FTP - Pulling my Hair Out!

[techyphil]

We use EMBC and I'm trying to connect to an FTP server hosting a website. For some reason I can not access them to save my life! I've been working on a fix all week with no luck.

My host said it's not them as everybody else in the world can connect. They've checked their "blacklist" to ensure we're not banned. They've given me various server names I could connect to and Ip addresses incase it's a bad DNS record. I've flushed our DNS server cache.

I contact EMBC and they said it's the host. So I've just brought another cheapy host and still I cannot connect! I've brought another domain name encase EMBC have filtered it or something.

My theory is that the port is blocked at EMBC's level. I don't get an error message, My FTP clients just hang on "Trying to connect to server..." then it times out.

Firewall's disabled, anti-virus removed - I've literally tried everything plus more knowing it's not nothing to do with it.

I can't seem to get through to anybody else regarding this issue at EMBC. The lady on the front desk has been pretty patient with me calling up these past 2-3times with suggestions but it doesnt get elevated any further. She tested it her end and it also worked fine.

Arg, someone please tell me there's a port block or something so I can go back with something as they're no longer prepared to spend any more time helping me. I don't want to be rude to the lady on the font desk and ask to speak to someone else. I think she's new, so I have no idea of her technical abilities but I've dealt with some engineers before who could help me when the first line support couldnt.

Please help, I can't sleep at night

TRIED PASSIVE MODE AND SFTP TOO

[nephilim]

sounds really daft but is it locked down by IP address at all?? I found ours was locked by IP until I requested it gets locked by time.

[techyphil]

This is exactly my thinking... is there a rule at EMBC that blocks FTP connections unless we specify an unblock. Just to be clear, the FTP server is hosted externally on the internet. I can understand if the FTP server was hosted internally and I was trying to access it from home.

I've bypassed the ISA server too. I'm connecting using this proxy server ----- proxy.embc.uk.com:80

I want to ask the lady the same question, scared she'd hang up on me for wasting her time.

[nephilim]

is it only at work you cant access it? If so, ask them to set a new proxy up to test...because we have ours numbered here in central beds as such

10.15.48.1:80 - public libraries backup
10.15.48.2:80 - public libraries
10.15.48.3:80 - nursery school
10.15.48.4:80 - lower school
10.15.48.5:80 - middle school
10.15.48.6:80 - upper school
10.15.48.7:80 - teachers
10.15.48.8:80 - technicians

I couldnt get through on teachers (and neither could many schools) so we requested collaboratively that we get a new proxy set up for technicians, which allows much more lenient rules...obviously stuff like porn and gambling are blocked etc, but we can pretty much do what we need to now for files, FTPs etc whereas before we couldnt. Perhaps thats worth a go?

[techyphil]

Sweet, thanks I'll give it ago tomorrow!

[nephilim]

do bare in mind that mine is central beds and through E2BN, not EMBC ...but if enough of you ask they should get their backsides into gear.

[pooley]

Try telnetting to the ftp, if it doesn't connect you can assume EMBC firewall or ACL has blocked your pc from accessing port 25.

[nephilim]

Port 25?? thats not right...port 21 is FTP Command, and Port 20 is FTP data, and port 1023 is the client access port, so if anything those ports would be blocked if you cant telnet..

[techyphil]

Hah TIL that Ftp had 2 ports... 1 for command 1 for data I assumed it was all through 1 hole! Right well to "test" EMBC's Theory that it's my end I just setup 2 machines, 1 server 1 client. They connect instantly internally to each other. I setup another FTP server at home and I can't connect to that from within work. So EMBC must have Port 20 or 21 blocked then?

Thanks for the suggestions!

[nephilim]

it could be one or the other, or even both. Get them to unblock one at a time, then both. Also what does TIL stand for? lol

[techyphil]

Thanks nephilim,

TIL
T.I.L. (Today I Learned)
Often used as a space saver on websites such as Reddit or DIGG when writing the titles of links to interesting things the submitter has learned that day.
TIL that a meter is the distance light travels in 299,792,458ths of a second.

[pooley]

Sorry I meant port 21, shouldn't be posting while watching Celebrity Juice Difficult to concentrate

[GrumbleDook]

do bare in mind that mine is central beds and through E2BN, not EMBC ...but if enough of you ask they should get their backsides into gear.

Pretty sure they are internal only to E2BN, in the same way EMBC runs its own internal address space ... to bleed between RBCs you have to use public IPs unless it is part of particular JANET / NEN services

[nephilim]

I know thats what I meant, do not confuse our proxies with theirs. however if enough people ask for a seperate proxy for technicians and network admins, they might get their backside into gear and set one up

[GrumbleDook]

Nope. In EMBC land there does not need to be a separate proxy. The proxy can be configured to used different filter categories for different groups based on internal IP ranges. The problem here is not so much the proxy, but the firewall ... which is a different matter.