Day 7 and counting: Cannot get past character select screen: "failed to connect to instance "

I use the exact same laptop on which I played POE - symantec endpoint Protection, firewall etc enabled. I now added pathofexile to the firewall too just in case (never had to do it in the past though)


I have Netgear WGR614 (and static IP configured into the router, and dummy IPs 10.0.0.1, 10.0.0.2 assigned for the devices connected through the wireless router.

Well I disconnected the wireless router - and connected the broadband modem to my laptop with ethernet cable etc, and tried.

Same result - failed to connect to instance.

Shouldnt there be some specific things to check/setup for a game like this instead of having to do a trial and error? none of the stickies address this issue (other than, dont use wireless, try VPN).

To rule out the problem being unique to the PoE servers try the following: telnet useast.battle.net 6112

Although this should not make a difference: try assigning your computer as the DMZ server via your router:

(Taken from the WGR614v6 manual)

"

To assign a computer or server to be
a Default DMZ server, follow these steps:
1.
Click WAN Setup link on the Advanc
ed section of the main menu.
2.
Type the IP address for that server. To remove
the default DMZ server, replace the IP address
numbers with all zeros.
3.
Click Apply

"

Shouldnt there be some specific things to check/setup for a game like this instead of having to do a trial and error? none of the stickies address this issue (other than, dont use wireless, try VPN).

The problem is the cause for this behavior is not unique to the game (as was established when using telnet)

what I meant was POE-specific pre-requisites in terms of the network (ports/whatnot). Clearly there seems to be some items which are necessary for POE but not for other games?

I have played Everquest, Runes of Magic and a few more games in the past - with exact same setup (router/ISP etc) and have had no issues. I never had to tinker around with ports/router setup etc for those.

Telnet:


C:\>telnet useast.battle.net 6112
Connecting To useast.battle.net...Could not open connection to the host, on port
6112: Connect failed


DMZ:

Made my PC IP the DMZ one, etc - still same result (failed to connect to instance).


Should I call my ISP to check if they have blocked port(s)? I searched the forums here, and looks like POE needs a whole bunch of ports? Or should I just check for 6112?

Thanks again for the posts - I had given up on getting any response :)

"

what I meant was POE-specific pre-requisites in terms of the network (ports/whatnot). Clearly there seems to be some items which are necessary for POE but not for other games?

I have played Everquest, Runes of Magic and a few more games in the past - with exact same setup (router/ISP etc) and have had no issues. I never had to tinker around with ports/router setup etc for those.

Well the thing is, no not really which is why this problem is so puzzling. The game does use several ports (which, as a programmer, I find a poor design choice) however it still should not conflict with any typical environment and thus not require any unreasonable configuration by the end user.

It seems there is some rule in place regarding port 6112 -- for example this means you would also have exactly the same problem with Blizzard games.

If you're confident there are no rules in place within software on your system, then yes I think it's time to contact your ISP. Explain that you are "unable to establish a TCP connection on port 6112 to any active remote host" if they ask how you know the remote host is active tell them you had a third party test the connection.

Also, when you've been connecting with telnet; how long is it taking before you receive the error? (Come to think of it; answer this question before contacting your ISP)

Edit: I havent played any blizzard games on this setup (last one was Diablo 2 decade+ ago in another country/continent, and only single player!) :)

Regarding telnet:

the one with POE IP took less than 10 seconds

the battle.net took over a minute to return.

The message was the same of course (could not open connection to the host, on port 6112: connect failed)

Alright I suggest you proceed with contacting your ISP.

EDIT: I roughly played Diablo 2 for a decade+ :)

called them up.

Seems they assign a fixed ip to me (but not a static IP) and so I do get a dynamic IP everytime I connect.

They confirmed that no ports are blocked at all.

Okay I think it's time to do a network trace.

1) Download Wireshark here http://www.wireshark.org/download.html

2) Run Wireshark and go to Capture -> Interfaces. Here you there are two possibilities:

a) If there is more than one interface then report back.
b) If there is exactly one interface then ensure it is selected and click Start

3) Again using telnet, connect to both useast.battle.net and 216.12.203.90, so:

telnet useast.battle.net 6112
telnet 216.12.203.90 6112

4) In Wireshark now go to Capture -> Stop then save the capture to disk by going to File -> Save

5) Upload the resulting capture file using your preferred service (e.g, www.sendspace.com) and provide a link.

IMPOTANT: Don't do anything that could possibly result in sensitive information being sent over the network while capturing is started (also, avoid any sort of network intensive task during this time so I don't have too much to sort through :P)

not sure if this helps:

http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/

I used this site now, clicked use current IP, and put in port 6112 and clicked check.

says "port 6112 is closed".