Aloha Dektop Browser TrafficMask Not Working

Hi, are you using the latest 4.18.0.0 version?

Yes i am using 4.18.0.0 version on windows 11 25H2. This problem started with version 4.17.0.0. TrafficMask button not working. not active.

Hi, please do the following:

1. Open Windows program cmd
2. In cmd, open the Aloha application folder, for example:
C:\Users\YOUR_USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Aloha Mobile\Aloha\Application
3. Run Aloha from cmd using the following command:
Aloha.exe --enable-logging=stderr -v=1
4. Reproduce the issue and send the full output from the cmd window to us.

Thank you,

This here cmd log

Thanks for the log! Please do the following:

Aloha's Traffic Mask needs to open a small local port on your computer (a port in the 127.0.0.1 loopback range, somewhere between
49152 and 65535) so that the browser can route its own traffic through it. From your log, Aloha is asking Windows for a free port,
but every time it tries to actually use that port, Windows answers:
"Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted."

That's the Windows code WSAEADDRINUSE (error 10048). It means something on your system is blocking that port — either another
program is using it, or Windows itself has reserved it.

The good news: this is almost always fixable in a few minutes without reinstalling anything.

Step 1 — Close every copy of Aloha first

Before anything else, make sure there isn't a leftover Aloha process still running and holding the port:

1. Close all Aloha windows (including the icon in the system tray near the clock — right-click → Quit).
2. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) → Details tab.
3. End any process named:
- Aloha.exe
- aloha_proxy.exe
- aloha_service.exe
4. Start Aloha again and try Traffic Mask once more.

If it now works → done. If not, continue.

Step 2 — Reboot once

A clean reboot resets all network reservations. This alone fixes the issue for many users, especially after a Windows update.
Reboot, then try Traffic Mask before opening any other app.

If it still fails, go to Step 3 — this is the most common real cause.

---
Step 3 — Check whether Windows has reserved the port (most common cause)

Windows features like Hyper-V, WSL2, Docker Desktop, Windows Sandbox, and Mobile Hotspot silently reserve big chunks of the high
port range for their own use. While reserved, no other program can open those ports — even though nothing is actively listening on
them. This is the #1 reason Traffic Mask suddenly stops working after a Windows update.

How to check

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator (Start → type cmd → right-click → "Run as administrator").
2. Paste this command and press Enter:
netsh int ipv4 show excludedportrange protocol=tcp
3. You'll see a list like:
Start Port End Port
---------- --------
50000 50059
60000 60100
61400 61900 <-- if you see a range that covers ~61500, that's the problem
...

If you see a reserved range that includes the ports Aloha is trying to use (typically anywhere in 49152–65535), that's why Traffic
Mask can't connect.

How to fix it

Still in the same Administrator Command Prompt, run these two commands one after the other:

net stop winnat
net start winnat

This restarts the Windows NAT driver and clears the stale reservations. After it finishes, try Traffic Mask again — in most cases
it starts working immediately.

If the problem comes back after every reboot, you can move Windows' dynamic port range higher so it stops grabbing the area Aloha
uses:

netsh int ipv4 set dynamic tcp start=10000 num=10000
netsh int ipv6 set dynamic tcp start=10000 num=10000

Then reboot. (This is safe; it just tells Windows to allocate temporary outgoing-connection ports from a different range.)

---
Step 4 — If a real program is holding the port

If Step 3 didn't reveal a reserved range, then a different program on your computer is actually using that port. To find which
one:

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. Run:
netstat -ano | findstr "127.0.0.1:615"
2. (the 615 matches the port numbers from your log; change if your log shows different numbers)
3. You'll see something like:
TCP 127.0.0.1:61522 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING 12345
3. The last number (12345) is the process ID of the program holding the port.
4. In Task Manager → Details tab, click the PID column header to sort by PID, find that number, and you'll see which program is
the culprit.

Common offenders we see in practice:
- Other VPN clients: NordVPN, ProtonVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, OpenVPN, sing-box, v2rayN
- Antivirus / web protection: Kaspersky, ESET, Avast (their HTTPS-inspection proxies)
- Developer tools: Docker Desktop, WSL, Node.js / Python dev servers
- Game launchers and chat apps: Steam, Discord, Epic Games Launcher, Spotify (local IPC)
- Corporate / MDM agents preinstalled on work laptops

Either close that program before using Traffic Mask, or — if it's something you need running all the time — uninstall the
conflicting service if it's a leftover from software you no longer use.

---
Step 5 — Still not working? Send us this:

1. The full output of:
netsh int ipv4 show excludedportrange protocol=tcp
netsh int ipv4 show dynamicport tcp
netstat -ano | findstr LISTENING
2. The Aloha log file (you already sent this — thanks).
3. A short note about: which Windows version you have (Settings → System → About → "OS build"), whether you have Hyper-V, WSL,
Docker Desktop, or any other VPN installed.

Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8457
Hyper-V disabled

Thanks for the logs! We’ve found an old problem on our side. We’ll fix it and roll out the release in a few days 🛠️

Thanks for reporting 🤗