Port Forwarding

[starseeker]

Can anyone explain to me from the very beginning how to forward ports? The guides I've looked at have just managed to confuse me.

Also, would trying to forward ports for just one computer affect the internet connection of any other computers that use the same router?

[Flying Mullet]

What are you trying to accomplish with port forwarding?

[Discord]

Yes, it'll make it less secure.

I assume you're into gaming. It's pretty simple. You just access your router's configuration and find the option for port forwarding. Then you just do it. It's really quite sexexplicable.

[starseeker]

I'm aiming to do 2 things:

Firstly, I'm trying to play AoE2 multiplayer online and everything else is working, but I can't host a game and the ports need to be forwarded.

Secondly: I am trying to get my torrents to work properly since it keeps complaining about the port being closed.

I assume you're into gaming. It's pretty simple. You just access your router's configuration and find the option for port forwarding. Then you just do it. It's really quite sexexplicable.

I've tried but for some reason it's not recognising it. I keep thinking I've missed a vital stage or something.

[Discord]

1. Are you the router owner? If yes, access it's configuration screen (usually http://192.168.2.1/), find the option for port forwarding and enter the ports you wish to forward.
2. No, it will not. Torrents (usually) have nothing to do with port forwarding. If the port is closed, it'll be your firewall. Either the one on the PC or the one in the router itself.

[starseeker]

1. Are you the router owner? If yes, access it's configuration screen (usually http://192.168.2.1/), find the option for port forwarding and enter the ports you wish to forward.
2. No, it will not. Torrents (usually) have nothing to do with port forwarding. If the port is closed, it'll be your firewall. Either the one on the PC or the one in the router itself.

Ah, I see. How do I deal with the firewall?

[Discord]

1. Are you the router owner? If yes, access it's configuration screen (usually http://192.168.2.1/), find the option for port forwarding and enter the ports you wish to forward.
2. No, it will not. Torrents (usually) have nothing to do with port forwarding. If the port is closed, it'll be your firewall. Either the one on the PC or the one in the router itself.

Ah, I see. How do I deal with the firewall?

Have you got one in you PC? If not, then you should look for Firewall setting in the router.:P

[o_O]

Every computer has an IP address and a port for any internet traffic. Each computer on your network holds a different IP so that your router can locate them and direct traffic to the correct machine. These are internal IPs - only your router and your computers deal with them.
Your router also has its own IP, this is the address at which your router can be seen by the whole internets. When data passes between the router and the internet/your computer, the internal address has to be converted to the external address. This is called Network Address Translation (NAT).
A port is like the door to a tunnel. There are a little over 65000 different ports you can choose from. When you forward a port in your router, you allow the door to one tunnel to be open for one internal IP address. That means that you're only opening the port as much as you have to, reducing security risks.
What this means is that the internal IP address needs to always be the same (static) for the computer that the port is forwarded for, so you need to set static IP addresses.
Check out PortForward.com - Free Help Setting up Your Router or Firewall for instructions on forwarding ports for most routers, and how to set static IP addresses.

[starseeker]

Setting static IP addresses is the bit that always confuses me. I keep worrying that setting static IPs for all 3 computers on the home network (including my mum's work laptop, I smurf that up and I die), will cause connection problems.

[ValiantKnight]

not really unless you make them all the same thing.

192.168.1.33
192.168.1.34
192.168.1.35

Router = 192.168.1.1

Would be an example.

But it depends on the type of router, and how its setup.

Static is more stable, but just means that if you ever change your router, you have to reset to dynamic(20sec on each computer) or change your static IPs to the new router's set(or be fine if you purchase the same router again).

ie... Netgear uses the 192.168.0.X subnet
Linksys uses 192.168.1.X subnet
Another company I cna't remember uses 192.168.2.X subnet

192.168.X.X is set aside by the internet authority people... IEEE or IANA, or ISO... i can't remember who actually does it.. its been awhile since my cisco classes. It is a private use address that is not used on the internet, and can be used on the Local side of a router with Network address translation(NAT router).

If you use dynamic and the system boots before the router is online.. it could fail to get an IP address, and not be able to connect to the network until a reboot.... but it usually will try to get an ip address without rebooting on most systems.


Static offers no problems other than changing it if you change routers, or change the router to a different IP address. Dynamic is easier for when you have LOTS of computers(100+) and don't want to go around to each one and keep track that these 10 computers have 192.168.1.101-110, and these have 192.168.1.123-129, and this one i just put in is 192.168.1.140, and static could give you an issue there if you forgot an ip address and put in a duplicate... then you have to find the duplicate.. or just change the one you just put in to an IP address thats not a duplicate.

My memory is scratchy, so all of that may not be right. But i think it is, so hope it helps.

[crono_logical]

Can't you set IP reservations on routers these days, so you can always leave the computers set using DHCP, and let the router sort out giving the same IP to the same machine each time? At least you don't have to touch the PCs then should you replace the router Plus in the case you do have hundreds of machines, you still have a central record to keep track which machine permanently gets which address whilst leaving them all on defaults instead of manually configuring them all

I just do DHCP reservations on my linux router (from 192.168.0.2-129) for all the home machines, and use 130-189 for any "unrecognised" or guest machines.

[Mirage]

Actually, port forwarding helps when it comes to torrenting too. If one of the peers is firewalled, you can't download or upload to that peer unless you've got a port forwarded at your network. Thus, forwarding a port increases the number of people you can download/upload from/to.

[starseeker]

Well I did some looking through my router settings and found that each computer is assigned their own IP address. I think it's all working now.

[Discord]

Actually, port forwarding helps when it comes to torrenting too. If one of the peers is firewalled, you can't download or upload to that peer unless you've got a port forwarded at your network. Thus, forwarding a port increases the number of people you can download/upload from/to.

Hmm... wasn't aware of that really. Good to know.