Port help for a novice

[#1]

Hello,

I use a (legal) file sharing service, but am having trouble accessing the servers contents. I was sent some instructions, which I am trying to understand; the first part is that I need to 'open up a TCP port and use a UDP port in your router' which is pretty double-dutch to me. But I have made some progress in understanding it all with the help of portforward.com and these pages. But I am still not sure how to 'open a port'.

I believe my router has a fixed IP address (which I see is necessary for what I am trying to do.) I have attached a screenshot of my Hub 2 settings, which I hope helps. Many thanks.

[#2]

@Ben1 

I use a (legal) file sharing service, but am having trouble accessing the servers contents.

Is the file sharing service hosted locally on you home network or a 'cloud share' (on the internet)

How do you access this share, using a dedicated application or something else?

To fully understand your issue and to assist , are you able to share in the instructions, redacting any personal information? 

[#3]

No, the share is hosted elsewhere from me, so a cloud share. I am trying to use EiskaltDC++ on my Mac, as a user. I have previously been able to connect to this fine, although not for a few years. The webmaster told me that he is not getting any login errors with my username and pw at his end. I hope that helps a bit.

[#4]

The webmaster told me that he is not getting any login errors with my username and pw at his end.

Did the webmaster see your login attempts?

Like many internet providers the routers supplied do not restrict outgoing connections so there is unlikely be a firewall issue caused by your Hub. 

Are you able to test EiskaltDC++ from a neighbour or family members house to see if it works anywhere?

[#5]

Yes, the webmaster saw my login attempts: "I have concerns that you are not logging onto the hub. Why, because if you had a wrong password I would see a failed attempt on the hub. I've not seen a failed attempt at all."

I don't think I can check my neighbours for help as they are pensioners in their 80's 🙂

[#6]

Are you able setup a hotspot on a mobile phone and try that?

We need to see if it's your internet connection or MAC laptop with the issue?

If you're happy can you share the site address you're trying? 

[#7]

Good idea about doing it on a mobile. I will give it a bash.

The site address is dchubhost.no-ip.info:30123 (if that makes sense!)

[#8]

The webmaster said "Could be fw as certainly no port was talking to PtokaX"

[#9]

@Ben1 

Did you find time to check if using a mobile hotspot you can connect?

Apart from the Hub two firewall there a an account based one as well, if you login to the members centre and check;

from the Home page navigate >Broadband >Broadband firewall (Bottom right corner). I would suggest turnning it OFF if set to Low or High. I understand it is a legacy add-on from the days of USB modems.

HTH

Edit: I mentioned before the Hub two does not block outgoing connections of any type.

[#10]

I've performed some testing this morning.

nslookup dchubhost.no-ip.info
Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.10.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: dchubhost.no-ip.info
Address: 213.32.48.131

I have found that dchubhost.no-ip.info is listening for connections on ports 25 and 80, I could not confirm port 30123 is open for connections.

The site does not respond to ping tests.

using telnet to perform a simple test telnet dchubhost.no-ip.info 25

netstat -n using mobile data I see

  TCP    192.168.85.59:61279    213.32.48.131:25       ESTABLISHED
  TCP    192.168.85.59:61280    213.32.48.131:80       ESTABLISHED

netstat -n using plusnet connection I see

  TCP    192.168.10.100:61137   213.32.48.131:25       SYN_SENT
  TCP    192.168.10.100:61138   213.32.48.131:80       SYN_SENT

SYN_SENT suggests a network routing issue which would be why the webmaster can not see your inbound connection

[#11]

Do you think that having a VPN on makes a difference? In case it does, I will switch it off.

[#12]

A VPN does make a difference, it is worth turning it off to see. 

Does the VPN work for anything or just not this site.

[#13]

Yes, the VPN seems to be working properly. Still unable to see the external server, sadly. 

I have been thinking, it might just be easier for me to install Windows on my Mac using emulation software (called Parallels or Bootcamp or similar.) That way, I could use the remote server as though I was using Windows. (I shouldn't have given my daughter my old Windows laptop!). It seems that things would be far easier to use that way, as there are very few options for Macs.Would I still be in the same boat? In other words, is there some issue with settings that wouldn't change, whatever OS I used?

[#14]

Another quick question - as I have the IP address of what I'm trying to connect to, and my phone is now running with a personal hotspot as you recommended above, to what do I actually connect to, to test it out? The particular P2P software that I use on my desktop isn't available for my phone.

[#15]

Have you confirmed "dchubhost.no-ip.info:30123" is the correct connection link?

From my testing, assuming the target host is as above, regardless of operating system you will not be able to connect to the target host using a plusnet connection. Are you able to test using a mobile data hotspot to see if that works?