Is my ISP blocking ports?

[The Tiger]

Recently, I have shifted from a regular DSL based ISP (BSNL) to a cable broadband ISP (Meghbela) due to very cheap rates. I never used to have any sort of problem of port forwarding while on BSNL.

But after I shifted to Meghbela, I found that all ports are closed. There is not a single port that I checked is open. I tried almost 10,000 ports and all are closed. (Of course, I can't download anything via torrent and it remains stuck at connecting to peers, even when it is a very well-seeded Linux distro.)

Is my ISP blocking the ports? The external IP I get from this cable ISP is a shared IP, which covers whole of my locality. So I think that this is an already NAT-ed connection. They have given me an internal IP: 10.10.117.45, a gateway address, and DNS addresses to use for my ethernet's IPV4 manual config, (or for the router as static IP.)

Do you think the ISP is blocking the ports? Is there a way I can do port forwarding on this connection? Or is it time I switched back to the old ISP that gives dynamic IPs with all ports open?


Please help.

Thank you, everyone.

 

[Havo_k]

Have you tried enabling DMZ?

 

[The Tiger]

Have you tried enabling DMZ?

I did. Even if I do not use my WiFi router and connect the modem they supplied directly, the ports remain closed. I can't access the modem's configuration page. The modem, itself, is a very simple one, with a coax entering and a LAN port exiting. Nothing else. Not even a brand. It is just labelled EOC Slave.

 

[Shaun o]

You could try DMZ, if the router has one.
Or it may be down to the status of the hardware firewall if you have an adsl modem/ combined router.
In such a case log into the router and change the firewall setting.
Also make sure that Upnp is ticked. or enabled.

 

[The Tiger]

You could try DMZ, if the router has one.
Or it may be down to the status of the hardware firewall if you have an adsl modem/ combined router.
In such a case log into the router and change the firewall setting.
Also make sure that Upnp is ticked. or enabled.

Actually, even if I connect directly through their supplied modem, with no router in between, the ports are all closed.

 

[caqde]

What kind of IP address are you getting on your PC when you are connected directly?

EDIT: err. nvrmind.... I should have read that.. Well... uhm you are SOL..... Not much to say really. Unless you can get another ISP that doesn't do what they are doing. 10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x - 172.32.x.x, and 192.168.x.x are all local IP address so your assumption that you are behind a NAT is correct and they are likely no using UPNP so.... yeah.

 

[The Tiger]

What kind of IP address are you getting on your PC when you are connected directly?

EDIT: err. nvrmind.... I should have read that.. Well... uhm you are SOL..... Not much to say really. Unless you can get another ISP that doesn't do what they are doing.

SOL means?

 

[The Tiger]

Do you think my ISP is blocking all the ports? (i.e., they do not have port forwarding turned on?)

 

[The Tiger]

Just now I checked another range of common ports and I saw that only port 22 is open. Does this data help?

 

[caqde]

SOL -> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=SOL (Not sure I want to use profanity here).

Is your ISP blocking ports.. Well it is almost like the infrastructure of your ISP is.... backwards.. amateurish.. cheap.. Basically I don't think it is intentional blocking but more of an issue with their hack job (amateur, cheap, redneck take your pick) setup.

 

[The Tiger]

SOL -> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=SOL (Not sure I want to use profanity here).

Is your ISP blocking ports.. Well it is almost like the infrastructure of your ISP is.... backwards.. amateurish.. cheap.. Basically I don't think it is intentional blocking but more of an issue with their hack job (amateur, cheap, redneck take your pick) setup.

LOLOL (The SOL part).

Another question: In utorrent, the network icon is green and it says port open (any port) only when I check Automatic port map configuration. But speed is terrible (only 1-5 KBPS). Why does it say port open, when in reality the ports are closed?

 

[caqde]

SOL -> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=SOL (Not sure I want to use profanity here).

Is your ISP blocking ports.. Well it is almost like the infrastructure of your ISP is.... backwards.. amateurish.. cheap.. Basically I don't think it is intentional blocking but more of an issue with their hack job (amateur, cheap, redneck take your pick) setup.

LOLOL (The SOL part).

Another question: In utorrent, the network icon is green and it says port open (any port) only when I check Automatic port map configuration. But speed is terrible (only 1-5 KBPS). Why does it say port open, when in reality the ports are closed?

It could be due to the distance between you and the other users or that the ISP's setup can't handle the connection load that torrenting adds to the router (Torrenting requires multiple connections to be established and sends out multiple requests per second that along with the established connection for downloading and uploading makes it heavier than normal usage and even gaming).

You might be able to get a bit faster speed if you reduce the number of simultaneous outbound connections. I'm not sure where you can change this in Utorrent though also think of requiring encryption in case there are weird torrent rules even though you may just be downloading a Linux ISO they may throttle torrenting due to it being seen as an illegal activity.

EDIT: As far as the Auto it probably used either UPNP or NAT-PMP to temporarily open a port through the router for you. Which further solidifies the you are behind a NAT. I'm not sure if this would work if you aren't directly connected to them though.

 

[Shaun o]

Wow I just looked at there website.

On that basis, change your Isp quick.
As one of the other posters said its a half bit company.
And judging by the spelling mistakes ect on the website trying to pose as a quality ISP.
To me it looks like they have blocked most of the ports, to conserve bandwidth.
If you are connecting at the other end to a router or something that is giving out, if they quoted you a Static IP address then its the case.
So yes port blocking will be in effect.

Port 80 should be fully open along with port 8080.
Since its related to Browsers. ect.

What you should do is connect your computer direct the cable modem.
And use a port sniffer program.
That will tell you what ports are, switched of, bandwidth restricted. or a load balance trigger set.

I have to say based on the amount of packages, its a case of what you pay for you get. that means if your on a cheap package then they most likely purposely block ports and restrict traffic based on a static ip given to you.


Have a read guys.
http://meghbelabroadband.com/package.html

 

[The Tiger]

SOL -> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=SOL (Not sure I want to use profanity here).

Is your ISP blocking ports.. Well it is almost like the infrastructure of your ISP is.... backwards.. amateurish.. cheap.. Basically I don't think it is intentional blocking but more of an issue with their hack job (amateur, cheap, redneck take your pick) setup.

LOLOL (The SOL part).

Another question: In utorrent, the network icon is green and it says port open (any port) only when I check Automatic port map configuration. But speed is terrible (only 1-5 KBPS). Why does it say port open, when in reality the ports are closed?

It could be due to the distance between you and the other users or that the ISP's setup can't handle the connection load that torrenting adds to the router (Torrenting requires multiple connections to be established and sends out multiple requests per second that along with the established connection for downloading and uploading makes it heavier than normal usage and even gaming).

You might be able to get a bit faster speed if you reduce the number of simultaneous outbound connections. I'm not sure where you can change this in Utorrent though also think of requiring encryption in case there are weird torrent rules even though you may just be downloading a Linux ISO they may throttle torrenting due to it being seen as an illegal activity.

EDIT: As far as the Auto it probably used either UPNP or NAT-PMP to temporarily open a port through the router for you. Which further solidifies the you are behind a NAT. I'm not sure if this would work if you aren't directly connected to them though.

Thank you so much for the answer! I think they have closed the ports because as they provide an unlimited connection, they want to prevent downloads via torrent that eats up most of an ISP's bandwidth. If they can time-throttle bandwidth, I guess they're smart enough to forward ports. I guess this is intentional.

 

[The Tiger]

Wow I just looked at there website.

On that basis, change your Isp quick.
As one of the other posters said its a half bit company.
And judging by the spelling mistakes ect on the website trying to pose as a quality ISP.
To me it looks like they have blocked most of the ports, to conserve bandwidth.
If you are connecting at the other end to a router or something that is giving out, if they quoted you a Static IP address then its the case.
So yes port blocking will be in effect.

Port 80 should be fully open along with port 8080.
Since its related to Browsers. ect.

What you should do is connect your computer direct the cable modem.
And use a port sniffer program.
That will tell you what ports are, switched of, bandwidth restricted. or a load balance trigger set.

I have to say based on the amount of packages, its a case of what you pay for you get. that means if your on a cheap package then they most likely purposely block ports and restrict traffic based on a static ip given to you.


Have a read guys.
http://meghbelabroadband.com/package.html

WOW! Thanks a bunch for the answer. Yes, you're right. I'm behind their router, and I'm sure of that now.

I checked just now. Port 80 and port 8080 are closed.

What port sniffer do you think I should use, which'd serve me the purposes you mentioned? It should be free.



By the way, the packages you've provided a link to, hasn't been updated since the dawn of time. I use their 2 Mbps unlimited without FUP plan at a dirt-cheap rate of 700 INR. And this is currently their premium plan at my place. No option to upgrade to higher packages.

 

[The Tiger]

This is my port sniffing status:



I tried to check the open ports and all but 222 say connection timed out.

Could you derive any conclusion from this?

Please note that I didn't mean to offend you when I erased my external IP. I was just following forum rules.

 

[Shaun o]

Yes port blocking is in effect.
When you send packets to and from a device or known program, even a browser it uses a port range.
For transmission.

Think of it like tuning a tv to all the stations. The tv scans for the signal given out for each channel and tunes to it.
Ports are set up so each program has its own path to send and receive data.

If you sent packets out on a port address and it returned no connection the port transmission protocol has been disabled at the other end. The port is blocked.

If you put a port address in and you get packets back it means the port is open for use.

I suspect like I said it has to do with the type of package you have signed up for.
That will or maybe set up on a Static IP address, so what they have done is put conditions on what ports are open, and closed linked to your Static IP adress if they gave you one, or it was pre set.

Like I said to constrain bandwidth.

It would suggest that the infrastructure, has bandwidth limitations.
And it how they manage the load on it.

 

[The Tiger]

Yes port blocking is in effect.
When you send packets to and from a device or known program, even a browser it uses a port range.
For transmission.

Think of it like tuning a tv to all the stations. The tv scans for the signal given out for each channel and tunes to it.
Ports are set up so each program has its own path to send and receive data.

If you sent packets out on a port address and it returned no connection the port transmission protocol has been disabled at the other end. The port is blocked.

If you put a port address in and you get packets back it means the port is open for use.

I suspect like I said it has to do with the type of package you have signed up for.
That will or maybe set up on a Static IP address, so what they have done is put conditions on what ports are open, and closed linked to your Static IP adress if they gave you one, or it was pre set.

Like I said to constrain bandwidth.

It would suggest that the infrastructure, has bandwidth limitations.
And it how they manage the load on it.

Thank you very much for the detailed illustration. Wonderful answers. Thank you, everyone!