why cant I host a tcp/ip game?

[JP Jones]

I cant host a tcp\ip game. :confused: I know there must be some setting somewhere I need to change, but I dont know what to do.

I am using a ADSL connection and Windows 2000 professional OS.

I would love to host but cant.

Help me please.

John

[ November 04, 2002, 06:00 AM: Message edited by: JP Jones ]

[P5]

How is your firewall settings? That's the first thing that comes into my mind.

Had the same problem, because my firewall was set to High security. Lowering this to medium and it allowed me to host and to connect to other host's.

Have you also given an permission for firewall to let CMBO connect to internet?

[JP Jones]

I am not using any firewall (hardware?). Only the PC and the ADSL modem. No network, nothing but the PC and ADSL modem.

[WWB]

Well, if you are using an always on broadband connection you NEED to be running some kind of software firewally. I reccomend Zone Alarm.

As for your current problem, are you running over PPoE or standard TCP/IP?

WWB

[jake bullet]

[QI cant host a tcp\ip game. I know there must be some setting somewhere I need to change, but I dont know what to do.

UOTE]

[Redwolf]

I just have a TacOps buddy with the same problem on DSL.

Turns out his "modem" is actually a router which its own IP address. He needs to configure it to forward port 7023 to his real machine.

[Slaggg]

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

[Redwolf]

Reminds me, Slagg,

does your documentation say somehing about DHCP which you should have on on your Mac and if so, do you?

[Slaggg]

Yes it is in DHCP.

[Redwolf]

Well, and do you have it on on your Mac?

[Slaggg]

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

[Redwolf]

So you verified that both your router is trying to assign an address by DHCP to your Mac and that your Mac is actually obeying to it?

What address did the Mac end up having?

[Slaggg]

In the same 192.168 range as the router.

[Redwolf]

Range? The Mac must have a single IP address.

We can test if you have TacOps ready and your current public IP address.

[Slaggg]

Ok, go for it

192.168.1.34

[Redwolf]

That is the internal one.

I am shutting down for today, but we're getting there. Tomorrow we can test. Try to find something in your router where this .34 is specified, too, it should just give you the whole net.

[Slaggg]

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.

[Slaggg]

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?

[BeWary]

Ok, I'm a little late to the party, but I might have something to contribute.

In order to host a game when behind a firewall, you'll have to do the following:

1) Get your router's IP address. That is the IP address that everyone else on the Net has to use in order to connect to your computer, regardless of what your computer's IP address is. You can usually get the IP from the router's configuration screen, but if not, this site will tell you what your router's IP is: http://www.whatismyip.com/

2) Give your IP to your buddy who wants to join the game you're hosting. This is the IP he needs to give to CM.

3) Set your router to forward all packets addressed to port 7023 to your machine's local IP address (it's probably still 192.168.1.34). You may need to reboot the router after this change. Read the instructions carefully.

[Slaggg]

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.

[BeWary]

Hmmm... good news. I don't really know what the DMZ option normally does. I wouldn't think it would give you a second IP, unless your ISP allowed that, and I don't think it would work if it had the same IP as the router. I thought that DMZ just removes all protections for your computer, so basically anyone can get to it. Don't know how it affects the comp's IP though.

[Slaggg]

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.