Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Server specified is unavailable. Please help!

K

KoopalingJ

New Member
Hey guys,

So ever since the patch that brought in Online functionality (yes, it's been since October), all attempts to start the Client (on Windows 7) have been greeted with "The server specified is unavailable, please check your internet connection and try again". I've tried WAY TOO MUCH to fix this. This includes:

A slew of Uninstalls (from Control Panel and from the Client Installer)

A slew of Reinstalls with supposedly new Installer versions

Deleting files not covered in the uninstall (why?). This includes PatchNotes.txt and extra folders like Pok_monCompany.

Allowing Refresher AND Client through Norton (my security setup).

So in short: NOTHING has worked and I am fried with this, since I have a ton of Booster Codes waiting and am itching to try out the Online Deck Builder.

Before you ask:

My computer has run the client and original online versions fine. It wasn't until the Online version was released that the error started.

Yes, it's always the "Server Specified is unavailable" error.

I've tried downloading the client onto another household PC (running Windows XP) and a laptop (Running Windows Vista) and have been met with the EXACT SAME ERROR! The Norton firewall was manipulated to allow the program through on both as well.

Moving the program to a file other than "User/AppData" has been unsuccessful. Mainly because Windows 7 decides I have to be an "admin" to give the Client permission to be moved to a different folder.

My internet service provider is Comcast.

Hope this clears up some questions beforehand, and I hope someone out there can help my desperate self!

EDIT:

Modifying my router's (not my PC's) firewall did the trick!!!
 
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What's between your household PCs / laptop and Comcast? At the very least, you've got a cable modem; potentially, you have a wireless access point as well. Either of those could (and typically do) have their own firewalls, which have nothing to do with your Norton setup -- and that firewall (or those firewalls) could be blocking whatever port the standalone client is using.

(It's fairly unusual, in my experience, that a cable modem or AP would be preconfigured to require whitelisting outbound ports; but that's about the only thing in common between your machines that isn't the same for everyone else using Comcast to play PTCGO)
 
Tapin said:
What's between your household PCs / laptop and Comcast? At the very least, you've got a cable modem; potentially, you have a wireless access point as well. Either of those could (and typically do) have their own firewalls, which have nothing to do with your Norton setup -- and that firewall (or those firewalls) could be blocking whatever port the standalone client is using.

(It's fairly unusual, in my experience, that a cable modem or AP would be preconfigured to require whitelisting outbound ports; but that's about the only thing in common between your machines that isn't the same for everyone else using Comcast to play PTCGO)
Click to expand...

My modem is a modem/router hybrid from Comcast themselves. If the problem is the router, can I change the firewall on the router itself?
 
To help troubleshoot where a problem may lie, I recommend you take your laptop to a public WiFi access point and attempt to connect from there. Starbucks, McDonalds, public library, etc. That will help isolate whether it's a problem with your household Internet connection or with the individual computers. I find it very odd that the error is occuring on several of your computers.

You might also want to look further at your DNS settings, which allow the resolution from a server name to an IP address. Are you using some kind of "safe" DNS provider that might be filtering the successful lookup of the game servers?
 
losjackal said:
To help troubleshoot where a problem may lie, I recommend you take your laptop to a public WiFi access point and attempt to connect from there. Starbucks, McDonalds, public library, etc. That will help isolate whether it's a problem with your household Internet connection or with the individual computers. I find it very odd that the error is occuring on several of your computers.

You might also want to look further at your DNS settings, which allow the resolution from a server name to an IP address. Are you using some kind of "safe" DNS provider that might be filtering the successful lookup of the game servers?
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try this.
 
Tapin said:
What's between your household PCs / laptop and Comcast? At the very least, you've got a cable modem; potentially, you have a wireless access point as well. Either of those could (and typically do) have their own firewalls, which have nothing to do with your Norton setup -- and that firewall (or those firewalls) could be blocking whatever port the standalone client is using.

(It's fairly unusual, in my experience, that a cable modem or AP would be preconfigured to require whitelisting outbound ports; but that's about the only thing in common between your machines that isn't the same for everyone else using Comcast to play PTCGO)
Click to expand...

Thanks!! Your suggestion to check the router's firewall did the trick!!!!
 
Mine worked fine this morning and for awhile but this afternoon I now get this error. I have changed nothing today from the router that worked this morning. Any clues on this issue?
 
I'm having the same problem. Every time I try to log in, I get Server Unavailable. I can't mess with my router settings because I'm using University internet. Is there any other way around this?
 
Does your computer connect properly when you're on a different network?

Then yeah, your University is blocking access not necessarily to the Pokemon PTCGO servers, but to the port numbers the client wants to connect on. (They allow stuff like port 80 for Web, but whatever port the PTCGO uses sounds like it's blocked.)

Probably best to find a different Internet connection to play on. Even a smartphone hotspot could work, because in my experience the PTCGO communication from client to server doesn't consume much bandwidth.
 
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