Why was UDP closed in the latest update?

[Phoenix1969]

Peers connecting has become horrible since the last update and i noticed the closed connection. it is effecting the entire network.
Why and what are we supposed to do about it?

[meowsbits]

Can you say more about your finding the UDP closed in the latest update? Which update? Where was it closed? I don't believe we ever intended to do that, so we'll need to investigate on your context. We also run several always-on boot nodes and several ephemeral test nodes, and haven't been able to reproduce the issue.

We have indeed received multiple reports of problematic peering (eg. #610), but haven't been able to solidify a rationale for it with 100% certainty.

What we do know is that per our network explorer on https://etcnodes.org/, the ETC network is dominated by CoreGeth/ETCMCgethNodes, which we know to be configured to be undiscoverable, which certainly doesn't help the network any. Likewise, if your node is undiscoverable (eg firewalled), poor peering can be expected since the protocol becomes unilateral and synchronous rather than bilateral and asynchronous.

[ziogaschr]

@Phoenix1969 can we also please know your location (if allowed to be shared), in order we check on a node in the same locations as you. It might need more time to find good nodes close to you, and we might be able to find the cause and resolve it easier.

[LordExodus]

Upnp doesn't seem to work with the latest version compared to version 1.12.10. When starting, the port is opened on the router but closed again after a short time, maybe with lease time or something

[ziogaschr]

@LordExodus this is a great finding to start with. I will test both versions to verify it. Thanks

[ziogaschr]

You did a great find @LordExodus.
Do you know how to build #611 and try this release to let us know if this works for you?
If you can't build it yourself and you are willing to test, please let me know your operating system and I can send you a custom build to test with.

[LordExodus]

Please build it for me. I am on win64... Thank you! @ziogaschr

[meowsbits]

Here you go, @LordExodus
Build generated here: https://github.com/meowsbits/core-geth/actions/runs/7748823071
Download here: https://github.com/meowsbits/core-geth/actions/runs/7748823071/artifacts/1213713926

[LordExodus]

Thank you for that! @meowsbits @ziogaschr Its working flawless now. This will also fix a lot of undiscoverable ETCMC nodes. Hope the next stable release comes soon, good work

[ziogaschr]

Thanks for testing @LordExodus. Indeed we were trying to find out about the peer issues the last months without luck. Your mention to UPnP helped us to focus here. I looked at this before, but haven't waited for 2 minutes for checking back my router.