Can't get internet users to connect

[Lywellyn]

First, the questions:

TeamSpeak version: 2.0.32.60
Operation System + Service packs: Windows XP Service Pack 2
Soundcard + Driver versions: Sound Blaster Live! 24 bit (5.12.1.315)
Game: Will be using it for Final Fantasy XI
DirectX Version: 9.0c
What error message do you receive?: Can't connect
How often does the error appear?: Every time
What did you do to resolve the problem? See below

My setup is this: I'm using a Sprint DSL modem which is connected to a Motorola WR850G Wireless Router. My main computer is physically connected to it, while all the other computers connect to it through the wireless connection.

I opened ports 8767 and 8768 on my modem and pointed them to my router IP address (192.168.1.2, as my modem's internal IP is 192.168.1.1). My router assigns IP addresses based on 192.168.10.x, and my computer's internal IP is 192.168.10.6. I have forwarded all ports (8767 UDP, 8768 TCP, as well as the other two) to my computer's internal IP address. My friend told me that my router's firewall *must* be on for port forwarding to work. Sprint says that their modem does not have a firewall, and my Windows Firewall is disabled.

I can connect to the TS Server through LAN means, however, I cannot connect to it using the WAN IP address. (My router lists the WAN IP as 192.168.1.2, which is in my modem's pool of internal addresses, does this matter?) I use NoIP as well, and I cannot connect using that host name either.

I'm at a loss as to what I am doing wrong. Yes, my port forwards are all enabled.

Can anyone think of something I may not have?

Edit: Also wanted to add that Shields UP!! lists the ports as closed. I can't figure out why.

[guldi]

1) why you can't use the noIP DNS name is explained in the "no reply" FAQ

2) Can all PC's within your LAN connect to the TS server ? If not, you should go throught the "no reply" FAQ again !

3) You have a modem which is connected to the WAN and which does as I understand NAT (it translates your LAN IP's into a WAN IP and vice versa) ? Therefore a port forwarding in your modem is required (which you have set up).

My question now is: HOW do you make sure, traffic beeing forwarded by your modem to your router, reaches your server PC (the server is not running on your router and your router does not know what to do with the forwarded traffic) ? Do you run a NAT on the router as well ???

4) Ever tested your server PC directly attached to the modem ?

[Lywellyn]

1) I didn't find it in the "No reply" FAQ, but I did find a "DNS name" FAQ of its own. The fact remains however: I couldn't connect with my WAN IP address either. I did notice as well that the server only reports my computer's internal IP address (192.168.10.6) and that's all; it doesn't report my WAN IP address. Then again, neither does my router. So, trying to understand the "DNS name" FAQ is confusing, but I can't use that at *all* with the TeamSpeak server program?

2) Yes, other computers on my LAN can connect just fine.

3) If I understand you correctly, yes, my router has NAT as well; I have to open the ports on my modem and point them to my router, then on my router I have port forwarding established that point to my host computer. Other than that, I'm not sure of what else to do.

4) No, but I shall try it and edit this post with the results. If it works, then what? I can't run it directly connected to the modem, because then my roommate can't use the internet, and neither can my second computer.

5) I noticed something about "You can't connect to a server using a client on the same computer as the server with the WAN IP address", so I'll have a friend outside my LAN try to connect and edit with the results.

Edit #1 (in regards to #4): No, I still can't connect to myself using my WAN IP address when directly connected to my modem. I can still connect to myself using my LAN IP. Does this mean it is a modem problem?

[guldi]

1) I didn't find it in the "No reply" FAQ, but I did find a "DNS name" FAQ of its own.....

pls read the FAQ again. There is a statement like "Do NOT use the WAN IP or serverlist to connect to your LAN server....." in the section "owning server & client"
It only shows the LAN IP: there is a FAQ thread as well

2) Yes, other computers on my LAN can connect just fine.

very good => it's simply a network problem and not a TS problem

3) If I understand you correctly, yes, my router has NAT as well; I have to open the ports on my modem and point them to my router, then on my router I have port forwarding established that point to my host computer. Other than that, I'm not sure of what else to do.

Puhhh.. 2 NAT in a row ? I never had the idea to test such a configuration.
What about:
- only run the router in NAT mode, and setup the modem as "bridge"
- deactivate NAT on router and forward on your modem to the LAN IP of the server PC (have a bad feeling about this)
I'm sry, but I have no exp. in running two NAT's in a row, so I can only guess

4) No, but I shall try it and edit this post with the results. If it works, then what? I can't run it directly connected to the modem, because then my roommate can't use the internet, and neither can my second computer.

Just for testing to see if your modem port forwarding is correct. You have quite a complex network setup so you definitely should test step by step which means eliminating possible failures.

5) I noticed something about "You can't connect to a server using a client on the same computer as the server with the WAN IP address", so I'll have a friend outside my LAN try to connect and edit with the results.

that means, DO NOT use the WAN IP when server and client run on the same PC or in the same LAN => ONLY use the LAN IP => see FAQ "no reply"
Your friend outside your LAN of course can ONLY use the WAN IP ! If it fails => a port forwarding problem => see 3), 4)

Edit #1 (in regards to #4): No, I still can't connect to myself using my WAN IP address when directly connected to my modem. I can still connect to myself using my LAN IP. Does this mean it is a modem problem?

read the the first statement, you missed the statement in the FAQ "no reply"

[ceilican]

Lywellyn,

I have exactly the same wireless router as you do (Motorola WR850G Wireless Router) and followed the FAQs and the posts on this forum about port triggering, and port forwarding, disabling the firewall, enabling DMZ, making sure I distribute my WAN address and not my LAN address, etc. etc. I followed all the instructions and was able to get people on my LAN to connect, but people outside my LAN couldn't see me.

I then tried to see if people could ping my WAN address but that didn't work either...everyone got a timeout.

I called Motorola and they couldn't help (they told me to do the port trigger, then the virtual server (motorola's solution for port forwarding), then disable the firewall, and then enable DMZ). Well, as said above, that didn't work, so they couldn't help me.

I was navigating the router configuration screens and on the "Control Panel" under "Devise Security" there's an item that isn't checked by default called "WAN Ping Response". According to the help file, "WAN Ping Response: Enables a remote user to ping the router. Select to enable WAN Ping response. The default is disabled."

I enabled it, applied the setting, and restarted the router and what do you know, TeamSpeak works and people can ping my WAN IP!

Now, here's what you will essentially need to get TeamSpeak running on your setup (I'm fairly certain):
WAN Ping Response enabled
Port Triggers for Teamspeak configured (UDP 8767, TCP 14534 & 51234)
Virtual Server for TeamSpeak configured (UDP 8767, TCP 14534 & 51234 being routed to the IP of the machine running the server)

That's really all you need to do to make it work.

Let me know if this solves your problem as well.

[guldi]

1) blocking WAN Ping does stop the TS server from running ? I wasn't sure about this, have to check that.... ?

2) For security reason I would NOT forward the TCPQuery & Webinterface port unless you really need it.

[ceilican]

1) blocking WAN Ping does stop the TS server from running ? I wasn't sure about this, have to check that.... ?

Apparently it does because as soon as I unblocked the WAN Ping then the TS Server worked.

2) For security reason I would NOT forward the TCPQuery & Webinterface port unless you really need it.

Thanks for the tip, I'll disable those lines in the Virtual Server (Port Forward) and see if the TS Server still works.

**Update: The TS Server works even without the TCPQuery and Webinterface port enabled.

[Lywellyn]

My problem ended up being of my own accord. My Sprint modem has multiple "sets" that you can add ports to for routing. From the way it looked, I thought I wasn't supposed to use Set #1, but once I decided to try it, and put the ports in Set #1, it now works like a total charm! So it was my own fault

So yes, two NAT setups (or unlimited NAT setups, for that matter, so long as forwarding is done correctly) works just fine. And my DNS name through NoIP works perfectly too

Yeah, I only have ports 8767-8768 forwarded, I won't forward the other two, as I can connect to it through my LAN just fine on any machine here.

ceilican, I want to thank you as well. You were the true definition of support in this thread. guldi, telling people constantly to "read the FAQs", "read the documents" and the like gets old. Someone could read and read and read those FAQs and documents, and if they don't understand them, then they don't understand them, and that's why they come here. But that's just my opinion.

Oh, and ceilican? I agree. Motorola's tech support is about worthless >< So is Sprint's. ><

[ceilican]

Thank you for the compliment. Now if I can only figure out why my TS server is accessible only from outside the Adelphia network... In other words, lets say I have 3 other friends I regularly play with. I and one other friend are Adelphia customers while the other two are Earthlink and on a University system respectively. The Earthlink and University guys can connect to the TS server, but the Adelphia guy can't connect to me as TS returns the message as if I didn't have the server up. I only get this problem if I'm running the server through my router. I've also tried using a different company's router (Linksys BEFSR81) but I'm in the same situation.

[guldi]

have you checked the FAQ thread about "not all can connect" (=> bindtoIP) ?

@Lywellyn
you should make yourself familar with the term "FAQ". There is a reason why FAQ exist and are beeing used on most support sites.
WHY should I write down 10x or even more the same story each day ? 50 % of all threads could be solved (or at least partly solved) if the user had read the FAQ before.

Running 2 NAT in a row should theoretically work but as NAT inherently is a complex thing, running two in a row might lead to strange behaviour => we'll def. not discuss something in a FAQ and if ever possible, I would avoide this. However, I'm glad you could get yours to work !

[Lywellyn]

Wish I could avoid it, but that's how my modem works. >.<

And Frequently Asked Questions doesn't necessarily imply Frequently Understood Questions and Answers. Reading a FAQ and getting answers there, one might not understand, but posting it in a forum, getting the same answer in perhaps a different way (or catering to the fact that not everyone is the same) could make a world of difference.

Hence is the world of support.

[guldi]

def. but the this world can only work if the support requester makes a link to the FAQ and gives us the information which things he already tested. Else we have no idea where to start => we end up writing the whole story again and again => the FAQ is useless and we waste endless time (=> this ends in losing supporters after a very short time, not a gain for all)

[Lywellyn]

Okay, I can agree to that

Only thing I have to say beyond that is try to be a bit more understanding, sometimes a true newbie hits your doorstep, one that may not even know what FAQ stands for

[ceilican]

have you checked the FAQ thread about "not all can connect" (=> bindtoIP) ?

I read the thread "[SERVER] Some people can't connect" and i'm not quite sure I'm understanding it correctly. The router IP (I'm assuming) is the IP assigned to my router by my ISP (Adelphia) (the WAN IP) and not the internal LAN IP. If this is correct, then the binding didn't solve the problem.

Here's my issue: when I set up the TS server, people on my LAN and people on other ISPs can connect to the TS server fine (i.e. SBC, Earthlink, the local University). The only issue I have is people who are also in my neighborhood using Adelphia as their ISP. Their configurations are connecting straight to their cable modem and not running firewall software. I've confirmed their settings are correct to connect to my TS server. When I am not using my router everyone can connect fine (except for the people on my LAN as I am not using a router anymore). I've also tried putting my machine in the DMZ and turning off the router's firewall but that still doesn't work. I've called Adelphia and they say its my router, not them (since it works when I'm connecting straight to the modem).

On a side note (not sure if this means much, but what the hey) there was a time when I was hosting the server direct from my cable modem (not using my router) that everyone was disconnected from the server and no one could reconnect until I turned off my modem and rebooted it a half hour later. During the time the server went down I could still surf the net, so it's not like I lost my connection. Could it be that Adelphia has the ability to block TS servers running on its network?

[guldi]

I read the thread "[SERVER] Some people can't connect" and i'm not quite sure I'm understanding it correctly. The router IP (I'm assuming) is the IP assigned to my router by my ISP (Adelphia) (the WAN IP) and not the internal LAN IP. If this is correct, then the binding didn't solve the problem.

Your server is installed on the PC not on the router => bind it to the LAN IP of the PC

Here's my issue: when I set up the TS server, people on my LAN and people on other ISPs can connect to the TS server fine (i.e. SBC, Earthlink, the local University). The only issue I have is people who are also in my neighborhood using Adelphia as their ISP. Their configurations are connecting straight to their cable modem and not running firewall software. I've confirmed their settings are correct to connect to my TS server. When I am not using my router everyone can connect fine (except for the people on my LAN as I am not using a router anymore). I've also tried putting my machine in the DMZ and turning off the router's firewall but that still doesn't work. I've called Adelphia and they say its my router, not them (since it works when I'm connecting straight to the modem).
On a side note (not sure if this means much, but what the hey) there was a time when I was hosting the server direct from my cable modem (not using my router) that everyone was disconnected from the server and no one could reconnect until I turned off my modem and rebooted it a half hour later. During the time the server went down I could still surf the net, so it's not like I lost my connection. Could it be that Adelphia has the ability to block TS servers running on its network?

Could be...