Need some help with port forwarding.

[Pulsar]

Alright, I need a hand. I thought I understood port forwarding pretty well, but it's not working out that way in practice.

Here is my set up.

Broadband Modem =>
VOIP Box (external IP of 24.221.72.XXX) =>
Linksys 8 port router (external IP of 192.168.251.199) =>
Computer (IP 192.168.1.100)

I am trying to run a TCP/IP game server (Megamek, a battletech board game clone). This is a board game - we're not talking about any bandwidth =), and my service provider's TOS allow me to run a game server.

First, I start up the server and then run another instance of the game, and tell it to connect to 127.0.0.1 just to make sure everything is working. No problem.

Ok - my computer's IP address is 192.168.1.100.

So I run the game server, run another instance, and connect to 192.168.1.100 to make sure my firewalls, etc aren't causing a problem. All is good.

So I port forward inside the linksys port 2346 to my computer's IP address 192.168.1.100.

So I run the game server, run another instance of the program, and connect to the linksys external ip of 192.168.251.199. All is good.

Now the "last" step.

So, I log into my VOIP box (which is essentially a single port router) and I port forward 2346 to 192.168.251.199 (the linksys router external IP). Now, I run my game server, run another instance, and try to connect to the external address of 24.221.72.XXX, it times out.

What can I do to diagnose my problem? Did I miss something obvious? I even added my linksys router's external ip address to the voip box's DMZ and tried that way, but still no dice in connecting by route of my actual internet IP address of 24.221.72.XXX.

Help!

 

[spidey07]

a lot of devices won't allow that (internal, to external, portforward back to internal)

 

[Pulsar]

I'm not sure I understand spidey. Are you saying that I may have it set up correctly but the voip box may not allow an internal IP to connect to the external IP then back in?

If that's the case, are you saying I'll need someone truly external to see if I have it set up correctly?

 

[spidey07]

that's exactly what I'm saying.

If it TCP you could telnet to that port from The Internet - telnet <external ip> 2346

but most games use udp. so yeah, you'll just have to have somebody test it, or test it from a hot spot.

 

[Pulsar]

Boo HISS.

Ok - if I do a port scan from somewhere like shields up, it should show that port open, shouldn't it?

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: LsDPulsar
If that's the case, are you saying I'll need someone truly external to see if I have it set up correctly?

Exactly. I can only guess how many man-centuries of time have been wasted by folks trying to test Port Forwarding from inside their own network. It's one of those mistakes you make only once (or twice).

And, yes, Shields Up is one way to see if your Port Forwarding is doing something.

 

[Tsaico]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: LsDPulsar
If that's the case, are you saying I'll need someone truly external to see if I have it set up correctly?

Exactly. I can only guess how many man-centuries of time have been wasted by folks trying to test Port Forwarding from inside their own network. It's one of those mistakes you make only once (or twice).

And, yes, Shields Up is one way to see if your Port Forwarding is doing something.

I know I am good for about three hours when I first starting working....

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Tsaico
I know I am good for about three hours when I first starting working....

Stuff like this always makes me feel like an idiot afterwards. Especially if I've already made the same mistake before....

But isn't that what "Experienced" is?

--------------------------------------------------------------
"Experienced":
The ability to realize sooner that you've made the same stupid mistake again. 😉
---------------------------------------------------------------

Last week, I was trying to get a Doctor's office back up when their WiFi router had failed. I got a new router, but every time I tried to set the router's IP address to the same subnet as the Office, I couldn't talk to it from my laptop. I thought that the router was bad....

But then I discovered that I could change the IP address of the router to ANY other subnet, and everything was fine.

FINALLY, I realized that I had the Office's Netgear VPN Client software installed on the laptop, and that its "Security Policy" was preventing me from accessing anything on that subnet except through the VPN. This was the SECOND time that I've let the Netgear VPN Client software waste at least an hour of my time. I uninstalled it this time. If I need it again, I'll re-install.