Impossible to connect

[Travellintroll]

Well, I have officially tried everything. I live in China and I have tried every conceivable option to connect Fantasy Grounds. I can't access the router, since it is in Chinese. I hired someone to come and do the port forwarding and was told it was not possible. I tried the VPN options without success. I cannot connect with Hamachi since it messes with my VPN connection and it is naturally blocked without a VPN. I am out of options.

I guess it is good that the few games available in this region, I have not been able to join. Too bad I can't even test it with another player.

Too bad. I was really looking forward to playing!

[Trenloe]

1) You should only need a FG compatible VPN if you are going to GM games. If you're a player you shouldn't need this. The Connection test is just for a GM.
2) Only certain VPNs work for Fantasy Grounds as most VPNs don't allow port forwarding. PureVPN with the static IP option is known to work for GMing a FG game - and one of the GMs has GMed using this setup from China.

[Travellintroll]

1) You should only need a FG compatible VPN if you are going to GM games. If you're a player you shouldn't need this. The Connection test is just for a GM.
2) Only certain VPNs work for Fantasy Grounds as most VPNs don't allow port forwarding. PureVPN with the static IP option is known to work for GMing a FG game - and one of the GMs has GMed using this setup from China.

So, connecting to a game does not utilize port forwarding?

I used Pure VPN and tried every conceivable option to get it to work. I had a static IP, and used their NAT firewall option to open all ports and then also to open only the single port required for FG. I tried it with an exception to my firewall and I tried it with the firewall turned off. I tried Customer Service and they were no help whatsoever. It simply does not work.

Thanks for your quick reply though.

[LordEntrails]

So, connecting to a game does not utilize port forwarding?

I used Pure VPN and tried every conceivable option to get it to work. I had a static IP, and used their NAT firewall option to open all ports and then also to open only the single port required for FG. I tried it with an exception to my firewall and I tried it with the firewall turned off. I tried Customer Service and they were no help whatsoever. It simply does not work.

Thanks for your quick reply though.

Connecting to a game does not require port forwarding. A player does not need it. A GM (host) does, though it is most often done automatically be the software.

Though it is certainly possible your environment is such that it will be impossible, it is very highly unlikely that such is the case. If you are patient and willing to work with some of the network gurus on the forum here (not me), will be glad to walk you through the trouble shooting and setup.

[Trenloe]

So, connecting to a game does not utilize port forwarding?

Port forwarding is only needed by the GM. Only the GM instance of FG utilises port 1802. As a player you just connect to the GM, the player doesn't use port forwarding. Therefore, the connection test "Run Test" button on the GM "Load Campaign" screen is not relevant for players.

I used Pure VPN and tried every conceivable option to get it to work. I had a static IP, and used their NAT firewall option to open all ports and then also to open only the single port required for FG. I tried it with an exception to my firewall and I tried it with the firewall turned off. I tried Customer Service and they were no help whatsoever. It simply does not work.

Sounds like there is something on your computer still blocking the connection test. Plus, you don't actually need the PureVPN NAT firewall - just the dedicated IP address.

- Is the PureVPN network connection showing as Public or Private - it needs to be Private.
- Make sure that FG is closed when you first connect to PureVPN. Wait until PureVPN has shown it has an IP address before you start FG. On the "Load Campaign" click "<<Click to retrieve>>" for the external IP address - does this match the IP address of PureVPN?

[Gwydion]

Travellinitroll. I know I'm a little late to the party, but have you checked your antivirus as well? If PureVPN isn't working for you and you are having problems connecting to other games in addition to hosting, maybe that is the issue? I'm happy to jump in my discord channel (text or voice) to see if I can help. I'm not the THE tech guy, but I know enough to check the basics with you. let me know. I'm happy to help and have some time now. Are you on a windows PC? What A/V are you using? Do you have malwarebytes? That is known to cause issues.

Here is my discord channel invite: https://discord.gg/pDuVPW

[Travellintroll]

Sounds like there is something on your computer still blocking the connection test. Plus, you don't actually need the PureVPN NAT firewall - just the dedicated IP address.

Really? I thought the whole point was to manipulate port forwarding without changing the router settings.

- Is the PureVPN network connection showing as Public or Private - it needs to be Private.
- Make sure that FG is closed when you first connect to PureVPN. Wait until PureVPN has shown it has an IP address before you start FG. On the "Load Campaign" click "<<Click to retrieve>>" for the external IP address - does this match the IP address of PureVPN?

Yes

[Trenloe]

Really? I thought the whole point was to manipulate port forwarding without changing the router settings.

I was mentioning the PureVPN NAT, because you mentioned you were using that. For the many people that have PureVPN working, they don't need the PureVPN NAT Firewall. That is what I said "you don't actually need the PureVPN NAT firewall - just the dedicated IP address."

Anyway, I think there's too much confusion going on here. I recommend you take up Gwydion on his kind offer.

[Travellintroll]

Anyway, I think there's too much confusion going on here. I recommend you take up Gwydion on his kind offer.

I will do that. Thank you for your help.

[Gwydion]

Quick update. the OP and I connected last night and got through a couple items including setting up a rule to allow FG in his AV software, which is AVG. He is reinstalling PureVPN (he had uninstalled after canceling it when it wasn't working) with dedicated IP and he is going to contact PureVPN to reinstate his account so we can hopefully get back to checking on this again tonight.