Cannot Connect to Playonline, Error code:POL-0206

[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.