Cannot Connect to Playonline, Error code:POL-0206

[Hegmo]

Hello, I'm posting on behalf of my brother who purchased the game on 12/31/2023 to play with me and some friends. Square Enix chat support suggested he post here, but he cannot log in to the forums because he cannot log in to POL to create a character in-game:

I purchased FFXI on 12/31/23 and after registering the game code in the square enix account management site and retrieving my POL ID and Password, every time I try to log in to POL by opening POL, logging in with my SE ID and Password and my POL ID and Password, I immediately receive "Error code:POL-0206 Network is busy or there are connection problems."

• I have confirmed with support that my account is registered properly.
  
• I have confirmed that there is no administrator permission issues, no firewall issues, and that the port forwarding is set up to allow access to POL.
  
• I have confirmed that my PC can connect to POL by having my brother log in to his account from my PC.
  
• I have also attempted to log in to my borther's PC using my account, and I get the same issue.
  
• I have attempted resetting my router. I have attempted logging in from another network connection using my laptop at work.

It has now been 11 days since I purchased the game to play with my friends, but I still cannot connect to the game. It appears there is some issue with my account registration specifically as my brother can connect on my PC.

The only recommendation SE chat support has made so far is to wait a few more days on both occasions of contacting chat support. I'm already nearly halfway through the trial period and won't be able to log in.

[Alhanelem]

I have confirmed that there is no administrator permission issues, no firewall issues, and that the port forwarding is set up to allow access to POL.

manual Port Forwarding shouldn't be necessary at all. All you have to do is allow the game through Windows Firewall when prompted. If you're using a third party firewall, disable it and see if the game works with windows firewall.

I have also attempted to log in to my borther's PC using my account, and I get the same issue.

Then there is a network related issue somewhere on "your borther's" PC or somewhere long their path to the internet and/or to the servers. I have seen waaaaaaaaaay too many people insist that everything is correct on their end when in fact it isn't, and they refuse to check these things when I advise them to.

There is a basic truth here, according to you:
-You can connect with any account using your PC.
-You cannot connect with any account using their PC.

This rules out any account related issue, and the issue is either one of configuration of playOnline or windows, or one of configuation of the network being used to get to the internet. It could also be a temporary issue caused by forces out of your control, however those sorts of issues generally don't last weeks.

A few quick things.
Make sure that the legacy windows component DirectPlay is enabled.

I have attempted resetting my router.

If phsyically possible, try bypassing the router by connecting the PC directly to your cable modem or wherever your internet access comes from. If this works, then there is an issue with the router configuration. If it doesn't work, then we can rule out the router.

Regardless of what you claim to have confirmed, please disable your software firewall temporarily and see if you can connect with it not enabled. If you can, then the issue is with the firewall.

Try using a VPN service (I recommend mudfish as its extremely cheap, a couple dollars for more bandwidth than the game will ever use and i think you can get a tiny amount of bandwidth as a free trial), and try connecthing through various different nodes, some close to you, some in Japan where the servers are, and see if that helps. Using a VPN and having success would indicate there is problem along the path that your connection is taking to reach SE's servers, as using a VPN will change this path.


Do a traceroute to 202.67.54.128. If there is a failiure along your path to PlayOnline, it will be obvious here. If you are unfamiliar, to do this:


On the PC you're encountering the issue on, hit Windows Key + R, type in cmd and hit enter to open a command prompt.
Type: tracert 202.67.54.128 and hit enter.
Paste your results here.

[Hegmo]

There is a basic truth here, according to you:
-You can connect with any account using your PC.
-You cannot connect with any account using their PC.

This rules out any account related issue, and the issue is either one of configuration of playOnline or windows, or one of configuation of the network being used to get to the internet. It could also be a temporary issue caused by forces out of your control, however those sorts of issues generally don't last weeks.

Sorry maybe I miscommunicated,

From my PC:
I try to connect on my account - Error 0206
My brother connects on his account - Able to log in to the game

From my brother's PC:
I try to connect on my account - Error 0206
My brother connects on his account - able to log in to the game


How would a firewall or any network setting effect connection for a single account accessing POL and not another??

The portforwarding, router reset, etc were all recommendations from square enix support.

Tracing route to 202.67.54.128 over a maximum of 30 hops

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms dsldevice.attlocal.net [192.168.1.254]
2 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms 104-189-112-1.lightspeed.rcsntx.sbcglobal.net [104.189.112.1]
3 3 ms 3 ms 2 ms 71.155.29.62
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 7 ms 7 ms 7 ms 32.130.16.9
6 7 ms 7 ms 7 ms gar25.dlstx.ip.att.net [12.122.85.233]
7 * 3 ms 3 ms 192.205.32.214
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 33 ms 34 ms 35 ms lax-b23-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.123.137]
10 * 145 ms 147 ms tky-b3-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.137.109]
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 169 ms 169 ms 169 ms squareenix-ic-371309.ip.twelve99-cust.net [62.115.38.91]
13 152 ms 152 ms 152 ms 219.117.144.122
14 149 ms 149 ms 149 ms 219.117.144.49
15 152 ms 152 ms 152 ms 219.117.146.129
16 152 ms 152 ms 152 ms 219.117.147.38
17 145 ms 144 ms 144 ms 202.67.54.128

Trace complete.

[VoiceMemo]

Error 0206 does it say char already logged in? IE are you trying this test on the same network? If so you need to login via a different IP address, easiest way to do this is to use a vpn. There are some free vpns out there if you dont have one, ie windscribe.

[Hegmo]

Error 0206 does it say char already logged in? IE are you trying this test on the same network? If so you need to login via a different IP address, easiest way to do this is to use a vpn. There are some free vpns out there if you dont have one, ie windscribe.

It is while logging in to POL, The account cannot get to the FFXI client to create a character, so there isn’t one logged in. It just says it’s a network issue and to check my connection, which my brother is able to connect on from my computer.

However, I have tried connecting on my laptop from work on an entirely different network and I get the same error 0206

[Dragoy]

I don't have much hope of it being of any help (especially considering the other account can log in), but it's one thing to try if it hasn't been tried yet:

On the main menu screen of the PlayOnline Viewer, there is the Network Settings option, and Connection check therein. Could try toggling that to Enable if it's set to Disable, or the other way around.

The detail of the error message showing up immediately seems familiar to me, but I can't quite remember why.

It really does seem like it would be something account related considering what you have tried, though the error message is odd for that. Unfortunately, they do not handle account related issues here at the forums at all; only via the other support channels they do that.

Perhaps there is hope yet that it is something else... can't think of anything at this time though... hmmm...

[Hegmo]

Unfortunately, they do not handle account related issues here at the forums at all; only via the other support channels they do that.

Yeah, and unfortunately after talking to email support they directed me to chat support, chat support told me to wait a few days, I waited, no change, talked to chat support again, they suggested I wait a few days and asked me to post here for additional support…despite the fact that I can’t actually post here because I can’t log in and create a character - so they asked me to find someone with an account who could post on my behalf. Fortunately my brother has a working account.

It really is frustrating. I guess I just lost $10

[Alhanelem]

It is while logging in to POL, The account cannot get to the FFXI client to create a character, so there isn’t one logged in. It just says it’s a network issue and to check my connection, which my brother is able to connect on from my computer.

However, I have tried connecting on my laptop from work on an entirely different network and I get the same error 0206

Okay, well your OP conveyed an entirely different situation, at least to me. My mistake (before other people jump in here to give me a hard time for no reason). Anyways....

As far as port forwarding and all that stuff, it normally isn't necesary to mess with those settings. I've not had to open any specific ports for FFXI on any router I've ever used- most routers automatically handle this with settings that block traffic on ports reserved for insecure services while leaving others alone.

How would a firewall or any network setting effect connection for a single account accessing POL and not another??

well it honestly wouldn't really be likely to (I never say impossible, but highly unlikely). But again, this was borne of a misunderstanding of your description.

You do have multiple hops where timeouts are occuring in that traceroute though. That doesn't necessairly indicate a problem, although if you could actually get into the game, a VPN would probably give you better results.

It really is frustrating. I guess I just lost $10

now, hold on there. If I now udnerstand you correctly and you can't connect from the same PC that someone else can, it probably is account-related. There's some things you can try:

First: Try creating a new free trial account. This should rule out anything specifically associated with your account data or anything like that if you can't connect with it.

Second:
On the playonline main menu, make sure "Connection Check" is disabled. This can cause problems. I would expect they would affect all acounts but it's worth checking.

Third:
Delete all registered accounts in the POL main menu (select the account and press Delete- this does not delete your playonline account, rather it just removes it from the account list) and recreate them, making sure the settings look like this, with your info in there instead of mine obviously (password must be saved and the SQEX ID must be entered, there is no "if necessary" about it. Only set one time password to Use if you have a security token/app)

[VoiceMemo]

Since your brother can login on the computer and on his, to me this points to an account issue. Was the POL id transferred to the SE id?

https://support.na.square-enix.com/f...=20&la=1&pv=20

[Hegmo]

We are trying this a year later as free login is started back up, and the account is still inaccessible, he still receives error POL-0206 on attempting to log in to this account only on any computer. I am able to log in to my account no problem on the same PCs - we are connected to the internet.

Has anyone ever had any experience with resetting an account like this?