I've never had knockd fail me, can you fill me in on what pitfall got yours to go down? Just in case.
Every now and then particular knock ports might be blocked (DROP) by cliënt side ISP/wifi/etc you happen to be using at the moment.
Or your fiber optic connection package gets a speed boost, along with being moved behind CGNAT.
OK in my case switching from cable to fiber already included ending up behind a CGNAT, but people already on that ISP actually got that 2in1 surprise.