check that the connection to the router is still private as some Windows updates have changed previously private connections to public. Router companies plus Windows are both addressing security issues these days and making pretty big changes.

That is all the simple ones I can think of, otherwise you may need someone to remotely look at what is set up and see if they can spot something off (damned often helps here).

... The update email saying you solved it just arrived as I was typing, I am replying anyways in case someone else has an issue and the two above are the solution ....

Glad you are up and runnign and we were able to help.