IRC Server refusing my connection

/connect bear.freenode.net
Irssi: Unable to connect server bear.freenode.net port 6667 [Connection refused]

Does this mean I've been kicked out or something?

/connect irc.ubuntu.com
# Connects perfectly

I don't think this is anything to do with firewalls. It seems like Irssi is connecting to the bear.freenode.net, and bear.freenode.net is actively refusing my connection? Any ideas?

If I have been banned, how can I challenge this ban?

1 Answer

Connection refused means, just that. Your server is refusing connections, and its not just you. I can't connect to it either, and pinging it gives me

Pinging bear.freenode.net [78.129.250.51] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 78.129.250.51: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

IRC has other error messages should you be banned such as gline. Its more likely the server is just down, and using the generic freenode domain name -itv.freenode.net (ubuntu's irc domain points at freenode too)is usually a better idea, so you can be pointed to the right server.

That said, if there's a good reason you think you got a server side ban, its a good time to re-examine the error of your ways