RailMaster Activation simple fix

[Kieran92]

Good afternoon all, I am just posting to share how I managed to activate RailMaster after a couple of days of frustration.

I have BT broadband at home and couldn't even download the RailMaster setup from the pinned post in this forum. Thankfully Chrissaf has hosted it for download elsewhere (many thanks) so I managed to install the software.

I was unable to activate using my key and after turning off antivirus firewalls and the firewall in my BT home hub 2 I still was not getting anywhere.

I emailed HMRS who were going to remotely log on to my PC, but again my internet was preventing access to their agent.

Stumped, I decided to use a family member's broadband (Sky in this case) and the RailMaster software activated immediately!

If you are having trouble activating the software then it might just be worth trying a different internet provider.

[Chrissaf]

Thank you for confirming something that has previously been documented as a workaround solution. It is known that some IP addresses are blocked as anti-SPAM? measures by the HRMS servers. And that using a different ISP broadband service can circumvent the block. But it is only a short term fix because if the core issue is not fixed that is preventing communication you will always struggle to get the latest RailMaster updates.

It might be worthwhile contacting HRMS again [support@rail-master.com] and mention your fix workaround, and add in that mail what your allocated ISP 'public IP address' you have been given by your ISP.

HRMS have then (for others] made adjustments to their servers to remove the block for that address.

I stress that the IP address you need to tell HRMS is not your local IP address being used by your PC, it is the 'public IP address' being used by your router on the internet side of the router. Clicking the link below should display your 'public IP address' allocated by your ISP for your broadband service.

what's my ip address site:microsoft.com - Bing

[idlemarvel]

It might be down to the DNS servers used by different ISPs. Maybe the ones BT use by default don't resolve the address RM is trying to contact. I don't know what that address is so hard to test this theory.

[Chrissaf]

BT is my ISP and I have never had any issues with RailMaster being blocked. This statement covers three PC's a desktop and two Laptops.

Just for your information, my BT Home Hub 5 reports the primary DNS as being 81.139.57.100 and the secondary DNS as being 81.139.56.100

[Chrissaf]

As of 27th Sept 2021 HRMS have updated their SSL security certificate configuration on their 'rail-master.com' server.

This SSL (Secure Socket Layer) configuration update may resolve the ISP connection issues reported in this and other previous threads.

RailMaster version 1.74.5 (released 30th Sep 2021) has also been updated to improve HRMS server communication as part of the 'Key Activation' process. Only time will tell if 'RM Activation' issues have been permanently fixed for all.