If you receive the following error message when accessing HowNow, please read on to try one of these troubleshooting steps.
To be sure that your port is blocked, use this diagnostics tool (link coming soon) to check the status for ports 445 (and/or 1433) and your current internet speed. If you confirm that your port is blocked you will receive an error when performing the test.
This means that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) has Port 445 blocked.
Port 445/1433 is blocked on my internet service, what can I do?
1. Firstly you can search your ISP website for articles. Many ISPs provide steps for you to unblock the port yourself, as you can see in this example with iinet.
2. Secondly contact your ISP and they will be able to assist you in unblocking the Port 445
3. Sometimes you may also check your modem/router for a firewall. If present, disable this and restart your device. Then open and test HowNow X again once the restart is complete.
Recommended internet speed
Office Environment
- we recommend a minimum of 50 Mbps each way (Download & Upload).
Home Environment
- we recommend a minimum NBN speed pack of 50/20 (with minimal speed interruptions for best performance)
- if you are not on NBN, or equivalent speed of service, please speak with us for recommendations
Your data is secure
Business Fitness follows industry best practice guidelines to bring you optimal software and services.
Our producs utilise the latest SMB 3.x protocols with encrypted end to end communication that only requires outbound port 445 traffic.
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If you or your IT are concerned about opening port 445, you can refer to the below articles from Microsoft regarding this port.
Azure Files requires Outbound traffic only,t is OK to disable inbound traffic on that port.
While one of the recommendations in the above links is to use a VPN, we do not recommend, or support, using a VPN with HowNow X.
Snippet from Microsoft regarding port 445:
SMB 3.x protocol has introduced many security features including channel encryption which is very secure to use over internet. However it’s possible that port 445 has been blocked due to historical reasons of vulnerabilities found in lower SMB versions. In ideal case, the port should be blocked for only for SMB 1.0 traffic and SMB 1.0 should be turned off on all clients.