Vpn for photogrammetry in msfs2020

Hi!, I have photogrammetry problem in my nsfs2020 for some time and could not fix after going through a lot of options from FORUMS and lastly I contacted ZENDESK the support team they also gave me a lot of options to try and check if it's fixed but did not work and I contacted them 3 or 4 times and finally they suggested that I should try VPN and which I have done and with VPN connections the photogrammetry works. But IT IS expensive-$12.99 a month. I am still baffled because I had been playing this SIM since it was released I never had problems. Only from SIMUPDATE 5 I was having this problem like so many others I think it is still a fault within MSFS2020 or with Microsoft servers. With Regards

I’m not sure why a VPN would fix it, but I certainly wouldn’t pay that much for one there are many VPNs for a fraction of that price and there are even free ones. Which VPN did you get?

 

Regards

Steve

Do you have a family member or friend nearby that uses a different ISP than you? I've run into issues over the years where something between the ISP and a company's servers (Apple's App Store in one case) broke. Until the ISP and company sorted it out a VPN sometimes helped. If there is someone using a different ISP nearby, it might be worth dragging your computer over to try a quick flight to see if that fixes it.

 

Otherwise, if a VPN is your only way, look for one with a deal on as you shouldn't need to pay full price. Most of the bigger names have specials going on pretty constantly. I've been using Surfshark lately, which works well for my use. Pay attention to what's included in the service, though, as some have bandwidth limits which would be and issue with photogrammetry.

 

Here's one list of VPN deals.

 

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/best-vpn-deals

I don't use FS2020, however it sounds like a DNS issue.

I’m not sure why a VPN would fix it, but I certainly wouldn’t pay that much for one there are many VPNs for a fraction of that price and there are even free ones. Which VPN did you get?

 

Regards

Steve

 

Hi!, I do know it's very expensive, when ZENDESK suggested to try with a VPN my son didn't look for a cheaper one to simply try it out he subscribed to VPN EXPRESS which is VPN service provider for a month. One thing I am annoyed about is when people ask ZENDESK for help, why do they suggest something that's cost money. One good news I can you tell you that this morning my son changed the DNS address for our Internet service and the photogrammetry in my sim works again without any VPN connection and to be sure I have checked again and again. If any other simmers out there having similar problem like me, they can changing the DNS address

How does one go about doing this? I am using Xfinity.

OP didn’t give specifics on how he changed the DNS address, but first, DNS is just the service that returns the IP address of a server when your computer gives it a web address by name. DNS means domain name server. When your computer asks how to contact another computer, the request goes to whatever DNS server your systems are configured to ask. If that server doesn’t have that name/address pair cached, it asks the server above it. Ultimately the request can go all the way to the top authoritative servers.

 

You can change from one DNS server to another a number of different ways. Normally what happens most often is your ISP is your DNS server and it’s your modem/router that routes DNS requests to your ISP name server. The ISP generally tells your modem/router what address to use but you can set this a number of different places manually.

 

You can set the DNS server address on the sim computer, any routers between the computer and your modem/router (if there are any), and on the modem/router itself. If you tell your computer to use specific DNS address, that will be the only system doing that. If you set it on your modem/router then all devices in your home network will use it.

 

ISPs like to be your DNS service so they can see what websites you visit by name and if you type in a bad address, they can show you their list of hits that they can get paid to show you. Using other DNS services can let you customize behaviors like blocking web sites known for malware, scams, adult material if you have kids, etc. OpenDNS.com is a good one that I use for my own DNS lookups. You get a lot just by pointing your systems at OpenDNS’ free servers but if you get an account you can do lots of customization, get reports, etc.

 

If you get into this stuff, there is a software pack for the Raspberry Pi that lets you build your own DNS server called PiHole (pi-hole.net) Fully customizable and it blocks all sorts of ads, malware, and general nuisance junk that ISPs and websites like to flood you with. Set up a PiHole and web pages load fast. Normally as a web page loads, it’s got links to ad and cookie servers all over that populate the page with lots of ads, monitors you, etc. All those ads use bandwidth and can hang the page if the ad server is overloaded. All that junk can get blocked, though. You can whitelist sites and blacklist others. All easily configurable. Some websites will complain that you are blocking their ads and if you want you can allow those ads. PiHole rats out all those handy internet-enabled devices and you can see what is talking to who. You would be amazed how chatty things like TVs, Roku, and satellite boxes are, smart thermostats, etc. Some of it is checking for updates and legitimate housekeeping stuff but a lot is reporting back to companies what you watch, for how long, etc. Get a PiHole or some DNS service that lets you see all the requests and you’ll be both amazed and disgusted. PiHole gives you control over them but if you watch close you can even see strategies devices use to circumvent blocking. It’s a little electronic arms race to monitor and profile you. All to enhance your device experience, of course.

 

Anyway, DNS is just how your computer finds the other computers it wants to talk to. That ends up being very powerful and can be used for good and bad. Also, it’s not infallible. ISPs can (and some at least used to) hijack DNS requests and answer them itself regardless of where you want them to go. DNS is also a great way to do computer attacks. Instead of sending your computer to your real banking website, a DNS attack could send it to an attack website that looks like your bank but instead harvests information like login name and password. That’s when checking for the lock icon in the address bar gets important.

 

There’s lots to know about DNS but there’s a lot of good information at OpenDNS along with their server addresses to use should anyone want to experiment. There are other DNS servers out there too that have their own feature sets, blocklists to apply, etc. I use a PiHole on my network that has its own blocklists and it in turn gets its information from OpenDNS. OpenDNS updates their blocklists as soon as bad acting web addresses are discovered and reported so I get timely protection from new threats while getting full customization and reporting through PiHole. Web pages load fast and trackers, ads, cookies I don’t want get the heave-ho.

How does one go about doing this? I am using Xfinity.

 

Cloudflare has a free alternative DNS service to using your ISP, with a good description about what it does.

 

https://1.1.1.1/dns/

 

They also have instructions on how to use it, linked below. You can change the settings for one specific computer, or change it on your router so all computers, smartphones and other devices on your network can use it.

 

https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/setup-1.1.1.1

I don't use FS2020, however it sounds like a DNS issue.

 

Hi!, You are right, my son changed the DNS address and it's working without any connection VPN. Regards

Do you have a family member or friend nearby that uses a different ISP than you? I've run into issues over the years where something between the ISP and a company's servers (Apple's App Store in one case) broke. Until the ISP and company sorted it out a VPN sometimes helped. If there is someone using a different ISP nearby, it might be worth dragging your computer over to try a quick flight to see if that fixes it.

 

Otherwise, if a VPN is your only way, look for one with a deal on as you shouldn't need to pay full price. Most of the bigger names have specials going on pretty constantly. I've been using Surfshark lately, which works well for my use. Pay attention to what's included in the service, though, as some have bandwidth limits which would be and issue with photogrammetry.

 

Here's one list of VPN deals.

 

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/best-vpn-deals

 

Thank you for your advise, my son has fixed the problem by changing the DNS address and it's working without any VPN connection. Regards

Thank you for your advise, my son has fixed the problem by changing the DNS address and it's working without any VPN connection. Regards

 

Glad to hear it's working, and thanks for sharing the fix.

Strange... so... uh, what do you guys think was the cause of ruining his experience?!?

Strange... so... uh, what do you guys think was the cause of ruining his experience?!?

 

Like he said, it was a DNS issue. The DNS server he using, probably from his ISP, likely didn't have the proper addresses for the MSFS servers, and thus couldn't direct the requests properly.

oh... ok... so because the ISP's servers didn't have the right addresses for MSFS servers, MS never knew his system was requesting the nice photogram terrain data ?!

 

 

So I'm guessing at some point his ISP will eventually get their DNS servers updated with new addresses, say during an update of some kind?

 

Sorry, just trying to understand the situation!

oh... ok... so because the ISP's servers didn't have the right addresses for MSFS servers, MS never knew his system was requesting the nice photogram terrain data ?!

 

 

So I'm guessing at some point his ISP will eventually get their DNS servers updated with new addresses, say during an update of some kind?

 

Sorry, just trying to understand the situation!

 

Yep, pretty much. Updates cascade through the DNS servers, and some can take a while to get them.