Syncing failed: Connection timed out OR Connection to https://msync.ankiweb.net refused

[wjh...@gmail.com]

Hello,

For the past 3 days, I have had little success syncing AnkiDroid with AnkiWeb. Typically, the syncing process appears to proceed, reaching various phases: preparing to sync, syncing deletions, uploading/downloading of deck/media files (where it sometimes successfully downloads notes from AnkiWeb), checking downloaded file. However, ultimately, the sync will either fail (most frequent scenario) with a "Connection timed out" error or it will successfully sync the notes, but fail to retrieve media. The complete error message for the latter outcome is "Collection Synchronized org.apache.http.conn.HttpHostConnectException: Connection to https://msync.ankiweb.net refused".

I should also mention that, initially, I also had some problems with the computer Anki software syncing with AnkiWeb. As both computer and AnkiDroid were experiencing sync problems, I naturally assumed there was a network problem with the connection to AnkiWeb and engaged in a brief discussion here: https://anki.tenderapp.com/discussions/ankiweb/2006-unable-to-access-ankiweb. However, computer Anki is now syncing fine. Additionally, I don't see packet loss now when I look at the traceroute to ankiweb.net or msync.ankiweb.net.

I still believe that the problem lies somehow in network configuration, because I have successfully synced AnkiDroid using another wifi access point. However, as the sync problem now appears to be limited to the AnkiDroid app, I wasn't sure who to discuss this with. Hope you can help :) Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you.

Here's a bug report if needed:

AnkiDroid Version = 2.7

Android Version = 6.0.1

ACRA UUID = c5150f6b-292d-4f5c-b5f7-ef3ae902534b

Many thanks in advance,
Will

Other possibly related issues (maybe not)
https://github.com/ankidroid/Anki-Android/issues/4543
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/anki-android/mzQta3AbNpM/discussion

[Tim]

You can try using the latest beta version, which is using a slightly different URL for media syncing than v2.7.

https://github.com/ankidroid/Anki-Android/releases

It might not fix your problem though, in which case I have no idea, and the only solution is basically to fix the network problem or use a different network.

[wjh...@gmail.com]

Thanks for replying, Tim. I just tried the v2.8.1beta6 release, but unfortunately it didn't fix the sync.
Trouble is, I really have no idea what the network problem (if that is the cause of this) could be. Any idea why the sync works for the computer Anki software, but not for AnkiDroid?

I've tried various things - factory reset of phone, turning the router off and on again, deleting AnkiWeb account and re-registering (trying a new email too), using a minimal deck with no cards/one card (with and without media). Not really sure what the problem could be. I shall try using another network again this afternoon, just to confirm that syncing works on other networks.

[wjh...@gmail.com]

I never got a chance to test the syncing on another router, but I suspect it would have worked (as it did the last time I tested).

Something must have happened to the network that was beyond my control, because the problem has magically resolved itself after 4-5 days. Both AnkiDroid and AnkiWeb are syncing as they used to.

Just thought I'd let others know, should they experience a similar syncing problem, that there could just be something temporarily wrong with part of the network beyond your own router (and potentially beyond your control).
See https://anki.tenderapp.com/kb/problems/syncing-failed-connection-timed-out-errors-when-syncing for brief explanation. ;)