>>>>Got a VFP app that I'd like to take to a SQL backend, but it won't connect. Says everything is fine, but when I try to do anything on the connection it gives me an error that basically says 'Not connected'
>>>>
>>>>Research on that error generally comes back to 'port issue' so, what port does VFP default to use and is it possible to change it?
>>>
>>>You may need to run the SQL Browser service on the same machine that's hosting SQL Server. Otherwise remote computers may not be able to find the correct host\instance.
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>>You do not *need* to use SQL Browser service is a nice to have feature, in fact we turn it off to avoid opening another port on the firewalls. You need to put the port in the server name so the client connects to the right instance, so you specify host\instance,port.
>
>Yes, if you set static ports in SQL server and want to lock down firewalls you can work that way. However, by default named instances and SQL Server Express use dynamic ports. Some other things don't work if the SQL Browser service isn't running: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/configure-windows/sql-server-browser-service-database-engine-and-ssas?view=sql-server-2017
>
>Not knowing how the OP's environment is set up, running it may be helpful, even if just for troubleshooting.

You are right, as we have our SQL behind firewalls and network admins like to open as less ports as possible, I forgot about dynamic ports