AltBinz won't connect to my news server

[cmcdugan]

Hello,

AltBinz looks like a great program and I'd like to try it, but it won't connect to my news server (news.cox.east.net).  This is my ISP's (Cox's) sever that I've had no trouble using with other software (in fact, power grabber is working right now).  I don't think the server requires a name and password (at least power grabber will connect without any) so I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm doing wrong.  I copied the server address out of power grabber and pasted it into AltBinz and made sure all the other settings are the same (mainly the port, 119), but still nothing.  It just says "Could Not Connect (retry in X seconds)" immediately when I hit the Connect button without sending any packets out of my network card (at least according to the windows network monitor); it's like it gives up without even trying.  It can use the internet connection somewhat, because the newzleech search works.  I tried adding news.cox.east.net with a dummy IP address to my hosts file and this seems to make a difference because it just says "connecting" forever so I suspect some sort of DNS issue, but I don't know what exactly.

I'm running Windows XP and v0.27.0 of AltBinz, if that is of any use.

What am I doing wrong?

cmcdugan

[Hecks]

Are you certain that you're using version 0.27.0? (click About button on main toolbar)

[cmcdugan]

Thats strange, about reports 0.25.0, but the "Version?" button next to it reports v0.27.0.  I just checked the download page and I must have grabbed the 0.25.0 installer, so what is the "Version?" button telling me?

In either case, it's still not working.

[EyeBaller]

The Version button tells you the latest that is available (to contributors). 0.25 is the last public version.

Anyway, you should post your log...

[Hecks]

If you can ping your server and/or connect to it via telnet, make sure that 1) you've entered your server address in Alt.Binz without spaces, 2) your firewall isn't bliocking Alt.Binz.  That's all I can think of for now.

[exp8tr8]

FANTASTIC application, best usenet client I have every used, and I think I've tried most the better ones.

However, I have similar trouble with Cox, but I have connected successfully before in the past with the allowed 4 connections.  Now I can't access news.cox.west.net at all, and at first news.cox.east.net worked with four connections but after a couple days only works with 1 connection and the others just perpetually say retrying.  The log just says:

[3/2/2008 8:51:28 PM] [T2] Connecting (news.east.cox.net)
[3/2/2008 8:51:28 PM] [T2] Could not connect (news.east.cox.net) 
[3/2/2008 8:51:30 PM] [T3] Connecting (news.east.cox.net)
[3/2/2008 8:51:30 PM] [T3] Could not connect (news.east.cox.net) 

When I enable a connection for news.west.cox.net, every once in a while I will see:

[3/2/2008 8:50:58 PM] [T5] StatusCode: 0
[3/2/2008 8:50:58 PM] [T5] Connecting (news.west.cox.net)
[3/2/2008 8:50:58 PM] [T2] Could not connect (news.west.cox.net) 

Help?  I used to be able to pull 250Kbps with four connections, now I am down to 50-60 with one

[d4f0rc3]

I'm afraid I have to add some experiences, too. My provider is usenetserver.com. I have problems connecting from time to time. Altbinz tells me that either it couldn't connect or it reports the error 502 Too many connections. I talked to the support several times, we investigated every possibility regarding my ISP, the connection, my system and the newsreader. It seems to be a problem with vista and altbinz, and it started with 0.27. Before that I had no problems connecting, but when I upgraded to 0.27 I get these errors from time to time. Sometimes it helps to flush the dns, sometimes I have to keep trying and be patient. The wired thing is, SSL works 2/10 times, without SSL works nearly every time, after the error disappeared of course. I can't really tell what the problem is but so far we have come to the conclusion that there must be some wired behavior when it comes to connecting. When it comes to my system, altbinz has all the rights it needs (firewall, router both set correctly because it worked with the same settings before). I can't really tell when it started exactly and what is causing it.
Which information can I provide that might help you?

[Hecks]

Usenetserver.com has had known problems with its secure server in recent months - check this forum and others (Slyck) for similar experiences.  I can't speak about how much this may be Vista/Alt.Binz related.  All I can note is that this doesn't seem to be a frequently reported problem with other providers.