I have been a user of Forte Agent for more than 10 years and subscribed to newsgroup server news.forteinc.com for the same time. For the last few months I have been getting "Authentification Failed". Under different credentials I opened a free 1 month trial of the news server. Using this entirely different login I also get "Authorisation failed". My login to Agent's website works all OK.

I appreciate all the help that Ralph Fox has given me, but nothing suggested has worked. Ralph has helped me try many different changes, all to no avail.

My last contact from Ralph was on Nov 3rd. I answered that still I was refused authentification. In my final post to him I asked two things:
"Ralph, 2 questions please:
"a) Have you tried opening a new, different, free 1 month account? (Remember that I have tried that and I also get "authorisation failed")
and
b) Are you willing to answer me directly by email? (eg via a short term gmail account). I can be much more specific with images, etc. I respond to le0p...@gmail.com"

I have asked Ralph to try these last two tests more than once, without response. During this time he has been active on this group with other requests.

Is there a member of this forum that will try a) above for me, and/or b) answer me at le0pard32@gmail.com? If someone does answer me at that email, I will give them my username and password to try.

The official helpdesk merely endlessly advises me to check my username/password, and then says that the only other help may be available on this forum.. Surely there is someone else?; it is commercial software? Nope, noone at all. I questioned this and suggested that someone must pay their salary, and no answer!! But someone keeps charging me every month.
I don't seek sympathy, but my medicos tell me my mortal life's outlook is very short. I ask for help ASAP.

I mean, nor intent, any harm to anyone. I just want to know whether to persist with this many-months' long problem.

Take care people
Doug

On Sat, 12 Nov 2022 07:25:21 -0800 (PST), Lion Le0pa
<le0pard32@gmail.com> wrote:

>I have been a user of Forte Agent for more than 10 years and subscribed to newsgroup server news.forteinc.com for the same time. For the last few months I have been getting "Authentification Failed". Under different credentials I opened a free 1 month trial of the news server. Using this entirely different login I also get "Authorisation failed". My login to Agent's website works all OK.
>
>I appreciate all the help that Ralph Fox has given me, but nothing suggested has worked. Ralph has helped me try many different changes, all to no avail.
>
>My last contact from Ralph was on Nov 3rd. I answered that still I was refused authentification. In my final post to him I asked two things:
>"Ralph, 2 questions please:
>"a) Have you tried opening a new, different, free 1 month account? (Remember that I have tried that and I also get "authorisation failed")
>and
>b) Are you willing to answer me directly by email? (eg via a short term gmail account). I can be much more specific with images, etc. I respond to le0p...@gmail.com"
>
>I have asked Ralph to try these last two tests more than once, without response. During this time he has been active on this group with other requests.
>
>Is there a member of this forum that will try a) above for me, and/or b) answer me at le0pard32@gmail.com? If someone does answer me at that email, I will give them my username and password to try.
>
>The official helpdesk merely endlessly advises me to check my username/password, and then says that the only other help may be available on this forum. Surely there is someone else?; it is commercial software? Nope, noone at all. I questioned this and suggested that someone must pay their salary, and no answer!! But someone keeps charging me every month.
> I don't seek sympathy, but my medicos tell me my mortal life's outlook is very short. I ask for help ASAP.
>
>I mean, nor intent, any harm to anyone. I just want to know whether to persist with this many-months' long problem.
>
>Take care people
>Doug

I had pretty much the same problem and finally resorted to emailing
Help on apn. Though it was nearly a week before there was a response,
it did eventually work. I am not very techie so don't know what
amongst the things they told me to do worked, but it is working again.

Now it's a question of seeing who dies first, me or usenet :)

On Sat, 12 Nov 2022 07:25:21 -0800 (PST), Lion Le0pa
<le0pard32@gmail.com> wrote:

>I have been a user of Forte Agent for more than 10 years and subscribed to newsgroup server news.forteinc.com for the same time. For the last few months I have been getting "Authentification Failed". Under different credentials I opened a free 1 month trial of the news server. Using this entirely different login I also get "Authorisation failed". My login to Agent's website works all OK.
>
>I appreciate all the help that Ralph Fox has given me, but nothing suggested has worked. Ralph has helped me try many different changes, all to no avail.
>
>My last contact from Ralph was on Nov 3rd. I answered that still I was refused authentification. In my final post to him I asked two things:
>"Ralph, 2 questions please:
>"a) Have you tried opening a new, different, free 1 month account? (Remember that I have tried that and I also get "authorisation failed")
>and
>b) Are you willing to answer me directly by email? (eg via a short term gmail account). I can be much more specific with images, etc. I respond to le0p...@gmail.com"
>
>I have asked Ralph to try these last two tests more than once, without response. During this time he has been active on this group with other requests.
>
>Is there a member of this forum that will try a) above for me, and/or b) answer me at le0pard32@gmail.com? If someone does answer me at that email, I will give them my username and password to try.
>
>The official helpdesk merely endlessly advises me to check my username/password, and then says that the only other help may be available on this forum. Surely there is someone else?; it is commercial software? Nope, noone at all. I questioned this and suggested that someone must pay their salary, and no answer!! But someone keeps charging me every month.
> I don't seek sympathy, but my medicos tell me my mortal life's outlook is very short. I ask for help ASAP.
>
>I mean, nor intent, any harm to anyone. I just want to know whether to persist with this many-months' long problem.
>
>Take care people
>Doug

Two things you might try that I haven't seen mentioned that are
entirely independent of the newsreader itself:

1. Disable your anti-virus and try again. If it doesn't work,
re-enable anti-virus.

2. Disable your firewall and try again. And again, if it doesn't work,
re-enable the firewall.

=IML=

Moogs! Would you buy it for a quarter?

On Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 8:14:22 PM UTC, Ira Lieberman wrote:
> On Sat, 12 Nov 2022 07:25:21 -0800 (PST), Lion Le0pa

> >I have been a user of Forte Agent for more than 10 years and subscribed to newsgroup server news.forteinc.com for the same time. For the last few months I have been getting "Authentification Failed". Under different credentials I opened a free 1 month trial of the news server. Using this entirely different login I also get "Authorisation failed". My login to Agent's website works all OK.
> >
I'm a new subscriber. Having the same issues.

I have copy/pasted the apn number and password supplied by forte into Forte 8 so it cannot be the login info that is incorrect.

I have tried the following:

1. Turning off anti-virus + Firewall
2. Changing password
3. Tried other newsreader clients
4. Contacting support - they are bloody hopeless.. never answer
5. Tried the trial account first, then tried fully paid
6. Tried another usenet provider, worked perfectly first go (fastusenetworks )
7. Tried contacting support again.. zero response. They have my money and I can't login, awesome stuff Forte!!
8. Tried on my Mac and Windows
9. Tried to connect to server without apn or password - connects but of course wont authenticate

Conclusion.. Forte have f*cked up... their server wont authenticate inbound connections
Forte.. if you are listening, you need to sort your sh*t out, your stuff-up is causing people to waste a lot of time and energy trying to fix something they cannot fix from their end.

On Sat, 12 Nov 2022 17:35:22 -0800 (PST), Jay <goldseeker1961@gmail.com> wrote:

>I'm a new subscriber. Having the same issues.
>
>I have copy/pasted the apn number and password supplied by forte into Forte 8 so it cannot be the login info that is incorrect.

I set up a 20 GB account tonight and am having the same issue. Error 502
Authentication Failed.

In addition, I did not receive the confirmation e-mail that was supposed to be
sent upon sign-up.

Forte/Forte's news provider needs to take a look at this issue.

I will be cancelling my account soon.

JB

On Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 12:05:23 PM UTC+10:30, Jay wrote:
> On Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 8:14:22 PM UTC, Ira Lieberman wrote:
> > On Sat, 12 Nov 2022 07:25:21 -0800 (PST), Lion Le0pa
> > >I have been a user of Forte Agent for more than 10 years and subscribed to newsgroup server news.forteinc.com for the same time. For the last few months I have been getting "Authentification Failed". Under different credentials I opened a free 1 month trial of the news server. Using this entirely different login I also get "Authorisation failed". My login to Agent's website works all OK.
> > >
> I'm a new subscriber. Having the same issues.
>
> I have copy/pasted the apn number and password supplied by forte into Forte 8 so it cannot be the login info that is incorrect.
>
> I have tried the following:
>
> 1. Turning off anti-virus + Firewall
> 2. Changing password
> 3. Tried other newsreader clients
> 4. Contacting support - they are bloody hopeless.. never answer
> 5. Tried the trial account first, then tried fully paid
> 6. Tried another usenet provider, worked perfectly first go (fastusenetworks )
> 7. Tried contacting support again.. zero response. They have my money and I can't login, awesome stuff Forte!!
> 8. Tried on my Mac and Windows
> 9. Tried to connect to server without apn or password - connects but of course wont authenticate
>
> Conclusion.. Forte have f*cked up... their server wont authenticate inbound connections
> Forte.. if you are listening, you need to sort your sh*t out, your stuff-up is causing people to waste a lot of time and energy trying to fix something they cannot fix from their end.

Thanks to florence.it and Ira (Yes Ira, I have tried with antimalware/firewall disabled)

Thank you Jay. Finally some one has tried opening a new account and experiences exactly the same issues as me! All along the responses assume that it is MY fault. My suspicions were raised when Ralph stopped responding after I pointedly asked him to open a new free account and try himself. And Yes, the helpdesk has been merely telling me to ask this group, seemingly relying on Ralph. Ralph is undoubtably an expert with Forte Agent, for which I thank him.

Summary:
1. I am very experienced with Windows, very experienced with Agent, and it is exasperating to be repeatedly asked to check my password, etc. The repeated responses imply that the system can't be wrong. The helpdesk tells me there is no longer anybody to which they can refer technical issues? So I asked the helpdesk to send my issue to whoever pays him/her. No response. So who owns Forteinc? Ralph, do you know?
2. Like you Jay, I can also connect to alternative news-servers via Forte Agent.
3. New forteinc accounts are not being communicated through to the news-server, which Ralph tells me is owned by HW Media. It is the HW Media server that is rejecting forteinc's new accounts.
4. Despite having no access to the Forteinc news-server for many months, the monthly bill still keeps coming in. This seems like wrongful charging.
5. Jay, I agree that "Forte have f*cked up"
5. Forte, please refund our users' fees, until you can sort out your problems.

Doug

On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 20:43:14 -0800 (PST), Lion Le0pa wrote:

> My suspicions were raised when Ralph stopped responding after I pointedly asked him to open a new free account and try himself.

My sign-up failed with the message "We're sorry, your credit card was
declined". I never got to see whether the credentials worked or not.
I understand there is some credit-card-processing intermediary which
the banks here treat as suspicious, which may or may not be related.
I have had other things to do in my life, other than chasing this to
get to the next step and so on.

--
Kind regards
Ralph

🏞

> Thank you Jay. Finally some one has tried opening a new account and experiences exactly the same issues as me! All along the responses assume that it is MY fault. My suspicions were raised when Ralph stopped responding after I pointedly asked him to open a new free account and try himself. And Yes, the helpdesk has been merely telling me to ask this group, seemingly relying on Ralph. Ralph is undoubtably an expert with Forte Agent, for which I thank him.
>
> Summary:
> 1. I am very experienced with Windows, very experienced with Agent, and it is exasperating to be repeatedly asked to check my password, etc. The repeated responses imply that the system can't be wrong. The helpdesk tells me there is no longer anybody to which they can refer technical issues? So I asked the helpdesk to send my issue to whoever pays him/her. No response. So who owns Forteinc? Ralph, do you know?
> 2. Like you Jay, I can also connect to alternative news-servers via Forte Agent.
> 3. New forteinc accounts are not being communicated through to the news-server, which Ralph tells me is owned by HW Media. It is the HW Media server that is rejecting forteinc's new accounts.
> 4. Despite having no access to the Forteinc news-server for many months, the monthly bill still keeps coming in. This seems like wrongful charging.
> 5. Jay, I agree that "Forte have f*cked up"
> 5. Forte, please refund our users' fees, until you can sort out your problems.
>
> Doug

No worries Doug.

Just a quick follow up..

Finally Forte 'support' contacted me and said they had logged in using my apn number and password and all was well.
This appears to be false as I checked my account status and I could not find any evidence of a login or data being transferred.. not a single Kb.
They said "insure your username and password is selected as the login method and turn off antivirus and your firewall, failing that refer to the FAQ as per link supplied".. the link didn't work.. page blank.
I had already told them I could log into my 'forte account' so the login credentials were AOK.. seems they ignored that vital bit of info, or the response I received was pre-scripted - copy/pasted
I told them it appears the servers database has not been updated with my login credentials.. I demanded they fix it or return my money.
They have 48 hours before I lodge a complaint with the FTC.

Meanwhile I joined up with fastusenet, decent binary/text retention $2.95 a month everything works perfectly, and first time.
I only joined up with Forte because I heard they had 7150 days of text retention.. now that would be awesome if I could only just login..

Jay

On Sat, 12 Nov 2022 22:25:36 -0600, Jodrell Bank <spscope@jodrell.invalid>
wrote:

>On Sat, 12 Nov 2022 17:35:22 -0800 (PST), Jay <goldseeker1961@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>I'm a new subscriber. Having the same issues.
>>
>>I have copy/pasted the apn number and password supplied by forte into Forte 8 so it cannot be the login info that is incorrect.
>
>I set up a 20 GB account tonight and am having the same issue. Error 502
>Authentication Failed.
>
>In addition, I did not receive the confirmation e-mail that was supposed to be
>sent upon sign-up.
>
>Forte/Forte's news provider needs to take a look at this issue.
>
>I will be cancelling my account soon.
>
>JB

72 hours and still no reply from APN support.

JB

On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 22:50:02 -0800 (PST), Jay <goldseeker1961@gmail.com> wrote:

>Meanwhile I joined up with fastusenet, decent binary/text retention $2.95 a month everything works perfectly, and first time.

So did I. Fired right up with zero issues. Good speed and retention. APN is
history.

JB

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 7:50:03 AM UTC+1, Jay wrote:
> > Thank you Jay. Finally some one has tried opening a new account and experiences exactly the same issues as me! All along the responses assume that it is MY fault. My suspicions were raised when Ralph stopped responding after I pointedly asked him to open a new free account and try himself. And Yes, the helpdesk has been merely telling me to ask this group, seemingly relying on Ralph. Ralph is undoubtably an expert with Forte Agent, for which I thank him.
> >
> > Summary:
> > 1. I am very experienced with Windows, very experienced with Agent, and it is exasperating to be repeatedly asked to check my password, etc. The repeated responses imply that the system can't be wrong. The helpdesk tells me there is no longer anybody to which they can refer technical issues? So I asked the helpdesk to send my issue to whoever pays him/her. No response. So who owns Forteinc? Ralph, do you know?
> > 2. Like you Jay, I can also connect to alternative news-servers via Forte Agent.
> > 3. New forteinc accounts are not being communicated through to the news-server, which Ralph tells me is owned by HW Media. It is the HW Media server that is rejecting forteinc's new accounts.
> > 4. Despite having no access to the Forteinc news-server for many months, the monthly bill still keeps coming in. This seems like wrongful charging..
> > 5. Jay, I agree that "Forte have f*cked up"
> > 5. Forte, please refund our users' fees, until you can sort out your problems.
> >
> > Doug
> No worries Doug.
>
> Just a quick follow up..
>
> Finally Forte 'support' contacted me and said they had logged in using my apn number and password and all was well.
> This appears to be false as I checked my account status and I could not find any evidence of a login or data being transferred.. not a single Kb.
> They said "insure your username and password is selected as the login method and turn off antivirus and your firewall, failing that refer to the FAQ as per link supplied".. the link didn't work.. page blank.
> I had already told them I could log into my 'forte account' so the login credentials were AOK.. seems they ignored that vital bit of info, or the response I received was pre-scripted - copy/pasted
> I told them it appears the servers database has not been updated with my login credentials.. I demanded they fix it or return my money.
> They have 48 hours before I lodge a complaint with the FTC.
>
> Meanwhile I joined up with fastusenet, decent binary/text retention $2.95 a month everything works perfectly, and first time.
> I only joined up with Forte because I heard they had 7150 days of text retention.. now that would be awesome if I could only just login..
>
> Jay

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 7:50:03 AM UTC+1, Jay wrote:
> > Thank you Jay. Finally some one has tried opening a new account and experiences exactly the same issues as me! All along the responses assume that it is MY fault. My suspicions were raised when Ralph stopped responding after I pointedly asked him to open a new free account and try himself. And Yes, the helpdesk has been merely telling me to ask this group, seemingly relying on Ralph. Ralph is undoubtably an expert with Forte Agent, for which I thank him.
> >
> > Summary:
> > 1. I am very experienced with Windows, very experienced with Agent, and it is exasperating to be repeatedly asked to check my password, etc. The repeated responses imply that the system can't be wrong. The helpdesk tells me there is no longer anybody to which they can refer technical issues? So I asked the helpdesk to send my issue to whoever pays him/her. No response. So who owns Forteinc? Ralph, do you know?
> > 2. Like you Jay, I can also connect to alternative news-servers via Forte Agent.
> > 3. New forteinc accounts are not being communicated through to the news-server, which Ralph tells me is owned by HW Media. It is the HW Media server that is rejecting forteinc's new accounts.
> > 4. Despite having no access to the Forteinc news-server for many months, the monthly bill still keeps coming in. This seems like wrongful charging..
> > 5. Jay, I agree that "Forte have f*cked up"
> > 5. Forte, please refund our users' fees, until you can sort out your problems.
> >
> > Doug
> No worries Doug.
>
> Just a quick follow up..
>
> Finally Forte 'support' contacted me and said they had logged in using my apn number and password and all was well.
> This appears to be false as I checked my account status and I could not find any evidence of a login or data being transferred.. not a single Kb.
> They said "insure your username and password is selected as the login method and turn off antivirus and your firewall, failing that refer to the FAQ as per link supplied".. the link didn't work.. page blank.
> I had already told them I could log into my 'forte account' so the login credentials were AOK.. seems they ignored that vital bit of info, or the response I received was pre-scripted - copy/pasted
> I told them it appears the servers database has not been updated with my login credentials.. I demanded they fix it or return my money.
> They have 48 hours before I lodge a complaint with the FTC.
>
> Meanwhile I joined up with fastusenet, decent binary/text retention $2.95 a month everything works perfectly, and first time.
> I only joined up with Forte because I heard they had 7150 days of text retention.. now that would be awesome if I could only just login..
>
> Jay
Hi to everybody. I have the same problem. For sure it does not depend from Agent Newsreader or Windows or antivirus. I use PAN with Ubuntu and it worked for years. I have not used it for some time, and after renewal it has not not worked.I wrote to Forte Suppport. They do not answer. Never happened before: they always answered to my emails. Only solution is to cancel the account and find another Usenet.