(28) connect() timed out / https://api-3t.paypal.com/nvp is not responding

Hello,

I am using Zen Cart v1.5.1 and the PayPal Express Checkout module stopped communicating with PayPal servers two days ago and has not worked since. I get a (28) connect() timed out! Message when anyone tries to checkout with PayPal and I get no data from PayPal in the PayPal order summery page of previous orders.

My host did a detailed check and found the following.

1. The curl tester script curltester.php is working fine. You could also verify it from yoursite/extras/curltester.php

2. We also tested another script ipncheck.php for any communication error, but it also succeeded.

3. The URL mentioned in the curltester.php ie, https://api-3t.paypal.com/nvp is not responding. We tried to ping it from different locations but was unsuccessful.

So they say the issue is with the paypal and to contact them to resolve the issue.

I have contacted paypal two days ago via www.paypal.com/mts, but I have had no responce from them.

Can anyone help and confirm that the problem is with PayPal. Thanks in advance for any help/advice you can give me.

Those same symptoms have been reported by a handful of other storeowners as well. The problem is apparently that ATT has a routing problem, and if your hosting company is using an internet connection that crosses through ATT's network somewhere along the way to Paypal, it may timeout.

You need to pressure BOTH your hosting company AND PayPal to get ATT to fix their problem.

ATT: [email protected]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrByte

Those same symptoms have been reported by a handful of other storeowners as well. The problem is apparently that ATT has a routing problem, and if your hosting company is using an internet connection that crosses through ATT's network somewhere along the way to Paypal, it may timeout.

You need to pressure BOTH your hosting company AND PayPal to get ATT to fix their problem.

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Good morning

Thanks for your response, it is appreciated. I emailed my host and they told me, “We've tested this extensively, and can see no reason at all why there is a connection issue.. every CURL address works perfectly - other than the one you need > https://api-3t.paypal.com/nvp so it appears they are blocking it for some reason.

Can you speak to Paypal at all to ask why they might be doing this. The server IP is not blacklisted anywhere as best we can tell, and nothing our end is doing anything to deny the connection..”

I have contacted PayPal at www.paypal.com/mts but I have had no response from them.

I tried to email [email protected]. But my email bounced back ' The recipient's mailbox is full and can't accept messages now. Please try resending this message later, or contact the recipient directly.'

I will give PayPal a call this morning and try to get to the bottom of this as my hosting company can’t really help me.

Your host could take it a step further and do a traceroute on it, and take up the results with their own internet provider to get the routing problem fixed.

While (according to PayPal) a traceroute will always fail at the very last hop, it will still point out how far you're getting along the way. If it fails before hitting a paypal.com IP, then that's where the problem lies.

Additional resource: https://ppmts.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/733

Good afternoon

Thanks for your response. I got a response from PayPal that states, “We’ve had several merchants reporting that they’re either unable to connect to our API endpoints, or we’re unable to deliver IPN messages to them due to the network connection timing out.
The initial analysis seemed to point at a routing issue with, or right after, a router owned by Sprint.
For example, traceroute shows the trace stopping right after 144.232.11.178, which is an IP address owned by Sprint.
NetSec has further investigated these cases and found out that the traffic for these merchants is getting blocked at AT&T. This was confirmed by AT&T, and they cited it was due to AT&T customer complaints.
For all merchants currently seeing connectivity issues with either our API endpoints or for IPN delivery and where a traceroute stops after 144.232.11.178, please contact your hosting / network provider, who in turn can reach out to AT&T to get your IP address unblocked.
Please note that we – PayPal -- are not blocking your IP address, nor can we ask for you to get unblocked by AT&T on your behalf, as the owner of the IP address will need to do so.
A temporary solution might be for a hosting provider to issue a new public IP address to you as the merchant, though we would strongly recommend you work with AT&T and your Provider to find out the cause for the block first.”

I forwarded all this information as well as your suggestion onto my host, so lest hope that they can resolve this issue soon.

My host seems unable to help. I contacted them and suggested that they do a traceroute on it and I forwarded PayPal’s suggestion and they responded with this, “the more we test this, the more I think it's a known paypal issue... The fact they themselves claim "several merchants" reporting the same thing... Plus when we test the address (and IP of the address) - 173.0.88.101 [api-3t.paypal.com] you're trying to connect to, I cannot make any connection on numerous 3rd party testing systems...

eg:
http://network-tools.com/default.asp...-3t.paypal.com
http://network-tools.com/default.asp...-3t.paypal.com

To confirm - any system I'm trying is NOT connecting to this paypal address... so I'm at a loss what else to suggest... they seem to be blaming SPRINT, which means there's very little we can do if this is indeed the case.. We'll still try and work this out for you, but we're running out of things to try...”
Can anyone help and provide me with contact information for AT&T, I will call them myself to try to get this resolved, also is it the server IP that is getting blocked or my site Fixed IP?
Any help / advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.

I just thought I would update this thread as I have had a support ticket open with PayPal MTS since Thursday.

They are totally aware of the problem which as stated above are caused by AT&T blocking / dropping traffic to PayPal's API endpoints - the latest response I have got so far from PayPal is the following:

We are still working with AT&T in order to find a solution.

Note: please keep in mind that this issue is *not* on the PayPal network and has been confirmed to be caused by blacklisting on the AT&T network, which is part of the route (some) merchants take to reach our API endpoints.

My host has moved my site to another server and PayPal express is now working, (with one exception)
In the edit order display of sales made today, there is no information from PayPal, (the grey box is empty) but the sales have gone through. And I have an order confirmation email from PayPal but not Zen cart, although the sale is visible in the Admin.

In the Customers>PayPal IPN view today’s sales are not showing but all previous sales from old server are showing.

A customer has emailed me, (his sale did go through)
“Looks like my order did go through....I had a receipt from PayPal.
But I never actually got to the final confirmation page on your site (final step, 3 of 3)
This message kept coming up:
Email Error: SMTP Error: Could not connect to SMTP host.
Hope this info helps you troubleshoot.”

In configuration > Email options I am connecting with SMTPAUTH and my host tells me that email settings are the same as before, so I don’t know if this has anything to do with it.

Any help advice would be appreciated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FrankStephen

My host has moved my site to another server and PayPal express is now working, (with one exception)
In the edit order display of sales made today, there is no information from PayPal, (the grey box is empty) but the sales have gone through. And I have an order confirmation email from PayPal but not Zen cart, although the sale is visible in the Admin.

In the Customers>PayPal IPN view today’s sales are not showing but all previous sales from old server are showing.

A customer has emailed me, (his sale did go through)
“Looks like my order did go through....I had a receipt from PayPal.
But I never actually got to the final confirmation page on your site (final step, 3 of 3)
This message kept coming up:
Email Error: SMTP Error: Could not connect to SMTP host.
Hope this info helps you troubleshoot.”

In configuration > Email options I am connecting with SMTPAUTH and my host tells me that email settings are the same as before, so I don’t know if this has anything to do with it.

Any help advice would be appreciated.

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My host has moved my site to another server and PayPal express is now working. Thanks to everyone for your responses. I just hope the PayPal and AT&T get to the bottom of this in order to find a solution.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FrankStephen

I tried to email [email protected]. But my email bounced back

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It should have been: [email protected]