Trying to get my computer to Host for DM

[Hellbent]

Mr. Goth: do you have a router?
Grotug: sharing with others yeah
Mr. Goth: ok then you would have to Manually setup your Network Connections on your local computer and give it a permanent static IP address, so that you can forward the ports on the router only on your computer
Mr. Goth: once you have a IP address on your computer that doesn't change you can enter your routers setup page, and there should be a section on security and port forwarding or whatever
Mr. Goth: its slightly different for each router
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Umm... so I guess the first thing I need to do is make my router give a static IP. How do I do that?

[Scet]

I don't think you can just give yourself a static IP unless on a LAN. You might want to check out "Dynamic DNS", that will give you a DNS name(similar to a URL) that people can remember, instead of an IP address.

Also to access your router, try using address 192.168.2.1 in your brwoser.

[fraggle]

You're doing it wrong.

Your ISP (typically) assigns you a single public IP address, which is used by your router. Computers on your LAN will then share the Internet connection using NAT. Each machine on your network is assigned a private address. This is typically of the form: 10.x.y.z, 192.168.x.y, 172.16.x.y.

These private addresses only exist on your private network: someone on the Internet cannot connect to them. Their only way of connecting to "you" is by connecting to your public IP address. But your public address is used by your router, which doesn't "know" that connection attempts for your game server must be forwarded on to the PC on your private network which is running the server. You have to do this explicitly, it's called a port forward.

If you run "ipconfig" at the command line, you should be able to see the private address of your PC (it will be in one of the forms I mentioned above). You then need to configure your router to set up the port forward to that address. You will also need to know the port number to forward; that will depend on the game / source port you are using.

[Hellbent]

fraggle said:

stuff...

If you run "ipconfig" at the command line, you should be able to see the private address of your PC (it will be in one of the forms I mentioned above). You then need to configure your router to set up the port forward to that address. You will also need to know the port number to forward; that will depend on the game / source port you are using.

Thanks Fraggle, found my IP address. How do I configure my router? Where do I learn the port number?

[Planky]

http://www.portforward.com has instructions for a large amount of routers. Just select your router and then the game - it will then give you instructions on what to change.

[GreyGhost]

Hellbent said:

Umm... so I guess the first thing I need to do is make my router give a static IP. How do I do that?

If the connection your ISP provides is using a Dynamic IP, it'd be a good idea to register with a Dynamic DNS service like No-IP Free.

[fraggle]

Hellbent said:

Thanks Fraggle, found my IP address. How do I configure my router? Where do I learn the port number?

You can usually access your router via a web interface. Take your private network address and change the last number to '1'. For example, if your private address is 192.168.0.5, go to http://192.168.0.1/. If you have 10.0.0.7, go to http://10.0.0.1/, etc. It should be possible to add a port forward there, although every router manufacturer has a different interface.

The port number depends on the game (or Doom source port) you are using. If you say which you are using, it should be straightforward to find out.

Planky said:

http://www.portforward.com has instructions for a large amount of routers. Just select your router and then the game - it will then give you instructions on what to change.

Yes, this looks like a good website, in terms of instructions for different routers. If you're using a Doom source port, it probably isn't in the list of games, though. You'll need to follow the instructions for a different game and enter the appropriate port number instead.

[Hellbent]

$30... May consumer confidence may have soared, but I still broke!

When I go to the webpage: http://192.168.1.1/ per your instructions, I type in the name of my internet connection and password but it doesn't work.. any idea?

[Infinite Ammunition]

the router has its own admin account you have to use to access the web interface; by default this will often be username 'admin' and password 'password' or some variation on those but if you had someone set up your router ask them what they set these to