Member Avatar for actfray

I have not been able to connect to Bearshare 4.6.0 for several days. I know this is not the latest version, but up until a few days ago, I've never had any trouble.

When the page comes up, the blinking red light in the upper right corner never switches to green (which indicates a connection). I've searched Google for answers which included changing the port numbers to various other solutions. None have worked.

I have Windows XP, firewalls are configured correctly (never had a problem before), and everything else seems fine.

Thanks for any suggestions.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by gerbil

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Quick, focused checklist to isolate the problem (builds on ’s ISP-suggestion and the original report from ). Narrow the scope first: confirm the client actually opens a socket, then test whether the PC, router, or ISP is blocking traffic. If the client never binds a local port, no amount of port-forwarding will help; if it does bind, the problem is between router/ISP and the wider Internet.

Use these local checks to see what BearShare is doing:

netstat -ano | findstr LISTENING
netstat -ano | findstr :<replace-with-port-if-known>
tasklist /FI "PID eq <PID-from-netstat>"

If nothing from BearShare shows as LISTENING, the client may be failing to start or being blocked by local security. Microsoft docs for netstat and tasklist explain the output and flags: netstat and tasklist.

If the client is running but peers still can’t connect, reset the Windows network stack (this fixes corrupted Winsock/TCP settings). Run these from an elevated prompt and reboot:

netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt

See Microsoft’s guidance for the netsh winsock reset command: .

Additional isolation steps: try the client on a different network (mobile hotspot) to check for ISP blocking; enable or disable UPnP in the router and, if needed, set a static port forward for the client (save a router backup before changes); temporarily disable antivirus/security suites to rule out process blocking; and try a fresh reinstall or the latest official client. If the client works on another network, the ISP or router is the culprit; if it fails everywhere, focus on the local client, Winsock, or security software.

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Member Avatar for gerbil

Do you have to port-forward in your router for that?

Member Avatar for actfray

No, I've been connecting to Bearshare for 4 years in the router's original set-up. No changes have been made.

Internet connection is also stable.

Member Avatar for gerbil

Mmm... I don't use Bearshare, but another. any chance your ISP has decided to block file sharing on the port/port range Bearshare uses? Can you change ports used...? go into the gamer range, 10000+.

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