Originally Posted by
Wenin
I ran into an issue due to the method of my testing of the connection. Credit goes to Zacchaeus for identifying my issue.
I was testing my ability to connect to my FG server by launching FG twice from the same computer. One instance was running as the server, while the second instance would attempt to connect using the external IP address. The connection was being refused, even though PortChecker sites indicated that the 1802 port was open. Once I had an external user connect using my alias, the connection was successful.
In the past I've successfully used this method of testing to determine if I could host a FG session. Either Xfinity changed something, or my new Arris Surfboard SBG8300 router, doesn't allow my computer to connect to itself using the external IP address. With the solution in hand, I read through the first two posts of this thread, and couldn't find a note that indicated that my method of testing would result in a false negative.
I'd recommend adding a note about testing the connection requires someone external to conduct the test.
Thanks to those that helped through the years to put together all the information here!