Nothing can be as annoying as getting timeout error when accessing an application.

One such error is FTP “Read timed out“. You are waiting for a successful FTP connection, but at the end it throws a timeout error.

Quite frustrating right? And, you know that the connection timed out, but where?

At Bobcares, we help website owners resolve these errors as part of our Dedicated Support Services for web hosts.

Today, we’ll discuss the top 4 reasons for ftp read timed out error and how we fix them.

What is FTP ‘Read Timed out’ error?

FTP Read Timed out error means that the client or server couldn’t read data from the source and has given up waiting for the information requested.

Users see the complete error message like this:

Failed to upload file
Establishing FTP connection failed: Read timed out
Read timed out

A Read timeout error explains a little about the error and the reason for the error, it just identifies that an error has occurred. So our Hosting Engineers analyze the FTP logs(/var/log/messages) to identify the origin of the issue.

FTP ‘Read Timed out’ error – Causes and Solutions

Let’s now see the main reasons for FTP read timed out error and how our Server Support Engineers fix them.

1) Firewall blocking Passive ports in server

The standard FTP ports are 20 and 21, and these ports should be opened in the server for proper functioning of FTP.

In addition to that, the FTP server should accept connections to Passive FTP ports which vary from server to server.

But, the problem is that most servers accept connections only on standard ports. And, if it’s not specifically set to access connections on Passive FTP ports, the incoming connections fail.

Consequently, users see FTP Read Timed out error.

Solution

Firstly, our Hosting Engineers confirm that the connectivity to the standard FTP ports 20 and 21 works well using the below command.

telnet hostname 20
telnet hostname 21

Secondly, we verify that the Passive port range is specified in the FTP configuration file.

For example, in a ProFTPd server, we un-comment the following directive in the configuration file /etc/proftpd.conf to specify the Passive port range.

PassivePorts 49152 65535

Finally, we open these passive port range in the server firewall.

For example, in a Linux server, we open the passive port range in firewall using the below command.

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --match multiport --dports xxxxx:yyyyy -j ACCEPT

Here, xxxxx is the starting port, and yyyyy is the ending port in the Passive port range.

[Do you need help enabling Passive ports on your server? One of our Sever Experts can enable it for you in minutes.]

2) FTP client set to use Active mode

Another common reason for this error is that users enable Active mode in FTP client to transfer the files.

FTP transfers can happen in Passive and Active modes. However, active mode requires users to configure their PCs to connect to standard ports from the server.

In Active mode, the FTP client doesn’t make the actual connection to the server. Instead, it tells the server on which port it listens, and the server connects back to the specified port.

But this connection appears to be a cyber attack from the client side firewall, and hence it blocks such non-standard connections.

We’ve seen cases in which users have accidentally set their FTP mode to Active, resulting in FTP Read Timed out errors.

Solution

The solution here differs based on the FTP client software used by the users.

So, our Hosting Engineers first get the FTP client details used by the customer. And, we help users navigate their FTP client settings and enable Passive mode.

We always recommend users to enable Passive mode as the default option in their FTP clients.

[Not sure about the FTP settings to be used for your account? One of our Support Experts can help you here.]

3) Increase connection timeout limit

Usually, FTP Read Timed out error can occur when users try to upload a relatively large file. And, this problem is related to the internal timeout settings of the FTP client.

In other words, when users upload a large file, then the upload process may fail if it’s not completed within that predefined connection timeout limit.

Solution

In such cases, our Support Engineers help users to increase the Timeout values in their FTP clients accordingly.

Alternatively in some cases, we completely disable the Timeout value by setting it’s value as 0.

4) Intermediate firewall or routers block Passive ports

The majority of users are unaware of the firewall between their PC and server. This can be your network administrator or ISPs setting up a third-party firewall, intermediate firewall or a firewall on a router.

We’ve seen routers, proxies, etc. block connections through passive ports.

Solution

To resolve this, we ask users to turn off their gateways or routers to establish a direct connection. This helps us to determine if the block exists at the intermediate end.

Once, we’ve confirmed that the problem is with the intermediate devices, users can work with their network administrator or ISPs to set up the intermediate firewall to allow connections to passive ports.

Conclusion

In short, FTP Read Timed out error can happen due to server firewall settings, ftp client settings, and more. Today we’ve discussed the top 4 reasons of this error and how our Dedicated Support Engineers fix them.