Connection problem

[Davidos22]

Hello, I have a problem with the game, specifically with multiplayer, when I try to create or add a game, I get the message "Unable to connect to the server". My internet is fine, I have a stable connection, I have already tried reinstalling it but it didn't help. , anyone knows where the problem is

[DirectCedar]

Hello, I have a problem with the game, specifically with multiplayer, when I try to create or add a game, I get the message "Unable to connect to the server". My internet is fine, I have a stable connection, I have already tried reinstalling it but it didn't help. , anyone knows where the problem is

Are you on PC or console? Are you playing 22 or 19? Was it previously working fine and then just randomly started having this connection problem?

I started having this exact problem with 19 several days ago. I cannot get a connection no matter what I do. I've spent hours and hours trying to debug my connection or find any problem on my side. My internet is also fine and everything else that needs a connection works fine. I've tried multiple times to communicate details of the problem to Giants tech support and I am getting nowhere.

[KubekK]

Hello, I have a problem with the game, specifically with multiplayer, when I try to create or add a game, I get the message "Unable to connect to the server". My internet is fine, I have a stable connection, I have already tried reinstalling it but it didn't help. , anyone knows where the problem is

Are you on PC or console? Are you playing 22 or 19? Was it previously working fine and then just randomly started having this connection problem?

I started having this exact problem with 19 several days ago. I cannot get a connection no matter what I do. I've spent hours and hours trying to debug my connection or find any problem on my side. My internet is also fine and everything else that needs a connection works fine. I've tried multiple times to communicate details of the problem to Giants tech support and I am getting nowhere.

Hello, same problem here FS19. Multiplayer doesn't show the list of the server to connect to (international, continental europe, etc) just shows that it could not connect to server. I ran out of options (setting DNS's, reinstalling FS19, VPN - radmin, hamachi, Norton, connecting through hotspot and anything else i could find) and im stuck on this error: Warning: Couldn't reach front server for public key.

[DirectCedar]

Hello, I have a problem with the game, specifically with multiplayer, when I try to create or add a game, I get the message "Unable to connect to the server". My internet is fine, I have a stable connection, I have already tried reinstalling it but it didn't help. , anyone knows where the problem is

Are you on PC or console? Are you playing 22 or 19? Was it previously working fine and then just randomly started having this connection problem?

I started having this exact problem with 19 several days ago. I cannot get a connection no matter what I do. I've spent hours and hours trying to debug my connection or find any problem on my side. My internet is also fine and everything else that needs a connection works fine. I've tried multiple times to communicate details of the problem to Giants tech support and I am getting nowhere.

Hello, same problem here FS19. Multiplayer doesn't show the list of the server to connect to (international, continental europe, etc) just shows that it could not connect to server. I ran out of options (setting DNS's, reinstalling FS19, VPN - radmin, hamachi, Norton, connecting through hotspot and anything else i could find) and im stuck on this error: Warning: Couldn't reach front server for public key.

I get that same error in the log. (I am FS19 on PC which it sounds like you also are). I've tried all the same things you have. Nothing works here either. It worked fine for years until it randomly started doing this a couple weeks ago and now I'm stopped dead. It seems the game has done something to a system file somewhere that Giants' server is now rejecting, but there is no way from my end to see what the problem precisely is. I am really hoping Giants will some day acknowledge my request for tech support and maybe they can see from their server end what is creating the error. My last option is to try reinstalling Windows which I really don't want to do.

[KubekK]

I installed the game on different PC. Installation through EPIC. Same EPIC account used to install FS19 only different PC (both where on Windows 10 home) Now i updated the one "not willing to connect" to Windows 11 22H2 but still no change.
Only the PC that never had FS19 Installed works.

One thing i know now that it's not Firewall, problems with my port forwarding or internet provider.
So now i'll look why giants server is rejecting the client or why the client doesn't want to connect to front end server.

I will compare all FS19 files between those PC's.
Any suggestions appriciated.

[DirectCedar]

I installed the game on different PC. Installation through EPIC. Same EPIC account used to install FS19 only different PC (both where on Windows 10 home) Now i updated the one "not willing to connect" to Windows 11 22H2 but still no change.
Only the PC that never had FS19 Installed works.

One thing i know now that it's not Firewall, problems with my port forwarding or internet provider.
So now i'll look why giants server is rejecting the client or why the client doesn't want to connect to front end server.

I will compare all FS19 files between those PC's.
Any suggestions appriciated.

I tried the same test. The game works when installed from the same disk with the same activation key, same LAN, same router, same settings, on a different computer. It will not work on the main computer that is having this problem. Tried fresh installs of the game with two different disks and two different activation keys. Nothing.

Have you tried actually resetting Windows to a fresh install, beyond just upgrading from Win10 to Win11? That is the only next thing that it occurs to me to try. If some tiny blip accidentally created by the game in a system file somewhere is creating the problem, upgrading windows might be re-using that file. Possibly a clean reset would change it. I'm obviously grasping at straws now.

[Guil]

I installed the game on different PC. Installation through EPIC. Same EPIC account used to install FS19 only different PC (both where on Windows 10 home) Now i updated the one "not willing to connect" to Windows 11 22H2 but still no change.
Only the PC that never had FS19 Installed works.

One thing i know now that it's not Firewall, problems with my port forwarding or internet provider.
So now i'll look why giants server is rejecting the client or why the client doesn't want to connect to front end server.

I will compare all FS19 files between those PC's.
Any suggestions appriciated.

I tried the same test. The game works when installed from the same disk with the same activation key, same LAN, same router, same settings, on a different computer. It will not work on the main computer that is having this problem. Tried fresh installs of the game with two different disks and two different activation keys. Nothing.

Have you tried actually resetting Windows to a fresh install, beyond just upgrading from Win10 to Win11? That is the only next thing that it occurs to me to try. If some tiny blip accidentally created by the game in a system file somewhere is creating the problem, upgrading windows might be re-using that file. Possibly a clean reset would change it. I'm obviously grasping at straws now.

This is interesting. I would try copying the FS folder under documents>my games from the working computer to the non working one. Failing that it's something with the firewall or windows update on the broken one

[DirectCedar]

This is interesting. I would try copying the FS folder under documents>my games from the working computer to the non working one. Failing that it's something with the firewall or windows update on the broken one

This is a good idea, that I hadn't thought to try. Thank you for sharing this suggestion. I tested it just now by moving over the entire contents of that folder, and unfortunately it has not changed anything.

I agree it seems like a firewall thing, but I have tested all sorts of combinations of variables with the firewall completely off, even with my antivirus and firewall software completely uninstalled. In all those combinations, FS17 continues to connect and run fine and normally in multiplayer. FS19 is stonewalled.

I also agree that it seems like it might be a conflict with a Windows update. However there have been no windows updates since noticeably before the problem started. I also tested installing the game with the same disk and same activation key on an older work laptop that is at exactly the same Windows update status as the main computer that is having the problem, and it worked fine on the old computer.

I wish there was a way to know what error was being reported by the server on Giants' side. The tiny bit of info in the game log is not helpful.

[Guil]

It's something network related on that pc. Remove the network adapter under device manager and restart the pc. Also check if Windows defender is blocking anything as well as the firewall. Even check if services started or running are the same. I'd chance checking windows event viewer to see if anything pops up there at the time.

[DirectCedar]

It's something network related on that pc. Remove the network adapter under device manager and restart the pc. Also check if Windows defender is blocking anything as well as the firewall. Even check if services started or running are the same. I'd chance checking windows event viewer to see if anything pops up there at the time.

If I uninstall the network adapter, will it automatically detect and re-install after restart or will I have to do it manually?

I have tried every permission setting I can find on both Windows Defender and the Firewall (Norton 360), even trying with Norton completely uninstalled. To the best of my knowledge, neither is blocking the game in any way.

[Guil]

It's something network related on that pc. Remove the network adapter under device manager and restart the pc. Also check if Windows defender is blocking anything as well as the firewall. Even check if services started or running are the same. I'd chance checking windows event viewer to see if anything pops up there at the time.

If I uninstall the network adapter, will it automatically detect and re-install after restart or will I have to do it manually?

I have tried every permission setting I can find on both Windows Defender and the Firewall (Norton 360), even trying with Norton completely uninstalled. To the best of my knowledge, neither is blocking the game in any way.

Yeah it will auto install on reboot. I'd definitely advise to remove Norton, it's horrible software and brutal to remove. They have an uninstaller on the website and you don't need anything other than windows defender and whatever other security options MS provide by default

[KubekK]

It's something network related on that pc. Remove the network adapter under device manager and restart the pc. Also check if Windows defender is blocking anything as well as the firewall. Even check if services started or running are the same. I'd chance checking windows event viewer to see if anything pops up there at the time.

If I uninstall the network adapter, will it automatically detect and re-install after restart or will I have to do it manually?

I have tried every permission setting I can find on both Windows Defender and the Firewall (Norton 360), even trying with Norton completely uninstalled. To the best of my knowledge, neither is blocking the game in any way.

Yeah it will auto install on reboot. I'd definitely advise to remove Norton, it's horrible software and brutal to remove. They have an uninstaller on the website and you don't need anything other than windows defender and whatever other security options MS provide by default

Remove Norton??? No way I would rather uninstall and forget about FS

But yes You are right it's something network related (in my case both PC's have Norton but only one has MP problem).
Tryied Wi-Fi and Ethernet cable (WiFi off) also without luck.
In Norton log files i can see the game is connecting to the giants servers but it looks like it's being rejected?

I compared files between both PC's and they are exactly the same (WinMerge).

I want to make a virtual machine, install the game (from Epic in my case) and look for the changes made to the system.

[DirectCedar]

Remove Norton??? No way I would rather uninstall and forget about FS

But yes You are right it's something network related (in my case both PC's have Norton but only one has MP problem).
Tryied Wi-Fi and Ethernet cable (WiFi off) also without luck.
In Norton log files i can see the game is connecting to the giants servers but it looks like it's being rejected?

I compared files between both PC's and they are exactly the same (WinMerge).

I want to make a virtual machine, install the game (from Epic in my case) and look for the changes made to the system.

Thanks for sharing this info. I did try completely uninstalling Norton. It didn't make any difference. The game has always run fine alongside Norton in the past (for years). I likewise have two machines running Norton and the game works fine on one machine but not on the other.

I was considering a fresh reset of Windows as a next step, but I've found other reports of this problem online where users tried re-installing Windows, and it didn't work, and all they had to show for it was the headache of re-installing all their applications.

I'm also ready to try the Virtual Machine test although that is a new endeavour for me so I'm a bit intimidated.

[DirectCedar]

It's something network related on that pc. Remove the network adapter under device manager and restart the pc. Also check if Windows defender is blocking anything as well as the firewall. Even check if services started or running are the same. I'd chance checking windows event viewer to see if anything pops up there at the time.

I reinstalled the network adapter. No change. Double-checked firewall settings again. Tried again with Norton completely uninstalled. No change. Poked through what I understand with Windows Event Log. Nothing apparent there.

[Guil]

That's baffling