Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

Ronin-Sage · 2009-01-18 02:05:33

I've tried several different clients(Pidgin, Xchat, irssi), tried toggling the firewall on/off(Firestarter front-end), tried using OpenDNS's DNS servers, and I *still* get a timeout when trying to connect to freenode, efnet, and any other irc server. In fact, the problem extends to my XP partition, and I'm really unsure how to proceed. I'm behind a router, which at first glance makes for a straight-forward solution, however it didn't work without the router either(just connecting the ethernet cable to the wall).

I can track the issue back to when I first moved in with my sister, in her apartment. The ISP here is Cox Communications, but I seriously doubt they'd block completely block IRC(both servers and clients). I could previously connect to whatever IRC server(when I lived in my dorm, that is), which worked on the college's LAN.

Any advice on how to even begin to troubleshoot this is welcome.

aglarond · 2009-01-18 02:27:12

Some ISPs block IRC because of Zombies. You can use tcptraceroute to trace the connection and see where it stops. Most IRC servers listen on 6667 or somewhere in that range. You can find the port on the server listing.

-mS

Ronin-Sage · 2009-01-18 02:50:44

Exactly what am I supposed to be looking for in the output? Just the last entry? I'm noobish in certain areas(network administration being one of them), so I have to ask--what do I do with this info?

aglarond · 2009-01-18 02:57:57

Post the output here and one of us might be able to make something of it.

-mS

Ronin-Sage · 2009-01-18 03:12:17

*wonders exactly how smart it is to do this*

Selected device wlan0, address 192.168.2.44, port 47724 for outgoing packets
Tracing the path to wlan0 (208.69.36.132) on TCP port 80 (www), 30 hops max
1 192.168.2.1 3.371 ms 3.811 ms 3.663 ms
2 172.16.26.1 2.969 ms 2.266 ms 2.046 ms
3 10.8.0.254 6.236 ms 5.883 ms 4.759 ms
4 wsip-24-248-9-161.br.br.cox.net (24.248.9.161) 6.851 ms 5.782 ms 6.351 ms
5 ip24-248-104-194.br.br.cox.net (24.248.104.194) 7.183 ms 13.666 ms 6.004 ms
6 ip24-248-104-178.br.br.cox.net (24.248.104.178) 6.800 ms 6.473 ms 7.104 ms
7 dalsbbrj01-ae0.r2.dl.cox.net (68.1.0.142) 17.645 ms 22.788 ms 18.796 ms
8 ae-0.r21.dllstx09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.59) 18.993 ms 23.157 ms 19.622 ms
9 p64-2-1-0.r21.chcgil09.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.4.113) 39.548 ms 44.509 ms 41.603 ms
10 * * *
11 fa-9-16.r01.chcgil09.us.ce.gin.ntt.net (128.242.180.46) 53.461 ms 40.164 ms 43.150 ms
12 208.69.36.132 [open] 39.659 ms * 59.492 ms

aglarond · 2009-01-18 03:31:51

You're giving away your IP address, but nothing really sensitive.

It looks like 208.69.36.132 is the IP address of the IRC server. Try this command instead:

tcptraceroute 208.69.36.132 6667

That'll trace it on that port and let you know if it's being blocked.

-mS

Ronin-Sage · 2009-01-18 04:05:06

Selected device wlan0, address 192.168.2.44, port 50962 for outgoing packets
Tracing the path to 208.69.36.132 on TCP port 6667 (ircd), 30 hops max
 1  192.168.2.1  1.482 ms  1.397 ms  1.379 ms
 2  172.16.26.1  2.960 ms  3.099 ms  3.921 ms
 3  * * *
 4  * * *
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25  * * *
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29  * * *
30  * * *
Destination not reached

aglarond · 2009-01-18 04:14:38

Your ISP's firewall is blocking IRC. Your only real option at this point is to try to proxy through another server. Your IRC software probably has an option for that, but somebody with more experience would need to help with that part.

Sorry.

-mS

Ghost1227 · 2009-01-18 04:40:42

you could also try something like php:irc crappy option, i know... but do what you gotta do

Sjoden · 2009-01-18 04:58:20

You could ask your ISP to open it up for you. It's unlikely, but if your knowledgable enough to ask, they might be able to help.

Ronin-Sage · 2009-01-18 10:20:27

Thanks for all of the help. I suppose I'll have to contact them and see what's-what. Preventing users from hosting their own IRC stuff is one thing, but preventing them from using clients is just unforgivable.

babypuncher · 2009-01-19 06:35:40

Got another box? Setting up an ssh tunnel would be my solution,

kludge · 2009-01-19 06:45:09

don't know about any other clients, but weechat works just fine through tor. it's hella slow, but it'll get you on. if freenode hasn't shut down their tor server, which they frequently do.

Ruckus · 2009-01-19 06:52:20

A lot of IRC servers have an SSL port open, they probably aren't blocking it.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-01-18 02:05:33

Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#2 2009-01-18 02:27:12

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#3 2009-01-18 02:50:44

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#4 2009-01-18 02:57:57

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#5 2009-01-18 03:12:17

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#6 2009-01-18 03:31:51

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#7 2009-01-18 04:05:06

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#8 2009-01-18 04:14:38

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#9 2009-01-18 04:40:42

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#10 2009-01-18 04:58:20

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#11 2009-01-18 10:20:27

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#12 2009-01-19 06:35:40

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#13 2009-01-19 06:45:09

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

#14 2009-01-19 06:52:20

Re: Can't connect to IRC servers...at all

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