Internet Connection assistance

[Verified]

I'm having an issue right now with programs accessing the internet. Things like WoW, Steam, and other programs that use the internet to update are unable to connect to it. Firefox works and downloading programs as well, but anything else that needs to connect can't. Any ideas?

[CloneCommando]

Besides check your firewall to make sure its not blocking those programs, which I am sure you have done already, not really sry...

[eaper]

Originally Posted by CloneCommando

Besides check your firewall to make sure its not blocking those programs, which I am sure you have done already, not really sry...

Either this, resetting your router, making sure nobody is using all your bandwidth somehow, and making sure your IP is still net neutral lol.

[dho331]

access your router and port forward 1-25535, and delete all firewall/security programs. it is obvious if you have a virus, and active antivirus programs are detrimental to system speed as firewalls are annoying. I have been running this setup for over 5 years. I download spybot and avast once a year and find nothing. So unless you're an idiot, there is no need for security programs or closing ports.
also try hijack this or spybot's advanced tools suite to look for shady system files and post a log here

[ArcticFire]

Originally Posted by dho331

access your router and port forward 1-25535, and delete all firewall/security programs. it is obvious if you have a virus, and active antivirus programs are detrimental to system speed as firewalls are annoying. I have been running this setup for over 5 years. I download spybot and avast once a year and find nothing. So unless you're an idiot, there is no need for security programs or closing ports.
also try hijack this or spybot's advanced tools suite to look for shady system files and post a log here

Let me just start by suggesting that you don't do anything mentioned here, except for running Spybot S&D and Hijack This. Most of the time, it is not obvious that you have a virus. A good virus is one that avoids detection and is able to covertly send information to the control server. They'll be used to send spam, collect your passwords, or run a DDoS attack against anyone that makes virus programmer mad (Actually, most of the time, the virus makers sell these services to other shady people).

Opening all those ports on your firewall is also a risky move. You have a lot of programs and services on your computer listening for connections, more than you might think. A vulnerability in one of these services might put your computer at risk. Or, if you have windows file sharing on, people could just connect and access your files over the internet. (See port 139) If you've got windows 7, open the resource monitor, go to the network tab, and then look under the Listening Ports section for services listening on the address "IPv4 Unspecified" or your local network address (ie: 192.168.1.101). These are the ones that people would be able to access. Now, if you're observant, you'll probably say "But wait! Why would it accept connection from the internet if the service is only listening for connections destined for my local address?" Well, your router, as part of its NAT functionality, will rewrite the IP headers to change the destination IP from your public IP to your computer's private IP. This is how port forwarding works.

And finally, about your problem. Do these programs give a specific error message? Try disabling just the firewall/antivirus on your computer temporarily and see if the programs can connect.

[enzer]

If you recently installed an IP blocking software, or have recently included new databases of IP addresses for updates in said IP blocking software, or the databases were recently updated then you may be blocking the servers that these programs use.