newsbin.com

I've been using Newsbin for years with no issue, but in the last few weeks I've been unable to download files from my provider, Easynews. I'm using secure.news.easynews.com, but I have no more luck when I try to log in with the non-SSL address.

As far as I can tell, nothing has changed. Same software, same provider. I tried switching off my firewall, but the connection is still refused. Strangely, I'm still able to download headers ... it's just the file download that craps out.

The only thing I can think of that has changed is the fact that in the past few weeks I started using a proxy server (BTGuard) to download files via Bittorrent (utorrent). This doesn't seem to be connected, though, as the problem persists even when my torrent client is not running.

Any ideas? I'm stumped.

http://support.ipswitch.com/kb/WSK-19980714-EM01.htm

Connection refused it says.

That implies it's not connecting to the correct machine or not connecting to the correct port on the correct machine. It's essentially saying "the other end is disconnecting".

If you think it started with peer guardian, I think you should try uninstalling it and then try some downloads.

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: secure.news.easynews.com
Addresses: 69.16.186.10
69.16.186.53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: news.easynews.com
Addresses: 69.16.186.52
69.16.186.8

First thing I might do is go a command prompt and type in:

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nslookup news.easynews.com
nslookup secure.easynews.com


and make sure the IP addresses match. It should be the same as the ones listed here.

If they're the same then it's probably not a DNS issue.

Next. I'd try tracert

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tracert secure.news.easynews.com

....

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 1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.10.1
....
12    40 ms    37 ms    37 ms  ve3623.r1.dc.hwng.net [69.16.190.201]
13    42 ms    40 ms    42 ms  ve1009.ar2.dc.hwng.net [209.197.1.66]
14    40 ms   108 ms   103 ms  69.16.186.53


Should look something this and end at this IP. It should go direct, not through a proxy.

These simple tests should give you an idea of what's going on. At least it'll let you know if it's DNS. You could also look into using alternate ports. I'm leaning toward peer guardian though. I'd tell it to leave Newsbin alone if you can.

Thanks, Quade, for your very quick and thoughtful reply. I’ve run the command line queries you asked for, but I need some help interpreting the results.
The nslookup didn’t yield exactly the the ip addresses you specified. Here’s what I got:

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Name:    news.easynews.com.[myroutername]
Addresses:  66.152.109.61
69.16.143.61

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Name:    secure.news.easynews.com
Addresses:  69.16.186.53
69.16.186.10

I’m not sure why the name of the easynews server appended with the name of my network.

Here’s the traceroute info. I tried several times and got timeouts every time in the same places…

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1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  router.[myroutername] [192.168.2.1]
  2     1 ms     1 ms     1 ms  172.27.35.1
  3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  4     9 ms    11 ms    11 ms  24.156.158.197
  5    26 ms    23 ms    23 ms  XE6-1-2.gw02.ym.phub.net.cable.rogers.com [69.63.248.153]
  6    27 ms    26 ms    25 ms  69.63.250.154
  7     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  8    47 ms    97 ms    47 ms  unknown.hwng.net [209.197.0.70]
  9    48 ms    49 ms    53 ms  ve1004.ar1.dc1.hwng.net [69.16.190.122]
 10    52 ms    49 ms    49 ms  69.16.186.53

One additional piece of network configuration information that might factor into this: There’s a VOIP router (Ooma) between my modem and my Belkin router.

Thanks again for your advice.

Andrew

What kind of firewall do you use? Might be worth removing it, rebooting and then trying again.

I'm just using Windows firewall. Switched it off and rebooted, but I get the same error.

Yeah, windows firewall never causes problems. What about virus scanner? Something is messing up your connection. Plenty of other people are able to work with Easynews.

It's not just one group is it? One of the HDTV groups is borked on Easy.