If this is a dumb question I apoligise in advance.
I turn my laptop off whenI am not at home. I always seem to have issues with gettign connections to and rom my computer for Maptools server use. I have about three pages of notes I flip through before I can finaly get a positive result.
Do I need to port forward my Router everytime I turn
my computer on to connect to Maptools, or get connected to? I assumed (and maybe thats not a good thing) that my changes would reamin untill I changed them back.
I am getting better but I still am not too profiecent yet. Maybe next level I 'll take the "computer knowedge" feat instead of "understanding my wife's needs" feat!
Mikey
Port Forwarding skullduggary!
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Mikey,
The issues you are experiencing are not really a Maptool issue at all but more of a router issue. I am sure you already know that though so I will attempt to help you.
My guess is that your router is also a DHCP server. What a DHCP server does is hands out IP addresses to those how are connected to that router.
DHCP though will renew your IP address every so often usually specified by you somewhere in your router configuration. So let's say that you are set to renew the IP address every 7 days; that means that every 7 days you might get a new IP address. I say might because you could very well get the same IP address you had before or a different one.
The what you need to do is look at your DHCP setting is your router. See how often they change. Every time they change for you, you will also have to change the forwarding since your IP on your server is going to be different.
One way to get around this is to manually configure your server IP address so that they do not use DHCP. That can get tricky though since you have to also put all of your DNS information in there that your ISP provides.
I personally just changed my DHCP settings to not renew for a very long time and when it does, I just change my forwarding to my new IP address. That isn't much of a bother for me since it happens so infrequently.
Hope this helps you.
The issues you are experiencing are not really a Maptool issue at all but more of a router issue. I am sure you already know that though so I will attempt to help you.
My guess is that your router is also a DHCP server. What a DHCP server does is hands out IP addresses to those how are connected to that router.
DHCP though will renew your IP address every so often usually specified by you somewhere in your router configuration. So let's say that you are set to renew the IP address every 7 days; that means that every 7 days you might get a new IP address. I say might because you could very well get the same IP address you had before or a different one.
The what you need to do is look at your DHCP setting is your router. See how often they change. Every time they change for you, you will also have to change the forwarding since your IP on your server is going to be different.
One way to get around this is to manually configure your server IP address so that they do not use DHCP. That can get tricky though since you have to also put all of your DNS information in there that your ISP provides.
I personally just changed my DHCP settings to not renew for a very long time and when it does, I just change my forwarding to my new IP address. That isn't much of a bother for me since it happens so infrequently.
Hope this helps you.
Clarity
I know the biggest issue is not software or hardware it's lack of Brain ware on my part.
Maptools has never ...never..and I mean never left me anything but very pleased. Everything I have ever expeirienced with MT has been great and I can not shut up when I am around my friends about how much I like it!
I have a BRAND new Lynksis router, new highspeed cable maodem and new computer, so they are working perfect and they are not the issue.
The issue is ME
I know just enough to do more harm then good. See I never knew I didn't need to port forward to havepeople log onto my computer. Now I am most certain it probably says it in the manuel, but once I get something in my head, well that's when it gets dangerous.
Anyways, thanks for the info and I'll be talking to ya.
Mikey
Maptools has never ...never..and I mean never left me anything but very pleased. Everything I have ever expeirienced with MT has been great and I can not shut up when I am around my friends about how much I like it!
I have a BRAND new Lynksis router, new highspeed cable maodem and new computer, so they are working perfect and they are not the issue.
The issue is ME
I know just enough to do more harm then good. See I never knew I didn't need to port forward to havepeople log onto my computer. Now I am most certain it probably says it in the manuel, but once I get something in my head, well that's when it gets dangerous.Anyways, thanks for the info and I'll be talking to ya.
Mikey
Re: Clarity
Don't cry - learning only makes people stronger!mikey wrote: The issue is ME
(and we don't mind helping in that process)
Now, I think you are still a bit confused or maybe perhpas it is me who is confused.
You states above that you never knew that you didn't need to port forward to have people log onto your computer. That statement is incorrect. You HAVE to port forward for people who are on the internet to connect to you. If they are all on the same room (all plugged into your same router), then you don't have to worry about port forwarding at all.
Port forward is to allow outside people to see your Maptool inside your building. You have to direct them to your PC. Think of your router as a police officer directing traffic. You are directing all if the player from the outside world to your PC.
Does this help you? And please feel free to ask questions - that is a great way to learn!
Re: Clarity
Just to be clear:mikey wrote:See I never knew I didn't need to port forward to havepeople log onto my computer.
If you are running the server - you need port forwarding. (People connect to you.)
If you are a player/client - you do NOT need port forwarding. (You connect to someone else.)
Your Linksys router will definitely keep your port forwarding settings.
As Dorpond says using DHCP might be a problem but the Linksys routers try to give the same PC the same IP every time so it is pretty unlikely. If you do find that your PC's IP address is changing frequently, go to a static IP config.
Once these few issues are worked out you should not need to do anything special to run a session.
Actually that may not be the case Phergus. On my router, I had to set each of my computers to their own local IP. This is done by using the mac address of each computer so that when that computer logs on it will always have the same local IP. This is very important on teh Server since the port forwarding uses a port and the local IP. I have to reset my router and my modem every once in awhile and unless this is done, the local computers might get different IPs when the router is reset. Depending on which computers are turned on at the time of the router reset. Of coarse I am not sure on the current Linksys routers, I have a Netgear. But I use to have one and I set my router up to remember which computer is which Local IP.
I'm completely aware of all of that and that is why I specifically said Linksys routers which is what he is using.
He is only going to see changing addresses if he has multiple computers (or other devices) that routinely disappear from the local network for longer than the DHCP lease time which defaults to 1 day on the Linksys routers.
But having said all of that, if he is going to run a server he should probably set a static IP address just because 6 months down the line something will happen that will result in him having a different IP and then there will be confusion because no one can connect to his MT server.
He is only going to see changing addresses if he has multiple computers (or other devices) that routinely disappear from the local network for longer than the DHCP lease time which defaults to 1 day on the Linksys routers.
But having said all of that, if he is going to run a server he should probably set a static IP address just because 6 months down the line something will happen that will result in him having a different IP and then there will be confusion because no one can connect to his MT server.
I agree with Phergus: "server-type" machines on the network should have static address. For me, that means my TiVo, my file server, and the network print server. The dynamic ones are my laptop, my wife's PC and her laptop, and any of my friends' laptops when they come over.
(Having said that, the dynamic ones that belong to me have the same address assigned to them every time by using the MAC-address-stored-in-the-router technique, mentioned above.)
This scheme means that high-priority services are always at the same IP address, yet are flexible enough to (at least) talk to each other if the router needs to be replaced. For example, say your LinkSys router dies and you replace it with a D-Link. They default to 192.168.0.x addresses, while LinkSys defaults to 192.168.1.x and Belkin to 192.168.2.x. Ideally, you would want as many of your servers as possible to continue to work when a router is replaced. This is why I also keep a spare router with the same configuration as the original (even if it's a different brand).
(Note that my wife's PC can't get to the printer automatically if I swap out routers and a different network number is used, such as 192.168.1 instead of 192.168.0. This is a pain, but it works out for the best in other ways.)
(Having said that, the dynamic ones that belong to me have the same address assigned to them every time by using the MAC-address-stored-in-the-router technique, mentioned above.)
This scheme means that high-priority services are always at the same IP address, yet are flexible enough to (at least) talk to each other if the router needs to be replaced. For example, say your LinkSys router dies and you replace it with a D-Link. They default to 192.168.0.x addresses, while LinkSys defaults to 192.168.1.x and Belkin to 192.168.2.x. Ideally, you would want as many of your servers as possible to continue to work when a router is replaced. This is why I also keep a spare router with the same configuration as the original (even if it's a different brand).
(Note that my wife's PC can't get to the printer automatically if I swap out routers and a different network number is used, such as 192.168.1 instead of 192.168.0. This is a pain, but it works out for the best in other ways.)