Server Works - For about 10 seconds

[Thorfkin]

Okay, I've got a problem I need help solving. I set up a TeamSpeak server on my laptop and then routed the needed ports to the laptop's IP address. The laptop has a static internal IP address and the wan interface has a static external IP. I can connect to the server through the internet just fine - for about 10 seconds or two or three connections. Then the machine spontaneously starts refusing connections. To make matters worse, when the machine stops accepting connections, its entire internet connection locks up. I have to repair the connection to re-enable the internet.

Its strange and unexplainable. I can connect and disconnect as much as I want through the local intranet but when I try to connect through the Internet, it causes the internet on the server machine to lock up. Its like the tcp stack is corrupted or something. I've tried this from 3 machines and had exactly the same behavior.

I am honestly starting to wonder if Windows is somehow causing this problem. The fact that it behaved the same from three machines seems to suggest that.

Someone please help. :confused:

[WolfStar76]

It sounds like you're on the right track questioning your TCP stack.

I'd look at updating your NIC drivers, and also look into reinstalling any firewalls you might have.

It's quite odd that incoming traffic would crash your machine, but stranger things have happened.

[Thorfkin]

There are no firewalls installed on any of the machines and the NIC cards are all using the absolutely current driver. The only firewalls present are the one built into the router (Which is disabled) and the windows SP2 firewall which is also disabled. The problem isn't that I can't get a connection. It connects just fine and then the machine running the server stops accepting incoming requests from the internet. When this happens, the machine can no longer access the internet but the local area network connections continue to work fine.

All three machines have their own Windows XP Pro license and were installed from different CDs. They are all using SP2 and have all of the current critical updates installed (except IE7). The laptop that I started with was formatted and reinstalled only last week. It has absolutely nothing on it except Windows (All current hardware drivers) and Kaspersky Antivirus (which I disabled).

This continues to baffle me. The behavior seems to be similar to a Denial Of Service attack.

My router is a Linksys WRT54G with the current firmware installed. :confused:

Is it possible one of the critical windows updates could have caused this?

[WolfStar76]

Have you at least TRIED what was suggested? Updating your NIC drivers? Or are suggestions here just going to be disregarded out of turn?

Updating your drivers may or may not fix the problem, but it's worth a shot. If you're going to ask for advice, it might be worth at least TRYING the advice given.

Otherwise, let us know you're just here to vent so we don't waste our time.

[Thorfkin]

Dude, did you even bother reading my response. I said the NIC drivers are already CURRENT. What do you want me to do, wave my magic wand and make newer drivers appear from my ass??? I manage these machines myself and every one of them has the ABSOLUTE current driver version for EVERY piece of hardware in them. I can happily wipe a driver and install an older version but unless you can time travel forward for me, newer drivers are NOT an option.

You don't think I checked these things First when I couldn't keep the TeamSpeak server working for more than 10 seconds after an internet connect came in? I spent two days reinstalling every network related piece of hardware on each machine before I bothered posting here. I tried everything “I” could think of and then I started researching the problem on the Internet and trying things other people had suggested for similar issues.

As far as the firewall is concerned: I DO NOT USE THEM. There is not a single third party software firewall in existence that actually solves more problems than it creates. There are NO SOFTWARE FIREWALLS on ANY of these systems. I would wipe the windows XP firewall off the machine if I had a choice in the matter but the best I can do is shut the POS off.

I never said anything about the machine crashing. The machine itself continues to work correctly, only the "internet connection" on whichever machine is running the TeamSpeak server appears to be locking. After an internet connection comes into the TeamSpeak server, if I open a web browser and attempt to access the internet, it will simply sit there trying to resolve the host name until it times out.

I want you to know I appreciate that you are at least trying to provide advice. However, the advice you gave was NOT APPLICABLE to my setup in any way. If you had read what I stated in my previous post you would have known that. Every one of my machines has been wiped and reinstalled within the last 3 months. All of them are using Windows XP Pro with the current Windows updates. I do NOT use firewall software. I DO check for driver updates at least once a month. I checked for driver updates to all my network hardware as a matter of course when I started having this problem just to eliminate the possibility that it was NIC related. If this problem were a simple problem, I would have solved it myself.

I am here for GOOD advice. I do tech support for a living and I assure you I have already eliminated all of the obvious possible culprits so don’t waste MY time with firewall or driver suggestions.

That having been said, something did occur to me today whilst I was at work. The Internet connection attempts that caused the machine to lock were from another machine on my network. Because the TeamSpeak port is automatically forwarded to the server machine, is it possible that the server is intercepting packets that should have been routed to the client? I do not know enough about the internal workings of IP to dismiss this possibility so I am going to run some tests with the help of a friend later tonight.

[ANR Daemon]

Are the router interface still available when internat connection broken?
If not, may be Your router need to be replaced/upgraded.
Try http://cexx.org/lspfix.zip to check Your laptop network configuration.

[Thorfkin]

From the machine running the TeamSpeak server, No. That machine can no longer access the router interface or even ping the router once its internet connection has been broken. All other machines on the network can still access the router just fine though. So the router itself is still running but the router and the TeamSpeak server machine refuse to talk to each other.

[ANR Daemon]

format c: /нафиг

[Thorfkin]

I appear to have the server working correctly now. I switched the server port away from the default 8767(?) to a random number. Forwarded those ports through the router. Now everything works fine. Switching the setup back to the default port breaks it again so I am sticking with the alternate I selected. This still baffles me but at least its working now. Thanks for your suggestions. Even the format c:\ was entertaining :D