# how to force connection
**URL:** https://forum.syncthing.net/t/how-to-force-connection/6927
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [March 10, 2016, 1:19pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/how-to-force-connection/6927 "2016-03-10T13:19:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@stefo](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/stefo)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2016, 1:19pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/how-to-force-connection/6927/1 "2016-03-10T13:19:30Z")
Hi, syncthing works well on my two machines, one with windows and one with Ubuntu. However, the connection can be very long : sometimes one hour or more. Now for example, though I modified one folder pear and restarted both apps on the two computers, it still appears “disconnected”. What is the schedule of connexion (periodic time ? permanent ?) and is there a mean, if useful, to force the connection when wanted ?
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### Author:  [@calmh](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/calmh)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/how-to-force-connection/6927/2 "2016-03-10T13:48:49Z")
Connections are retried every 60 seconds. If it doesn’t reconnect within a minute it’s because a connection isn’t possible or the discovery doesn’t work. There’s a longer delay before it switches to using relays, so perhaps that’s what finally happens for you? When connected, in the GUI, does it say “Address: something” or “Relayed via: something” on the device (right side of the screen)?
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### Author:  [@stefo](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/stefo)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/how-to-force-connection/6927/3 "2016-03-10T14:19:07Z")
Wouhahou ! I didn’t expect a so quick reply ! Thanks a lot ! When I start syncthing or the state is still “disconnected”, in adress there is a question mark “?”. When it is connected, I see “relayed by”… something like a ip adress. I don’t understand this notion of relay…
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### Author:  [@calmh](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/calmh)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/how-to-force-connection/6927/4 "2016-03-10T14:30:47Z")
It basically means the devices can find no direct way to talk to each other, so they are talking via a middle man. This is quite slow and takes a while to connect. See if you can get a port forward set up on either side; [http://docs.syncthing.net/users/firewall.html#firewall-setup](http://docs.syncthing.net/users/firewall.html#firewall-setup)
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### Author:  [@stefo](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/stefo)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/how-to-force-connection/6927/5 "2016-03-10T14:58:44Z")
OK, you’re right, after I opened ports on windows firewall it connects directly (no relay) within 1 minute. Sorry I had misread documentation on the firewall and relay : since it worked sometimes, and because syncthing was allowed in the firewall, I thought that there was no need for opening ports. Thanks a lot and congratulations for your soft and support !
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/how-to-force-connection/6927/6 "2016-04-09T15:01:00Z")
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