Can't connect to Aether Data Center, Error 2002

Let me try to answer these I pulled from a different thread...

Are you using a VPN? No.
Are you using a wired or wireless connection? Wireless.
What Platform are you using? (Steam/Windows/Mac/PS4 etc.) Windows.
Does the issue occur with one character or multiple characters? If I try to access the Aether Data Center, Midgardsormr server, all I see is a blank character selection screen and then about 15-20 seconds later, I get disconnected with the 2002 error code.
At what point do you get disconnected and/or are unable to connect? When I attempt to access the Aether Data Center, I get a blank character selection screen, then disconnect about 15 seconds later with a 2002 error code. That said, Upon login screen, I can select a different Data Center and connect and play successfully. That said, that means starting over from scratch as all my main activity happens on Aether / Midgardsormr.
How often does the issue occur? This has been going on constantly since at least 10:30am on Saturday. August 24th 2024 US Central time zone.

Internet Service Provider: Rise Broadband
Region/State: Dallas, Texas
All steps taken to resolve the issue: I have restarted my computer. I have restarted my Router. I have flushed the DNS. I can successfully PING the NA Servers. I can NOT PING the Aether server. It times out. I have called my ISP and we have done a Firmware update to my router. Power cycled it. Checked my Firewall and made sure FFXIV is not being blocked. I have tried switching Data Centers, including going to the EU servers, and then going back to Aether... that does nothing.

Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

The issue you are describing is most associated with interference with game data. Many actions can trigger this error, such as a slow internet connection, certain security/privacy changes on the default Internet browser, an application running in the background causing interference, use of a VPN or an odd connection (EG: schools or cafes), a possible virus detected on the device, many rapid payments at once, and numerous other actions.

We advise clearing the cache/cookies/browsing data from your default web browser, disabling any web browser extensions (EG: ad-blocker) and trying again. We also suggest resetting the connection (router/modem) you are using to connect to the Internet before trying again. Additionally, if you are using a wireless connection, if possible please try using a wired connection instead.

If the issue only occurs for one particular character, then the described issue may have something to do with your locally-saved settings. Please go to 'My Documents' > 'My Games' > 'Final Fantasy XIV - A Realm Reborn' and delete that folder. If there are any corrupted files that are associated only with that character, this will get rid of them. Right click on the folder itself after deleting the contents, if it is set as read only, please uncheck that and re-launch Final Fantasy XIV.

If this does not solve the issue, try doing a clean boot. To do a clean boot simply open the task manager and select the 'Start up' Tab. Disable everything here and restart the PC. This will make sure that no background processes are interfering with the game.

Please be sure to install the game to the C: drive as this works best with Final Fantasy XIV. Lastly, please be sure that no background processes are interfering with FFXIV (i.e. Anti-virus software, OneDrive, Discord etc.)

Lastly, check to see if the following port ranges are opened on your router. You can contact your ISP and request they open them for you:
▼TCP
54992 through 54994,
55006 through 55007,
55021 through 55040

I hope this helps! Thank you once again for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums!

I've tried all of the above suggestions. None of them worked to fix my issue.

I can successfully connect and play the game on other Data Centers on NA and EU. I just can't connect to the Aether Data Center. When I attempt, all I get is a blank character selection screen followed shortly by a disconnect saying can not connect to the lobby servers, error 2002.

The problem isn't on my end.

I am receiving a similar error message when attempting to connect to the Oceania data centre.

"The lobby server connection has encountered an error." Then 2002 down in the corner of the error message.

I'm not even making it to the character selection screen.

I can successfully connect to all the other data centres without issue (North America/European/Japanese) so I don't believe it is anything related on my side.

I was playing successfully on the Oceania data centre yesterday and my PC has not had any updates overnight.

This is my attempt to traceroute to the Oceania server.

1 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms mymodem [redacted]
2 17 ms 19 ms 19 ms gateway.ab02.canberra.asp.telstra.net [redacted]
3 10 ms 10 ms 12 ms ae53.rca2-e-043.canberra.telstra.net [203.50.6.51]
4 12 ms 13 ms 12 ms bundle-ether40.civ-core30.canberra.telstra.net [203.50.6.50]
5 17 ms 16 ms 18 ms bundle-ether4.par-core30.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.13.158]
6 17 ms 24 ms 19 ms bundle-ether1.stl-core30.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.13.149]
7 17 ms 17 ms 17 ms bundle-ether1.chw-edge903.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.11.177]
8 18 ms 17 ms 18 ms ntt3483504.lnk.telstra.net [203.27.189.222]
9 16 ms 18 ms 17 ms ae-28.a00.sydnau05.au.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.9.216]
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 17 ms 17 ms 16 ms 153.254.80.65


As compared to traceroute to Japanese data centre

1 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms mymodem [redacted]
2 18 ms 15 ms 16 ms gateway.ab02.canberra.asp.telstra.net [redacted]
3 10 ms 10 ms 10 ms ae53.rca2-e-043.canberra.telstra.net [203.50.6.51]
4 12 ms 12 ms 13 ms bundle-ether40.civ-core30.canberra.telstra.net [203.50.6.50]
5 17 ms 17 ms 17 ms bundle-ether4.par-core30.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.13.158]
6 17 ms 19 ms 18 ms bundle-ether1.stl-core30.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.13.149]
7 38 ms 21 ms 17 ms bundle-ether1.chw-edge903.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.11.177]
8 18 ms 17 ms 17 ms bundle-ether2.ken-edge903.sydney.telstra.net [203.50.11.174]
9 17 ms 17 ms 16 ms aka3243288.lnk.telstra.net [203.54.189.74]
10 20 ms 17 ms 16 ms po110.bs-a.sech-syd3.netarch.akamai.com [23.57.108.243]
11 17 ms 16 ms 17 ms a72-52-1-155.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com [72.52.1.155]
12 17 ms 17 ms 16 ms ae120.access-a.sech-syd3.netarch.akamai.com [23.57.108.249]
13 178 ms 177 ms 178 ms ae155-2758.connect1.plxcon-tyo1.netarch.akamai.com [23.57.111.193]
14 185 ms 184 ms 184 ms 114.141.74.34
15 185 ms 194 ms 193 ms 219.117.144.86
16 178 ms 179 ms 178 ms 219.117.144.102
17 179 ms 178 ms 179 ms 119.252.37.58

Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

We apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. If you have exhausted all currently available troubleshooting and feel like the issue does not stem from your end, please create a new thread entry in the Bug Reports > In-Game Bugs section with the required information as shown in the main thread sticky.

Please be sure to give as much detail as possible and follow the template as outlined in the sticky thread. Additionally, this thread will be moved to the 'Separate Support Required' sub forum.

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