What Can't I Connect by FTP???

If your FTP application is set to Passive, you may need to set it Active (or the other way around). It depends on the whether Host Monster allows anonymous connections or not.

HostMonster technician was connecting locally. You should test it outside your network from different external IP like Dr. Klahn said.
If you want you can send me info on private and I'll try to connect and I'll keep you posted.

You CANNOT solve public questions by private email and messages. That is most assuredly against the rules in here.

All discussion must be public for the benefit of everyone.

Regarding the Tor Browser:

Webroot returns this statement:

https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en

Suspicious attack ahead

Webroot has blocked access to the website you tried to open.
It has been reported to contain suspicious content.

Next?

Also: Filezilla was set to Active, changed it to Passive and tried to connect, but that bombed out too.

I think the TOR browser might not authenticate properly in a commercial FTP environment.

I think Dr. Klahn is correct about the recent DDOS attacks and their impact.

Try use some other software to connect to FTP server.
Total Commander has build in tool and it's free.

https://www.ghisler.com/download.htm

The Tor browser is by definition "suspicious content" because it makes your browser session appear to be coming from a completely different IP block.  It is popular in countries where the government suppresses free speech, as it also routes the browser session through many different sites before it exits.  Therefore the name, "The Onion Router."

I use it myself and I've not heard of any bad behavior in Tor, but it's your call.

Dr. Klahn: Sounds like a reasonable explanation about Tir being regarded as suspicious content. Will try to follow up. Also, FYI, regarding "Sounds like your network was blocked during the DDOS episode, and it has not yet been unblocked. " -- I was specifically told this morning by a tech support guy at HostMonster that they had unblocked the network the day before. This should have made a difference, right?

They may *say* that they've unblocked it, but that doesn't mean they actually did or did so correctly. You need to try from another internet connection or through a proxy of some sort like Dr. Klahn has pointed out.

What error are you getting when you try to connect?

Masnrock, and all: you'e reminded me of what seems to me to be extremely odd....I am NOT GETTING AN ERROR MESSAGE!
filezilla1.jpg

Would it be possible to see the settings without exposing your username of password?

Oops--wrong key there. The new layout for Experts Exchange is a loser, too, in my opinion....but to the point, this screenshot is what appears after I have opened FZ, then selected File and Site Manager, File, the connection I want to make, and select Connect.

As you can see from the screenshot, it says "not connected...." etc. BUT if I repeat the procedure, the notice box pops up hat syas there is already a connection going which I would have to disconnect and then start the process over again to connect.....which I have done, and simply repeated the routine.

Does that offer any clues?

Hard to say, but to ask something else.... could you look up the IP address of the FTP server, then run tracert? Post the results

Let's try this again---screenshot  I referred to earlier:


and settings:

What do you get if you run this:

tracert 74.220.202.28

Select allOpen in new window

Also, could you please put 21 in the port field? (I wouldn't think you should need to do this, but to cover all bases)

Have your tried creating a new FTP account in CPanel?

I've tried traceroute out of here on two different machines and neither of them can get to the system shown above.  So it's either a) still blocked or b) they've really hosed their routing tables.

The packets get to a node where they exit the ISP's network, and then they fall off the end of the earth.

Masnrock, I hoe this doesn't sound overly dense, but I am not sure what you're asking me to do when you say to try connecting to my own domain name. You're certainly not referring to signing in to the cPanel?

I appreciate all of the attention you experts are giving to this situation. If it winds up, as I suspect it will, moving to another host, I will post some comments and questions here about what type would be the best and some of the research I have been doing concurrently on wb hosts.

Nothing involving cPanel, just FileZilla.

I had found out what the domain name for your site was from one of your other questions that you posted here on EE. So to describe what I'm talking about.... in FileZilla, rather than putting 74.220.202.28 in the host field, put in radiogeorge.com .. once you've done that, try connecting and let us know what happens.

OK, I've decided to switch web hosts.

It seems that in the world of non-technical users such as myself, there are very few web sites that really make  VERY clear the differences among Shared hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated hosting, Cloud hosting and then to make things more fuzzy, windows vs linux.

To make it perfectly clear: this is a wall of information that I do not understand, after spending a lot of time trying to determine the differences on my own.

So, let me spell out what I pretty much have/need, make some uneducated but hopefully not stupid guesses, and then hear what YOU have to say.....ALL who read this are invited to comment.

What I use on radiogeorge.com is about 150 web pages, with almost each one affording visitors the chance to listen to 1-3 hours worth of music via a built-in player pulling from protected playlists. I upload an average of 140 mp3 files each week using FTP programs such as Filezilla or Cute FTP.  There are some other static pages, but what I've just described is the heart and soul of the operation. I also have a bunch of cron jobs that I use regularly.

Based on my research, I think I can safely say I do not need a hosting setup that primarily caters to heavy-duty business environments.

I DO want to be able to upload files using a dedicated FTP program such as the ones I mentioned,  rather than using a CPanel FTP program which only transfers one file at a time---a tedious, time-intensive operation.

In my reading, I see "dedicated IP," "dedicated hosting," "managed VPS," and "unmanaged VPS" but I have NOT seen simple explanations of what these are and how they apply.

I also have a few other sites that are very simple that I have with my unlimited domain hosting feature currently, and I'd like to move them as well, I mention this since these would not have to require as much--is "security" the right word?--and are really very simple. I don't have a solid idea on what to do with these if I wind up with a VPN of some kind.

Worth mentioning: I am confused as to whether or not a VPS account would allow someone like me who can upload files, make simple web pages, do basic stuff, to do these functions or if a more advanced tech type would be necessary.

Thanks to all again for your time, patience , and expertise. I look forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions so I can move forward and get things back to normal ASAP.

Did my advice work out for you in terms of FileZilla? I could make a connection, but not log in.

How many users visit your site, and what type of plan do you have now? From the standpoint of what you want to be able to do, it doesn't matter which of the plans that you have. All of them would let you do FTP. Be sure to verify with the individual provider you're looking at.

Here's a link from a hosting provide that gives a simplified idea of shared, VPS, and dedicated. http://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/difference-between-shared-vps-dedicated-hosting

From the aspect of VPS, managed vs umanaged gets into deals such as who is responsible for patching the VPS. Unmanaged would obviously be you, while managed would be on the provider.

Dedicated would be blatant overkill for you at this point. VPS probably would be as well.

masnrock, sorry I skipped replying to your suggestion--I did what you suggested and again, NOTHING, not even any indication of an attempt to connect...but a very odd thing...when I changed the host field back to the previous entry and hit connect, I got a box that said there already was a connection! But there was nothing on he right-hand side, where you would see the folders, files, etc, on the site.

AND....in experimenting a bit with other host names, user names, etc,, just for the heck of it, I got THIS:


Does this mean anything? (BTW, I changed it back to he former setup to make sure this info can't be used after viewing here on EE.)

Finally, to answer your most recent questions, visits range from 15,000-90,000 a month (I have 4 different stats programs and there is NO consistency), and I have an unlimited domains account at this time.

So what you're looking at is a security certificate, which means that they're using Secure FTP (this is a good thing, as the FTP communication is encrypted). The security certificate in use is bound to the hostmonster.com domain name. It's OK for you to click OK, and you should simply connect.

If you change the encryption field back to plain FTP, does it still connect?

Dr. Klahn is indeed perceptive, and masnrock's ideas weren't bad in the search for an answer.

And THE answer came from an unexpected online source who is very close to the situation and must remain unnamed. The answer: HostMonster is STILL as of the writing struggling with that DDOS attack (a week after I started having trouble) and has never notified its customers. The inability of my FTP programs to connect is because of THEIR I.P. "workarounds."

My gut feeling to change hosts was apparently right.

So thanks to all. I appreciate your time and thoughts,