I'm not sure what is going on. I use mIRC and have for years now. For some reason I can connect to the server, but it won't let me join channels or anything like that, or even change my name or register/verify, etc.

I was forced to use the built in mibbit client for a bit last night, but now that won't work either. The fuck is going on?

 

Would you like an invitation to cloud?

 

I'm not sure that would help.

 

What's cloud?

 

It's another client. It's web-based, so no downloads, and keeps auto-logs of whatever channels you've joined regardless of whether you're online or not.

 

My mIRC copy is about 1470 days past trial expiration, so it's not that. I can connect to the irc.darklordpotter.net server, but it won't actually let me into any channels and it doesn't even tell me that my nick is registered or anything like that. It's weird. I went onto mibbit, and it had the same problem, it wouldn't put me into the channel. So I downloaded a new client, and after a bunch of tweaking, I managed to join a channel for about 30 minutes. It ping timed me out eventually, and now I'm having the same problem of connecting again. I randomly was able to get on mibbit though, which is what I'm on right now. No firewalls on or anything like that, and I definitely didn't mess around with any of the settings, and I even triple checked.

 

Maybe someone is playing silly buggers with you on IRC. Maybe there's a problem with your software or internet connection.

If it's a software problem, then the likely culprit is a firewall [either run by the OS or the router] or anti-virus, especially any realtime security software, eg. Avira. I had Avira or Avast [can't remember which one] stop me from accessing usenet one day for no reason. It was the "realtime email scanner" that was the culprit. I had to disable the software and then reboot Windows before it would stop blocking me.

Suggestions:

• Turn off every firewall and piece of security software. Make sure they won't start up again when you reboot. Now reboot.
  Note: You can probably leave the Windows default firewall in place. Stop any Microsoft antivirus/antimalware though.
  
• Try these tests to check your internet connection stability:
  http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/pinger.asp
  http://freeola.com/line-test/
  
• If they don't work, try "ping <favorite hostname> -t". Let it run for an hour or so, and check how many packets were dropped. It's rough, but gives you a good idea of packet loss and variability. Hit ctrl-c to end the command and give you a summary of lost pings and delivery times.
  "ping www.google.com -t" works for me.

That's all I've got.

edit:

Waaaaait a minute. 1470 days? Are you still on XP? :|

 

Try connecting using encrypted connection. If your ISP uses some weird kind of QoS, they won't be able to apply it to that kind of connection.

in mIRC, instead of connecting simply to irc.darklordpotter.net, connect to irc.darklordpotter.net on port +6697 (keep the plus sign).

You also need openssl installed for that

 

Do other networks (like freenode) work?