Configure router for Shareaza?

[absinthe]

Do I need to configure port forwarding on my Linksys router in order to accept incoming connections for Shareaza? There's a FAQ at the Shareaza site on this, which tells me how to get the port Shareaza is using from the menus. Then, in my router's forwarding setup, it says something like:

Ext. Port _____ to _____

then it has checkboxes for TCP or UDP protocols, then a space to fill in the IP address.

So ... if a Shareaza user responds to my request by requesting port 6343 of my router, what local port would I forward it to? Would I just forward "6343 to 6343?" Also, I'm fuzzy on which protocol to check.

Further, since certain computers on my 4-machine network are turned off from time to time, I can't be certain that any given computer's IP on my home network will remain the same. Isn't there a way in most router configurations to set up static local IPs so that, for instance, my laptop will always be 192.168.1.101 and my downstairs computer will always be 192.168.102, etc.?

I'm wondering if all this is even necessary. I mean, I never configured the router to work with Limewire or BearShare in the past. Of course, they never worked all that well . . .

Sorry to be so full of questions. Thanks!

=Aaron

 

[Childs]

I haven't set up Shareaza...dont even know what it is. Sounds like a Ka*aa clone. You can try the following, as they generally work for file sharing apps:

You can forward 6343 to 6343*. I would personally use a port greater than 32000 so your ISP won't filter it. IF you do that just change the ports to match in your app as well. Setting the router port and app port to something that isn't equal would most likely cause problems. Check TCP. In general, just set the DHCP range to something like 100 to 254, and then assign your pc an address less than 100. That way you won't have to change your port forwarding addresses if your pc grabs a new address.

*I don't have a Linksys anymore, but if I remember correctly what that is in the interface is a port range. like forward TCP ports 6000 - 6005 to some IP. I can't tell from your question if you are asking about forwarding or literally what to enter in the Linksys Admin page. I'm getting my WRT54G tomorrow so I can double check that if you can't get it going.

 

[absinthe]

Childs,

Thanks for the reply. I actually found detailed information on the Shareaza website about configuring a Linksys router for port forwarding to use Shareaza (not the exact same router as mine, but the setup page was virtually identical . . . I have the slightly older BEFW11S4 by the way, a wireless b-standard). I did manage a download or two.

I'm actually still a bit confused about some fundamentals. Frankly, I know diddly about ports. Do routers themselves have ports?? In other words, if a request comes to the router for port 6000, how does the router know which computer to send that back to? What I'm getting at is: What if 2 or 3 users on my home network are using Shareaza at once? Should I configure Shareaza to use a different port on each machine?

Basically, the Shareaza setup "wizard" asks if my computer can accept incoming connections. Options are: 1) Yes, 2) I am behind a router or firewall, but I will configure port forwarding, and 3) No, I cannot accept incoming connections. My understanding is that after I make a file request, the usual situation is that I will have to wait for a while, in "queue," before my download begins. Then, when there is a slot open, it will be the downloadee who will be initiating the contact . . . hence I have to be able to "accept incoming connections." That sound right? Otherwise, I don't see how it's different from using a web browser.

I hope my questions aren't confusing or annoying. I just wish I could figure out whether or not and why a port-forwarding setup is necessary at all. I mean, machines on my network have used LimeWire, BearShare, etc. before without too much problems. But if port forwarding will make things work better, then I definitely want to do that.

Any advice you have, or any online sources you could point me to, is appreciated.

Thanks again!

=Aaron

 

[Childs]

ports are part of TCP/IP, so anything using TCP/IP is using ports...its how machines communicate with each other. Since you are behind a router (assuming with NAT) your router represents all your machines. It can be configured to listen to any port that your PC would listen to, then simply forward the request to the machine your specify. In the case of the Linksys, what your'e doing is specifying a range of ports that your router will forward to the IP address you specify.

I looked at the FAQ on Shareaza and we are on the right track. Don't worry about what I said about changing to ports...set it up the default way then you can play around with it later to avoid ISP filtering. In the case of Shareaza, it looks like it only uses one port, not a range like bittorrent or emule, so the port would be the same in both fields. So just put:

6343 to 6343 TCP UDP <IP ADDRESS> Enable

Then make sure your machine has the ip of <IP ADDRESS>.

If it used a range like emule or bittorrent, it would something like:

6991 to 6995 TCP UDP <IP ADDRESS> Enable

The above specifies a range. The first one also specifies a range, a range going from 6343 to 6343, which is one port. Other routers handle this stuff differently, like my old SMC made me map each individual port to a specific IP, which is a pain, because emule uses 5, so that 5 different entries. The Linksys is way better.