Hamachi to solve network problems

Hawke · Post by **Hawke** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:32 pm

I was thinking... we seem to have a lot of network issues. I know ideally everybody should be able to disable/tweak firewalls and forward ports correctly in their router. It's the method I use and will continue to use. I do understand that many people aren't quite adept at this and may need another solution.

A while back I discovered Hamachi as a means to play old LAN multiplayer games that did not offer tcp/ip connections. It's both easy to setup and works...

I wanted to drop this here and maybe we could setup a guide to using this tool with Map Tool... but I figured someone might know of some skype-like security flaws or other reasons not to use it. I understand you're opening up your network to the other person... but if we're clear about that and you're playing with friends (as most of us do, I think) it isn't an issue.

I could be wrong and it could be a dead end, but I figured I'd chuck it into the fray to see what resulted.

jespley · Post by **jespley** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:54 pm

For what it's worth, I've similarly used Hamachi to play LAN games when port forwarding wasn't working for some reason. It seems easy to use and usually did what we needed. I think port forwarding generally would still be the preferred solution but I agree that Hamachi might be a reasonable backup. I have no idea about security issues related to Hamachi.

Post by **trevor** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:12 pm

Stickied

carpens · Post by **carpens** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:04 am

I tried this out after running into issues getting and keeping ports forwarded through my router. Set-up was ridiculously easy, it worked perfectly and with no detectable lag issues. I don't even think an FAQ on getting it to run is needed.

I would like some feedback from folks who are more experienced with the network security side of this. I run my PC firewalled, have sharing and permissions configured carefully, and can trust the people I'm connecting to (all RL friends, no strangers or net-buddies in the group). So the LAN-like connection doesn't bother me too much. However, I haven't had much experience with VPNs and none with Hamachi- are there any additional security risks involved here?

Hawke · Post by **Hawke** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:27 pm

carpens wrote: However, I haven't had much experience with VPNs and none with Hamachi- are there any additional security risks involved here?

The systems you connect to are akin to being on the same local network as your PC. Any shared drives / folders they potentially could gain access to if they tried to do so. That's the biggest risk if you have your whole hard drive or sensitive stuff shared. If you've got your computer locked down network wise I would guess the other risks are minimal.

I think the security risk is similar to connecting to a wireless share point at a local cafe... if you don't want them seeing your stuff turn off file sharing

Here's their security faq which leads me to believe it's actually more secure than your wireless network (unless you're sharing your files you don't want to which puts the ball in your court): https://secure.logmein.com/products/ham ... curity.asp

Azhrei · Post by **Azhrei** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:12 pm

For me the real problem is that you can't actually know what they're doing since they're not open source. And while I don't have the time to check every line of source code in an open source package, there are people who are paranoid to the point that they will check it to that level. And that's good for me, too.

Oh, and I only use OSX and Linux.

Hawke · Post by **Hawke** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:54 pm

Hamachi is currently available for Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista. Console versions of Hamachi are also available for Linux and OS X.

Slipshod · Post by **Slipshod** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:43 am

Hawke wrote:Here's their security faq which leads me to believe it's actually more secure than your wireless network (unless you're sharing your files you don't want to which puts the ball in your court): https://secure.logmein.com/products/ham ... curity.asp

Heh. From reading the faq it's got decent security, but it's not more secure than my wireless network... I work for an enterprise WLAN startup, and have a ridiculously secure network at home. EAP-TLS authentication and AES/CCMP encryption over the air.

The protocol is documented fairly well, and since the data traffic is peer-to-peer without transiting their server it would be fairly easy to tell if they are snooping around. Admittedly, as Azhrei points out there could still be some shenanigans going on, it would be fairly hard to keep them concealed.

SirGunther · Post by **SirGunther** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:44 pm

I tried to use Hamachi tonight with my brother to see if we could get him to connect. He shows up in the Hamachi list, and has a local IP address like he's supposed to, but my server doesn't show up in his LAN window, and he still can't connect directly to my server. Is there something else I need to do to use MT over Hamachi? I'd appreciate any help.

Hawke · Post by **Hawke** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:51 pm

SirGunther wrote:I tried to use Hamachi tonight with my brother to see if we could get him to connect. He shows up in the Hamachi list, and has a local IP address like he's supposed to, but my server doesn't show up in his LAN window, and he still can't connect directly to my server. Is there something else I need to do to use MT over Hamachi? I'd appreciate any help.

Not that I'm aware of - any lan connection should work just fine. What version are you using? Can you see him if he starts a server?

SirGunther · Post by **SirGunther** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:47 am

I'll have to try having him start a server and see if I can see it. We are using version 1.3.b18 of MT, and the latest version of Himachi. Do you think the fact that I'm already on another network could be causing the problem? I have my home LAN set up with a 192.x.x.x address, and then Hamachi gives me a 5.x.x.x IP for that network. Could it be that MT is not advertising itself on the Himachi LAN? I know I can connect via the LAN tab on my other computer on the 192 network. Thanks for your help, btw.

Hawke · Post by **Hawke** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:02 am

It shouldn't matter. I use hamachi all the time for old games and have a LAN here as well. I've never not been able to see other games. What if you tried to connect via an IP address and for the server IP put in (your server's) Hamachi IP 5.x.x.x? Can you ping each other's computers?

I wonder if a firewall is being mean to hamachi and not letting it connect through. What colors are your dots in hamachi (I think that indicates how open your connections are)... good luck, I'll definitely check back all week to see if you've made progress - I have to hit the sack now though.

SirGunther · Post by **SirGunther** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:19 pm

The dots are green, and I can ping his computer. I'll have to see if he can ping mine. I'm at work now, but I'll try some more stuff tonight, and see what I can figure out. Thanks for the help.

mrobviousjosh · Post by **mrobviousjosh** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:04 pm

THIS WORKS! THANK YOU!!! I haven't been able to host and was having to send campaign files to others to host. This way, I can do it all on my own. It was easy to setup and use. Thanks guys.

SirGunther · Post by **SirGunther** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:37 pm

An update on my situation:

I got Himachi to work with a different brother of mine, and we played a session using it, without any problems. I'm starting to think the first brother has some java issues, because he can connect every other program without getting blocked, but MT he can't. Himachi isn't the issue, and it appears that his network is not the issue either, leaving java as the main suspect. He's going to reinstall Windows soon, so after he does that we'll try again and see what happens. But yea, Himachi is a great work-around, so thanks to Hawke for suggesting it.