error in connecting irc through xchat

Question

I installed X-chat on Ubuntu 14.04.

in the first step I enter all the details (nickname, realname etc) and choose freenode as server and click Connect.

But I see the following error:

Looking up irc.freenode.net
* Connecting to chat.freenode.net (94.125.182.252) port 8001...

and nothing happens and there is a timeout error.

and when I type:

/join #python

I see the following:

Not connected. Try /server <host> [<port>]

Answer 1

You aren't connecting to the IRC port. Your client is specifying port 8001 but you need to connect to 6667

Answer 2

Check that you and your provider are not blocking port 6667.

To test this, fire up a terminal and type:

telnet chat.freenode.net 6667

Examine the output to see if the command succeeds (if it does, you'll be presented with freenode's welcome banner):

$ telnet chat.freenode.net 6667
Trying 35.156.219.172...
Connected to chat.freenode.net.
Escape character is '^]'.
:jackson.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Looking up your hostname...
:jackson.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Checking Ident
:jackson.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Found your hostname

If it does not, examine your network configuration, firewall, router and anything at your provider that may block that outbound port.

Some providers, especially schools and colleges, block port 6667 for security and you should try one of freenode's many other ports instead: https://freenode.net/kb/answer/chat