11 May 2008
TF2 - ‘Lost connection to server’ Solved
Posted by Robert under: all posts; pc games; valve games; wisdom .
Even though I have exams coming up, I still manage to squeeze in the odd round or ten of Team Fortress 2. I blame Valve for releasing the medic achievements recently.
(7 to go! One of them is ‘Family Practice’, so I need some more Steam friends to deploy an ubercharge on, hint hint. Also, for all the spies out there: FYI I am a medic - please call for me sometime eh?)
Anyway, I had been playing for a while, but had developed a problem connecting to servers. The problem was that most of the time I would get into the game, take a few steps, then it would freeze. A second later I would get the red “Connection to server lost. Disconnect in 29…28… seconds”. Sometimes I would only get to “retrieving server info” or “sending client data”, and sometimes I could play for as long as 30 or more seconds before I got ghostbusted (yes, netrek jargon). I’m sure I even got a kill after being disconnected.
Trying to rejoin would give me a “This Steam ID is in use on the server”, while my friends saw many “BertieB(1) has connected”. And I saw a lot of “Disconnected from server. Reason:” … connection to server lost… this steam ID is already in use…
This is not unique problem. Fortunately the fix is fairly straightforward.
You need to open some ports on your router:
TCP 27030 - 27039
UDP 1200
UDP 2700 - 27015
For people with a BeBox (a Speedtouh 780 WL I think, so it should work for similar Speedtouches, like those with BT internet) you can simply log into the router (at http://192.168.1.254), go to Toolbox -> Game & Application Sharing -> Assign a game or application to a local network device -> Half-life 2. Easy!
This may not solve the problem for everyone, but it did for me and others. Good luk!
7 Comments so far...
CoffeeSquid Says:
22 May 2008 at 4:38 am.
Being plagued by this horrid, horrid problem for months. Just can’t shake it. I’m limited to playing on about 2 or 3 TF2 servers I’ve found which work… after a few attempts.
The address you gave takes me to my hub, which is a BT Home Hub, but as for my login details, I’ve not the slightest clue, and I don’t believe I was even given any. Just can’t figure it out, but then again with BTs customer support being the shambles that it is, I’m not sure I have the patience to queue for an hour to find out. :/
Robert Says:
24 May 2008 at 6:27 pm.
Hi CoffeeSquid
Yep, I know the feeling. It sucks.
Is your BT Home Hub old or new? FOr older Home Hubs, the default username and password are ‘admin’ (without quotes). Newer Home Hubs have the username ‘admin’ and the password is the serial number of your Hub. Check the back or the bottom of it.
Robert
Midnight Says:
6 July 2008 at 5:36 pm.
I’ve been playing fine on my new clans server for the last week, now I get this connection error, surely that can’t be a ports problem, everything is exactly the same as it was a week ago. Any ideas?
Robert Says:
7 July 2008 at 3:24 pm.
Midnight:
It would seem unlikely to be a ports error all of a sudden. Has anything changed? Either on your end or at the server? Also, who is your ISP?
Robert
Sam Says:
3 August 2008 at 12:09 am.
came across your page while googling for a solution, and would just like to say Thanks.
Jack Says:
20 August 2008 at 12:19 pm.
i may be a bit of a noob but how do u open ports on your router? lol
Robert Says:
20 August 2008 at 2:04 pm.
Jack:
What router are you using?
If you’re with Be and you have a BeBox, go to http://192.168.1.254, then “Toolbox”, and “Game and Application Sharing”, and go from there.