Connecting to a Tunneled IP

[lilhobbit37]

Not sure if this is the right place to put this.

I'm trying to connect to my friend's server on Terraria. We are using a program called evolve which creates an IP to connect to. You have to be joined in the party to connect to the server.

It worked fine the other day, now it won't let me connect.

My friend had me run a tracert which found that at step 4 it was dropping the data (I think? I don't really understand any of it).

I have a ss of the tracert.

It worked fine pinging google and other ip's just not the tunneled one.

They are saying it is my isp or something, but I don't really understand how if everything else works perfectly fine. I was able to connect to a different friend's server through the same program.

They want me to email my isp to fix it, but I don't understand anything they said, so I wouldn't even know where to start fixing the problem.

Help?!

[Caeli]

So, hopefully this will help you to understand what is happening... it's a very quick and dirty explanation, so bear with me.

The internet isn't just a nebulous cloud where you get instant connectivity.  Typically, you go from point A to point B by sending your packets/requests/data to a router, which tells your packet where to go next; and from there it goes to another router, which tells it where to go next, and so on from router to router, usually through different networks/ISPs.  That means that from A to B, you might go through routers in Comcast space, Qwest, XO, and various other ISPs.

A traceroute shows the intermediary steps from where you are to where you are trying to get to. Any packet loss in between A and B can potentially affect your connectivity.

If step 4 is within your ISP's space, you should email them to let them know that you are not able to connect to the server via this program.  Include the traceroute, and request that they look into it and fix it.

There really isn't anything you can do at this point to fix anything.  Assuming your friend knows what they are talking about, your packets (your messages) are getting dropped along the way  to their server, and the only way to correct this is to contact the internet service provider where your packets are getting lost.

[lilhobbit37]

The problem and part that was confusing me is that when I did the traceroute to her direct ip, it got all the way to her isp but then dropped it, yet they said it was my isp that was the problem.

Wouldnt that indicate it was her isp dropping the packets not mine?

[Psi]

If you can use the same program to connect to Friend 1 with ISP A, and not to another friend with ISP B it implies the restrictions apply either at ISP B, or your Fried 2's router.

You could easily find the same symptoms with two friends on ISP A, if friend 1 has correctly configured their router to allow your connection but friend 2 has not.

unfortunately from your side, determining which is the actual problem is harder to tell.   Even with the same ISP, you could have friend 1 on a plan that allows x to connect while friend 2 is on a different plan, or uses a different setting which denies the connection before you even get to their router

[lilhobbit37]

My brother just helped me figure out the problem.

Evolve was being dumb and assigning another player and I the same ip. We remade the party from scratch and it assigned me a unique ip, and now it's working fine.

My brother said to be careful, VPN's are apparently very fussy and finicky at times.

Now we know how to fix it should it happen again though!