Slaggg

For your survey: In my line of work (Chef/Bartender), in this area at least, just after the new year business slumps. The Xmas parties are done with, and nobody wants to spend much more money. From Thanksgiving on, however: busy busy busy!!. I managed to get time off for this weekends CPX, in the 'interest of the business', told the owners i need one more day off, so I could keep up my pace and productivity

Anybody care for a netgame tonight? Let me know, I'm on IRC at www.combatmission.com #tacops

The server has been stable for 7 days now, let's hope it stays that way irc.netlink-irc.org #tacops port 6667

That's pretty much correct. Putting my comp in DMZ gave the router the impression that my comp was sitting right next to it, directly on top of the connection into my house. The router gave my comp the same IP that it has, in essence 'sharing' the IP w/ my comp. BUT, that doesn't work for what I wanted, to host an application, because although port 7023 was opened, the router saw no need to forward anything to my comp. As far as the router was concerned, my comp was getting everything it was. What needed to happen, was that my comp needed an IP address in the same range as the hardware IP for the router. The hardware IP is just an address that allows the router and the comp to talk to each other, know where and what each other is. That's the 192.168 range of IPs my setup has. Now, my router's public IP, the one seen by the internet, including other comps that want to connect via a application, is the one that needs to be connected to, different than the hardware IP. The router then IDs the app being used, recognizes that the app uses port 7023 and routes incoming/outgoing data through port 7023. But where to and where from? That's where the 192.168 IPs come in. The router knows that my comp has an IP of 192.168.x.x and that anything using said application and x port number gets forwarded to the comps IP. This doesn't happen when the comp is in DMZ, because the router sees my comp as having the same IP as it, so the incoming data goes no further than the gateway. It was difficult for me to get this done because of the GUI that my router's software uses, not very sophisticated. It seems to be designed for more casual internet users, that don't have much need for opening/closing ports and such. Other software GUIs are undoubtedly easier to manuever through.

Yeah, that was basically the biggest problem I was having. Here's what I did last night, and it apparently worked. First I took my comp OUT of DMZ. My Comp's address went from 66.124.196.100 to 192.168.1.34 Then I pointed my browser to ipchicken.com (Same thing as whatismyip.com) This told me that my ip, visible to the internet, was still 66.124.196.100 I then went to www.pcflank.com, they offer port scanning and other security services. Again my IP as seen by the internet was reported as 66.124.196.100 So, I start the game and logon to the network. I initiated an Advanced port scan, specifying port 7023 to be scanned. It was reported as open. I quit the game, rescanned, port 7023 closed I restarted the game, rescanned, port 7023 open Here's how I understand what happened: Putting my comp into DMZ gave it the same IP as the router, but nothing was being forwarded to 7023 because there wasn't a different IP specified to be forwarded to. Taking the comp out of DMZ, gave it a different IP, but the routers IP stayed the same, telling the router where to forward info from 7023 to. I think that's it. I'm probably missing something in the explanation. Hope some of this helps you JP.

Is it possible that I have to get the router software to first recognize the fact that the application using port 7023 is a host application? Example: In the window listing which applications and their ports are pass-through enabled, there are 5 columns of info App Name Protocol Used (TCP or UDP) App Type Port Public IP Most App's already listed have the 'App Type' field defined, eg. Half-Life is defined as "DirectPlay Host". I had to manually define TacOps, entering the protocol used and the port number, but not the App Type, no field for that. Is it possible that the router software is just too stupid to realize that I want that app to host and that it needs to know this before it allows anything to happen?

The .34 address is indicated everywhere. Each app listed as pass-through enabled and it's corresponding port lists the .34 add as it's pub IP. My comp's TCP/IP control panel lists the .34 add as the computer's pub IP. The network map in the router software lists my comp as having the .34 IP. There's only one other IP listed ANYWHERE, and that's the router's IP. I've opened every window, explored every "advanced option" offered by the software. Zilch.

Ok, go for it 192.168.1.34

In the same 192.168 range as the router.

That's what I was referring to in my above post, yes my comp is in DHCP.

Yes it is in DHCP.

Yeah, that would be me. Having some difficulties here. I'm able to connect to other's games, but not host. JP--Here's what I've done, which should've worked for me but didn't, perhaps if you give it a shot it'll work for you. First, identify what your modem is really all about. If it has some type of monitoring software that was installed during setup, open it up and check it out. You're looking for security, aka firewall, settings. Mine has a list of popular applications and the different settings for them, including port, protocol, and IP. From what Redwolf has been telling me, my setup is just plain screwy because the IP that is reported by the monitoring program is the same all over the board, when there should be a different IP for the router and a different one for my computer proper. What you need to look for is whether the modem/router is forwarding through port 7023 and to your comps IP. Enable pass-through or forwarding for port 7023, the one used by the game. I also put my comp into DMZ, which basically means that my comp is acting as if it were sitting directly in front of the broadband connection coming into the house, with nothing in front of it (eg: firewall). I've done all of this and still no luck, hopefully it'll work for you

Ok, let's see if this works. What's your email add there? I'll send you the IP. Also, I'm doing a little write to post here for any others that may run into this w/ my same sys/setup.

I believe I figured out my hosting issue. Now all I need is to test it. Anybody around for a quick connect?

A note for Observers/Reserve players for the Nov 9 CPX: Due to the concerns of the players regarding possible networking problems, Observers will not be able to connect to the TacOps network. HOWEVER, Alex Ingles has agreed to assist me in getting the Observers the information they want regarding the CPX. Using IRCs XDCC feature, Alex will have access to my Autosave folder, enabling him to call up the list of savegame files, download them, and distribute them to the Observers to analyse at their leisure. Passwords will be in effect. If you intend on being a reserve player, you will receive only the password for the side you choose to represent. Regular observers will of course receive both passwords. The downside to this is of course not being able to receive game updates in real time, and I do apologize for any inconvienence this may cause to the casual observers out there, but I must take the concerns of the players to heart in this, it's their game . The upside to this includes more people being able to observe, the Observers won't have to worry about when they can connect/disconnect from the TacOps network, and the Observers get to analyse the unfolding drama at their own pace . We'll be testing this Sat Nov 2, beginning at 1530 GMT. I'll post the IRC server and channel here just prior to the test.