Just to continue this, Zendesk suggested trying a vpn. This HAS worked, and I am now downloading the big package.
Can anyone explain why it works through a vpn and not directly?
TBH I donāt truly understand VPN which is why I have not used one, but does the fact that it works for you suggest that the problem lies with your provider?
Normally the IP address the world will see of your connection is the external IP of your modem/router. With a VPN, you establish a connection a VPN provider, and this secure tunnel can pop out onto the public internet wherever they allow. Some provide a nice interface where you can choose the country, or even geographic region within a city, you want your VPN to terminate. The IP address at that end is now what the Internet will see, as long as your traffic is directed down that secure tunnel. Your ISP will see none of this traffic.
This is why many users have taken to using VPN when download MSFS updates, as it allows you to choose where in the world the content servers see you coming from. The theory being that some servers are either overloaded, or perhaps being deliberately throttled.
One dumb analogy would be imagine speaking to someone, and they hear your voice coming out of your mouth. Then you get a really long tube, like a water pipe, and you talk down this. Your voice now comes out the other end of the tube, projecting it far away.
You router is behind a NAT?
Not that I am aware of. Certainly nothing I have set up.
I have now downloaded everything, and got MSFS running.
Sometimes I get authentication without using the vpn, but usually this only lasts a few minutes.
Other times, MSFS loads up but fails authentication from the outset until I switch on my vpn (through Norton).
Running through a vpn, everything works fine.
Without using vpn, my internet connection works fine for everything else - including getting online with Xbox Live. Itās just the MSFS authentication that seems to be affected!!
Pure speculation hereā¦
In your original post you said:
Perhaps there is something about the Talkmobile server that is being flagged by Microsoft (using some 3rd party monitoring service, like spamhaus.)
Blacklists are generally maintained for mail servers, and help prevent spam. But DNS services can also cause blacklisting.
As a test, perhaps you could change the DNS settings in your router. Instead of using Talkmobileās, you could use Google public DNS servers (DNS 1 = 8.8.8.8 and DNS 2 = 8.8.4.4)
If authentication problems (with VPN OFF) are resolved, then youāll know Talkmobileās DNS is the problem.
Interesting. My router is already set up with the Google public server settings, and so is my computer.
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I wish I had found this thread a week ago!
I had the same problems with fully greyed out data options, and went through lots of troubleshooting such as leaving the SU15 beta, port forwarding, etc as described in my thread PC - Stuck in offline mode, all data options greyed out
I finally isolated the issue to my ISP Talkmobile, which was surprising to me, so I googled ātalkmobile microsoft flight simulatorā and got here.
Findings from my testing are:
Standard broadband: works fine
4G via EE sim card: works fine
4G via Vodafone sim card: works fine
4G via Talkmobile sim card: does not work, as described in this thread and my thread
4G via Talkmobile sim card and VPN: works fine
What surprises me is that Talkmobile is owned by Vodafone and my 4g router is connecting to the exact same cell tower, frequency band, speed, signal, and even reports it as Vodafone - I can only guess Talkmobile are blocking with software on their side somewhere or as described by @BegottenPoet228 . Additionally Talkmobile is not known to have different access to Vodafone, as shown on this crowd-produced UK network comparison sheet UK Networks and MVNO spec - Google Sheets
Itās also surprising how all other internet usage (including successfully logging into Microsoft Store and XBOX app) is fine, itās just this authentication on MSFS that is blocked.
I wonder if MS/Asobo could give any detail on what servers (or any other detail) are specifically required for the MSFS authentication and then I could pass this on to Talkmobile to see if they can remove the blockage on their side? I have tried manually setting DNS on PC and on the router itself to 8.8.8.8 but no change
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So youāre still having problems? Dang it!
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Hehe. I am not actually the original poster , but another user who had the same problem and isolated it to the same ISP as the original poster (Talkmobile)
Well, Iām sorry youāre having that problem as well. This is very odd:
Standard broadband: works fine
4G via EE sim card: works fine
4G via Vodafone sim card: works fine
4G via Talkmobile sim card: does not work, as described in this thread and my thread
4G via Talkmobile sim card and VPN: works fine
I guess if you want to use a Talkmobile SIM card, a VPN is the answer. But that adds its own set of complexity.
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I would ideally stick with Talkmobile or one of the other Vodafone networks as I have the best signal to that tower. Talkmobile is significantly cheaper though. This is the first time I tried a VPN and it seemed to work straight away, could I ask what are the potential future complexities you mention? Thanks !
I know with the VPN on the laptop Iām typing this on (Proton VPN) the servers it routes through are out of my control. Who knows what load and bandwidth limitations each one has? I can choose āFastestā or āRandom,ā but what do those actually mean? Relative to what?
I know some folks have reported that the slow download speeds of sim updates is helped when they use a VPN. Iāll bet for other people itās not helped, or made worse. Regardless, job one for you is to get connected. And if a VPN accomplishes that, then thatās your answer.
I personally donāt use a VPN on my gaming computer, but only because I donāt need to for regular gameplay. I wish the download speeds were faster, but Iām not willing to introduce that variable into my system on the chance it might help solve the download problems.
EDIT: Another issue is that more and more websites are reacting negatively when you use a VPN to access their servers. Weāre seeing more āCaptchasā and some websites will even completely block access when a VPN is being used. I highly doubt Microsoft will ever go down that road. But who knows?
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Good to hear your problem is fixed! w.r.t:
You could respond back to Zendesk, letting them know of your results (if you have not already done so). They can let the right folks in MS know of this problem. A query coming from MS would hopefully get the attention of Talkmobile.
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