Port 21 issues with Technicolor TG589vn v2

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CurlyBurl

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Topic # 201790 3-Sep-2016 23:12

Hi guys,

I'm having some seriously confusing issues with my Technicolor TG589vn v2. It's the router we were provided by Spark back when they were still Telecom, and I'm having issues with port forwarding. When I try to use any FTP program like Filezilla, the transfer will begin and build up speed for a few seconds before stopping, timing out, then resuming and repeating the cycle until it finally completes (only it takes much longer than it should because of all the timing out and resuming). I think this is due to a port issue, since I checked my port 21 online and it says it's closed. I've tried forwarding port 21 on my router but it doesn't seem to actually work. What am I missing here?

PeterReader

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Reply # 1622178 3-Sep-2016 23:12

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

you have reset your modem and router
your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing - you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap
your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing
you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

Your ISP and plan
Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)
Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)
Your general location (or street)
If you are rural or urban
If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin
If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service
If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

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michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1622191 4-Sep-2016 00:01

It is due to a configuration issue. You need to often forward more ports (Passive FTP).

Personally I'd not use FTP and instead look at other options (SFTP ideally on a different port). FTP is quite insecure and if it is to transfer files from home then you really should look at other options.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
A quick guide to picking the right ISP | The Router Guide | Community UniFi Cloud Controller | Ubiquiti Edgerouter Tutorial

CurlyBurl

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Reply # 1622193 4-Sep-2016 00:19

michaelmurfy:

It is due to a configuration issue. You need to often forward more ports (Passive FTP).

Personally I'd not use FTP and instead look at other options (SFTP ideally on a different port). FTP is quite insecure and if it is to transfer files from home then you really should look at other options.

I just gave it a go over SFTP on Port 22 and I'm still getting the timeout issue. When I check Port 22 at http://www.canyouseeme.org/, it says "connection timed out". Port 21 gets "connection refused".

zespri

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Reply # 1622198 4-Sep-2016 00:52

If you get connection refused on port 21 there is no way you can transfer anything over that port. You are probably not giving all the relevant information.

Can you tell a little bit more about your set up?

What does your network look like behind your router? What kind of FTP server are you using? Where are you connecting from? That is where is your client.

I noticed that your router has "media sharing features" so if you are using the built-in FTP server, you should set it up differently than mentioned in your OP, but it does not look like you are using that.

Can you reliably connect you your port 21 from this client with, say telnet? Are you behind CGNAT that may interfere with inbound connectivity?

As Michael says, a good test would be trying to use a different protocol and/or port and see if that work. If you already set up SFTP, then you probably could test the basics - does SSH work? Can you connect to the port with an ssh client? With telnet? Is IP address correct? Is there a firewall preventing connection (that could be on the client, on the router or on the server)?

CurlyBurl

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Reply # 1622200 4-Sep-2016 01:26

zespri:

If you get connection refused on port 21 there is no way you can transfer anything over that port. You are probably not giving all the relevant information.

Can you tell a little bit more about your set up?

What does your network look like behind your router? What kind of FTP server are you using? Where are you connecting from? That is where is your client.

I noticed that your router has "media sharing features" so if you are using the built-in FTP server, you should set it up differently than mentioned in your OP, but it does not look like you are using that.

Can you reliably connect you your port 21 from this client with, say telnet? Are you behind CGNAT that may interfere with inbound connectivity?

As Michael says, a good test would be trying to use a different protocol and/or port and see if that work. If you already set up SFTP, then you probably could test the basics - does SSH work? Can you connect to the port with an ssh client? With telnet? Is IP address correct? Is there a firewall preventing connection (that could be on the client, on the router or on the server)?

Apologies for the lack of detail, I'm a bit of a beginner with this stuff.

So I rent a seedbox over at Whatbox.ca, letting me run Bittorrent clients and upload / download files from there to / from home. I usually access it through Filezilla via regular FTP, it seemingly works fine on my laptop with no port issues, just my Windows desktop has trouble. The port issues are actually only recent and I'm unsure what could've changed to make this an issue on only my desktop.

My desktop is connected via ethernet to a TP-Link WAP, which connects to the Spark-provided modem through my home wired LAN. The TP-Link is purely acting as a WAP because the wireless signal is weak on my end of the house.

I ran an FTP test over at https://ftptest.net/#result on Port 21 and it said everything should be 100% fine. Telnet from CMD gives "C:\WINDOWS\system32>telnet whatbox.ca 21
Connecting To whatbox.ca...Could not open connection to the host, on port 21: Connect failed". I've completely disabled the Windows Firewall as far as I'm aware, and don't have any others installed. There does appear to be a firewall on the Technicolor router but the fact that I have no issues doing my FTP transfers on my laptop or another device would lead me to think it wouldn't be the router?

RunningMan

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Reply # 1622225 4-Sep-2016 08:31

You would only open ports on your router if you were hosting the FTP server inside your network and accessing it from outside, not the other way around.

How specifically is the TP Link WAP configured? I'd suggest that this is doing NAT, so you have a double NAT setup going on which is doing funky things to FTP. Try connecting the desktop directly to your modem, and see if that resolves the issue.

richms

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Reply # 1622245 4-Sep-2016 09:26

Try lowering the MTU on the desktop PC. I had no end of FTP issues with it on the default, lowering it helped heaps.

Richard rich.ms

zespri

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Reply # 1622288 4-Sep-2016 09:58

One person supports this post

Just to clarify:

- Your ftp server is "out there" on Whatbox.ca

- You can connect to it and transfer stuff no problem from within your home network from behind the Technicolor router from your laptop or another device

- But you cannot connect and transfer to the same server from your desktop which is in the same network behind the same router

Is this right?

richms

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Reply # 1622380 4-Sep-2016 12:58

Also, does the desktop have the "killer" network adapter in it? Crap FTP was one of the symptoms on my gaming PC that lead me to put a $5 PCIe realtek card in to use instead.

Richard rich.ms

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1622392 4-Sep-2016 13:38

What it sounds like to me is you're on a double NAT due to the TP-Link router. There is no need to forward ports. It sounds like it is failing to establish a Passive FTP session.

I have a FTP server you can test with - I published public details here for a bit however you didn't respond for a number of hours. This FTP account has since been deleted however if you wanted to test then PM me.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
A quick guide to picking the right ISP | The Router Guide | Community UniFi Cloud Controller | Ubiquiti Edgerouter Tutorial

CurlyBurl

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Reply # 1622503 4-Sep-2016 18:11

michaelmurfy:

What it sounds like to me is you're on a double NAT due to the TP-Link router. There is no need to forward ports. It sounds like it is failing to establish a Passive FTP session.

I have a FTP server you can test with - I published public details here for a bit however you didn't respond for a number of hours. This FTP account has since been deleted however if you wanted to test then PM me.

My apologies, it's been a busy Sunday - I'll send you a PM now :)

zespri:

Just to clarify:

- Your ftp server is "out there" on Whatbox.ca

- You can connect to it and transfer stuff no problem from within your home network from behind the Technicolor router from your laptop or another device

- But you cannot connect and transfer to the same server from your desktop which is in the same network behind the same router

Is this right?

100% except the last point - I can connect and transfer to and from my desktop, but the transfers will time out after a bit, then the server will disconnect, automatically reconnect, and then the transfer will resume from where it left off. The transfer will eventually complete, but it takes much longer than it needs to because of the timing out + disconnnecting + automatic reconnect every 20 or so seconds. This doesn't happen when trying the exact same files on the exact same server on say, my laptop, which is connected to the same router as my desktop except over wifi. I've tried using wifi on my desktop to see if that was the issue, but it happens on there too.

zespri

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Reply # 1622633 4-Sep-2016 20:14

CurlyBurl:

I've tried using wifi on my desktop to see if that was the issue, but it happens on there too.

When you tried using wifi, where you close enough to the technicolor router? You mentioned before you have poor reception and that's why you had to use TP-Link AP.

If you can plug your desktop in (for testing) to the technicolor router directly (wired) and exclude TP-Link AP from the equation - do that.

I expect you will still have problems and then we can be sure that they are not on the router or elsewhere, but on your desktop. I think we already can be fairly confident in that.

What it could be (as mentioned above on the thread) it could be your wireless card / driver. If you have another one or can borrow, try connecting with a different wi-fi card and see if the problem persists.