Down the rabbit hole

Hardware Hub Networking
1
  • O-kaaay... Long story short:
  • I'm on a laptop connected wireless to router TL-WR340G.
  • Playing Worms Armageddon with highscool buddies through WormNET (not LAN), we decided I would be the host... fuck me... i'll bite the bullet.
  • Used the following guide (note: i am NOT proficient at networking stuff, in fact, i'm pretty bad at it... all i know is from these guides) :

http://worms2d.info/Hosting_Guide

  • installed PortForward (looks like shite, i know, but I don't have time to learn anything advanced like pfsense), forwarded some ports, set up a static IP, all that... , following this guide for (1) setting a static IP and (2) port forwarding: 

http://portforward.com/help/setup_static_ip_address.htm

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/TP-Link/TL-WR340G/Worms_Armageddon.htm 

  • everything working well for a couple of weeks... Holy Hand Grenades and bananas... everywhere :D
  • today, I can't set up a static IP anymore. I can, but I just loose connection to the internet when i do it with PortForward. Then as soon as I change back to dynamic, connection is immediately restored.
  • I try to change it manually (control panel/network&sharing/change adapter settings/ properties/ipv4...) to the IP that I chose when following the static ip guide (192.168.1.50) :

1366×768 399 KB

  • next, google leads me to this place

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1179

  • stuck at step 7.
  • can't uninstall this guy (the only grayed-out one):

  • I googled before trying to uninstall... it didn't seem like a crucial item. Yet it won't uninstall.
  • Then I found out that TrustedInstaller is, presumably, blocking my ability to tinker with this...
  • Then I tried overriding trustedinstaller through various procedures but i'm stuck...
  • Then I decided to ask for help...
  • Please Help.
2

In what I know about networking, once your computer is on your internal ip wont change unless you change it(set it to a random static ip) or you tell the router change it(or by rebooting it) Have you tried just changing your port forward to the ip the your computer is already on? when you are on "dynamic" its really just what ever your router gives you. so open cmd and run ipconfig to find it out. then change your port forwarding to it. if that works you might as well try setting your static ip to what you already have so it doesnt change when you reboot your machine or router.

3

You should never need to static IP on your connected device.. Always use address reservation with the router - its usally in the dhcp part of your router 

 

4

I hate to bust your bubble, but speaking from experience here, setting up a game server does at least require SOME networking knowledge. If you have any other devices connected to your network, I bet its an address conflict. Try setting up DHCP address reservation in your router, its not terribly hard to find in most consumer routers.

5

The issue with that is that unless the computer is occupying that address, the router sees it as vacant and will eventually hand it out to another device that requests an IP...hence the root of the problem in the first place. Usually setting the static ip to something WAAAAAY up in the address range will take care of it, like if you're on a 192.168.1.0 network set it to 192.168.1.254

6

Thanks for the replies, I was getting worried that I posted on the wrong board. :D

I haven't tried changing IP to what my computer is currently on, but I will try.

I am sharing my wireless with my brother, but he didn't mess with this stuff, he only uses his computer for the browser, Word and some Photoshop... although, now that I think of it, maybe the root of the problem does lie on his side since the router automatically does all the IP allocating...I will try to tinker with the stuff you suggested, but we've basically put it on hold at this point. Besides, I have exams now so, maybe it's for the better.

As for networking knowledge... In my experience, there is no amount of ''some networking knowledge'' that would prevent new problems from getting between me and casual/from-time-to-time/non-pro multiplayer gaming... I really did try, but there is a lot of ''basic'' stuff that I need to know to actually fix a problem when it occurs.

Years ago, I used VLAN related software, but they are not an ultimate, or a permanent solution for someone who doesn't know networking (at least in my experience). Not because they are hard to learn how to use, they are extremely user friendly, but because each had something that prevented me from actually just playing a game. Hamachi was good but didn't work for some games, GameRanger had basically the same issues as the one I'm having now (just decided to stop working suddenly). Tunngle... I can't even remember why I dismissed Tunngle. Please note that all of these programs and methods initially worked, but every time it happens that I hit a wall that I can't jump over. GameRanger was a substitute for hamachi, Tunngle was a substitute for Game Ranger, PortForward... I just followed instructions from the posted links...

I don't even game as much anymore, this was just 2-3 times a week 1,5h sessions...

But thanks for the suggestions on how to get around this problem, I will test it soon (not sure how soon though) and post the results...but I was hoping that someone had similar problems and an explanation to why this suddenly happened, and a permanent fix instead of a bypass.

Not that a bypass is a bad thing, it just doesn't satisfy my curiosity :)

7

There's got to be SOME sort of solution, you can set a static IP and port forward to it on any network. Good luck!