Troubleshooting Internet Ports on Android Phones

Have you ever setup your smart phone to connect to a POP3 and/or SMTP server only to get errors?  You looked through your email providers’ documentation and spoke with their tech support only to have them tell you that the problem is not on their end.

Frustrating as it is, they are often right.  The true culprit is typically your carrier. Often times they either restrict or obstruct certain ports. How to find if your Smart Phone is able to use these ports; you ask?

Luckily for Android users, there are some nifty free apps you can download and install to perform some port checks for you. The specific one I would like to point out is the Android Net Swiss Tool (this was tested using a Galaxy S3).

It’s very easy to use and comes in really handy when you’re wondering if the hot spot you are connected to or your phone carrier is obstructing specific ports.

Once you have Net Swiss Tool installed, tap the icon. You will see on the top a drop down list where you can choose Portscan TCP. You have two options on how you can define the ports. The first and easiest method is to tap on the Port List button. The second is to manually input the port numbers in the blank text box. When you manually type the ports you want to test, separate the port numbers by spaces not commas. Also pay close attention to the Timeout setting. Some servers may take longer then usual to respond back to a port check. If you’re Timeout setting is set too low, the app will assume the port is closed if it has not received a reply back within a short period of time.

Tap the Test bar and you will see whether the port is open or not.

You will need to keep in mind that it will test the current backbone your phone is using at the time.  Meaning if you are connected to WiFi, it is testing the ports through that WiFi.  If you are away from any hot spots, then your phone is testing through your phone carrier’s backbone.