FTP Help - cannot go TO ftp sites

[tonysan]

I cannot go to any ftp sites.

I found this out when I was trying to download some drivers for a new mouse that were being hosted off an ftp site. Thinking it was their problem at first, I called the mouse company's tech support and the tech I spoke to said he could follow the link and download no problem. I had to put my phone on hotspot and connect to it just so I could download what I needed while I figure this out.

I have tried looking up ftp problems with the Asus RT-N66 router and havent seen anything specific to my situation. Any help in fixing my router settings will be greatly appreciated!

 

[VincentMcKenzie]

FTP sites work fine with the default Firewall settings, so unless you've disallowed FTP in the Firewall Settings -> Network Services Filter tab, it's not likely to be your router.

It's much more likely to be your Windows Firewall settings. You must allow FTP, or the application you're using to access FTP (e.g. your browser, Filezilla, etc), through the firewall, and accept incoming connections.

Depending if the FTP server is in Active (default) or Passive mode, you will need a dynamic incoming port allowed through for Active FTP. What happens is that you initiate a connection (for commands) to port 21 on the FTP server, it responds back to you on the same connection, then it opens an entirely new connection (for data) from its port 20 to a dynamic port greater than port 1023 on your PC. It's THIS incoming connection that your Windows firewall is most likely blocking. You must unblock it at an application level, not a port level, because the incoming port can be anything >1023.

Passive mode is a lot easier, as instead of the FTP server initiating the data connection after the command is sent, your PC initiates the data connection. Outgoing connections are allowed by default on most firewalls, so this generally works a lot better.

 

[tonysan]

It apparently ended up being the modem/router from my ISP creating the problems Goodbye leased modem/router!