I am using a DSL line and I am firewalled by Duke University.
I was using Limewire & Napster without any problems, until recently...

~ 3 months ago I could no longer connect to the Gnutella network at all - disconnected!!! all the time.

I tried other Gnutella clients including bear share and gnotella, both of which cannot connect. Tried version posted on this site... still disconnected.

I changed the port to 80, 443, 8000, 8080, 143, 110, 25,...
still disconnected.

I suspect there was a network change making it impossible for me to connect... and I am just too @#$%^ to figure it out.

I tried this "force local IP" in case of NAT gateways. I am not sure if I did it right (obtained IP with ipconfig/all entered it in Gnotella) -but still no success.

What can I do to diagnose the problem and connect again... ?

It sounds like they've blocked you good. I haven't had any experience with such large "security" measures, so I would not know how to fix this. But I do know that Force IP will only work if your firewall accepts forced ports. I think you can rule that out as a possibility, though. I'm sure they wouldn't want to leave a loophole for you to jump through.

The fact that none of the Gnutella clients work for you indicates that this is not a LimeWire problem. Sorry I can't be of much help. :-(

Appreciate your reply TrueStarWarrior!

... interestingly I tried KaZaA file sharing and to my great suprise it worked. I'd rather prefer Gnutella, but I guess I am stuck...

I wonder if Duke specifically blocks Gnutella?