Why am I getting 'exceeding maximum number of connections' or AUCL errors?

This error is most commonly caused when your newsreader attempts to open a new connection before it has completely finished closing a previous connection. This causes your newsreader to exceed the maximum number of connections allowed per membership. Usually, after 15-30 minutes, the stalled connections will terminate. At that point, new connections can be started.

There are three common causes of this error:

• This is most frequently a problem with the newsreader. If all of your allowed connections are already used and your newsreader tries to perform a new action like accessing headers, the new connection will exceed the maximum number allowed per membership. Lowering the maximum number of connections used by your newsreader will solve this issue.
• This can also be interference from anti-virus or firewall software, even if you haven't recently made any changes. These can cause a closing connection to hang as a new one tries to open, resulting in a conflict.
• This error can also happen if your computer was recently disconnected and reconnected to the Internet or if your ISP recently assigned your computer a new IP address. Connections from the previous IP address may just need to time-out.

To resolve this issue:

• Close your newsreader
• Wait 20 minutes
• Lower the number of connections used in your newsreader
• Then try reconnecting

If this problem persists:

• Reboot your computer and router
• Temporarily disable all of your firewall, anti-virus, spyware, and other security software
• Then try reconnecting