Author: hurricanewarn1 at aol.com 2015-09-02 07:20:35
Published on: 2015-09-02T07:20:35+00:00
The author of the message struggled to get port 8333 open in order to use Bitcoin Core for business reasons. Despite thoroughly checking that nothing was blocking the port, Bitcoin was still getting throttled and stuck in sys_sent, and Python kept saying the target was rejecting the connection. After researching everything thoroughly and ensuring the right settings were in place, the author discovered subnet settings which showed that they had a private subnet, making their computer hidden and unroutable for any computer on the Bitcoin network. This effectively blocked all ports via the private subnet, limiting functionality and crippling the ability to run a full node and many other programs. The author switched over to a public subnet, where there was a checkbox to allow incoming connections, but AT&T charges $15-30/month for a public static IP which violates their own terms of service. The router ignored the author's public IP settings simply because he wasn't paying for a public IP and intentionally changed the settings back. After finding an article on cryptocoinnews about ISPs intentionally blocking Bitcoin, the author posted a tweet referencing AT&T, and shortly after had a static public IP and port 8333 was open. It is unclear whether this was coincidence or if the article and tweet spurred them to action. Without Twitter, the author likely wouldn't have succeeded since technicians on Twitter answered all his questions 24/7 unlike phone technicians who were clueless and tried to sell a subscription for connection services help. It appears AT&T has not blocked port 8333 itself, but rather effectively blocked all ports via the private subnet, which makes the computer hidden and unroutable for incoming peers. Although this severely limits functionality, it is understandable since it just about 100% prevents hackers from getting in since they can't even see your computer. What isn't understandable is that AT&T technicians did not inform the author about this until he changed the settings himself, despite the fact it is a very obvious cause of ports being blocked. There is no easy-to-find information on the internet about private subnets crippling the ability to use Bitcoin and the author believes this needs to be explicitly stated in instructions for running a full node since default settings block Bitcoin 100%. The good news is anyone with AT&T can be a full node by getting a public static IP, but almost no one will figure this out unless we as a community make it well known.
Updated on: 2023-06-10T21:50:18.564712+00:00