Online Hosting Problems.

[No1_Reggie]

Hello all, i have been hosting games for months now with no problem whatsoever but this week i seem to have encountered a problem. Anyone trying to join my game just gets a time-out. I also load the game as the host fine but the briefing screen does not appear. The only thing that has changed on my pc since i last successfully hosted is that i have networked my laptop by following the windows xp network wizard. Does anyone know if that may affect anything. I have checked all firewall settings etc and the problem does not lie there. Any ideas? Let me know if you need my dxdiag.

Thanks in advance for the help.
Regards
Reggie.

[No1_Reggie]

Hello all, i have been hosting games for months now with no problem whatsoever but this week i seem to have encountered a problem. Anyone trying to join my game just gets a time-out. I also load the game as the host fine but the briefing screen does not appear. The only thing that has changed on my pc since i last successfully hosted is that i have networked my laptop by following the windows xp network wizard. Does anyone know if that may affect anything. I have checked all firewall settings etc and the problem does not lie there. Any ideas? Let me know if you need my dxdiag.

Thanks in advance for the help.
Regards
Reggie.

[BBloke]

When you say you've networked your laptop, what exactly does that entail?

Have you networked your laptop into your existing home network or did you just start a home network? ie. laptop and main machine newly networked together using a hub/switch or router? Have you installed any new hardware such as a router?

I've had a little trouble with networking before.. I'm not an expert but I'll try and help.

Have you checked Il2 Setup Network tab to see if you have an IP dropdown box and ensured its set to your external address.

s~

[No1_Reggie]

Hi BBloke, thanks for the reply.

My external ip address has been checked and is fine. Sorry i should have mentioned how i set up the network. To be honest i have done nothing other than use a crossover cable from pc to laptop in order to share files/web access. I have installed no new hardware, routers/switches/hubs etc at all which is why i am surprised at the sudden problem - i could understand new hardware causing port problems or conflicts but i am using nothing except a crossover cable, lol.

Any ideas would be appreciated as i cant seem to find anything wrong. http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/cry.gif

[BBloke]

Mmmm,.. ok Thanks for that Reggie.

You say you've used the network setup program that came with windoze. Have you checked that it hasn't automatically started the windows firewall? I know you say you've checked firewall settings but I'm not sure if you are using a 3rd party one or windows built-in.

You may find this hard but maybe try turning it off and trying again to see if its the culprit.

The sudden change maybe due to the network wizard. It could have engaged the firewall and quite possibly start Internet Connection Sharing which maybe causing problems.

You never know with windows. I've had trouble with windows when I physically moved network cards inside my PC to different slots to make room and space for airflow. I couldn't believe it at the time but it caused me to have timeouts.

Second thing to check is whether your game is listening on your outside connection.

I'm taking it as read that you have an external IP address and an internal ip address (that is probably 192.168.0.1).

Start a hosting session as normal and join your game.
Goto the console (SHIFT TAB whilst sat on the runway)
type 'socket udp' (without quotes)

You should get back an IP address for your server. This is what it will be listening on. I'm pretty sure when my network screwed up the game started to listen on 192.168.0.1 although all details transferred from the lobby showed my external IP.

Let me know and will go from there. http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Troll2k]

If you are using a cross over cable then one of you machines is acting as a gateway.You must set up that machine with port forwarding.Look at the help for ics(internet connection sharing).there should be something there.

[BBloke]

Port forwarding shouldn't be applicable if the machine that is connected directly to the internet is running the game. (Thats how I run it along with ICS and I don't use port forwarding.

If you think the machine that is inside the network is running the game then it pure and simple will not work on UBI IMHO.

The crossover cable just eliminates a need for a hub/switch and NAT translations will be done by the gateway/ICS machine.

Its the way I've been playing for the last 18mths. Dedicated machine on the internet for game. Flying inside my LAN via UBI lobby to connect to my own game. No problems whatsoever http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

This is how I run it at my end.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">
|---------|
| |
| |
| w w w |
| |
| |
|---------|
|
|
Firewall
|
|
|---------|
| |
| Game | |--------|
| Server |-----------| Switch |
| | |--------|
| | |
|---------| |
Internal and |
External IP |---------|
Via 2 NIC cards | |
| Game |
| Rig |
| |
| |
|---------|
Internal IP only
External access
via ICS on
Game Server
</pre>

This is how I see it for Reggie, or thereabouts!!

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">
|---------|
| |
| |
| w w w |
| |
| |
|---------|
|
|
Firewall
|
|
|---------|
| |
| Game | Cross Over Cable
| Server |---------------|
| | |
| | |
|---------| |
Internal and |
External IP |---------|
Via 2 NIC cards | |
| Laptop |
| |
| |
| |
|---------|
Internal IP only
External access
via ICS on
Game Server
</pre>

S~

[Troll2k]

I assumed he was trying to host from within the network.

[No1_Reggie]

Sorry guys to not get back in a day or 2. Right i have checked the help on ICS - seems i have done everything correct. As far as i am aware BBloke is correct in that i dont need port forwarding with just a crossover cable in place. I checked on annoyances.org and found an article where a guy had problems until he put in a second network card into his pc!!! That is something i dont want to do if i can help it, lol. Anyway i will tesdt the hosting thing tonight BBloke and get back to you with the ip address that my game is listening on.

Many thanks for the help guys. I will post results soon.

[Troll2k]

How are you connecting the two machines together?Network card or serial port.If network card how are you connecting to the internet?Modem?

[BBloke]

Hi Troll,

I'm sure the game wont host inside a network as the server would never know the external address (wild guess).

Nice question. I was just wondering the same thing. Got an itchy feeling USB Cable/ADSL modem is coming. http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif.

From my experience and my setup. 2 Nic cards have a problem depending on their physical location on the motherboard (which PCI slots are used). I found that out after moving the cards around to make space for airflow and a new GFX card. It just stopped working even though it looked fine. Moved the cards back and hey presto, up and running.

It's either the way M$ enumerate the PCI slots and cards and how the program selects the correct NIC to use!

I'm lucky at the moment cos the PC i use has 2 independant NIC cards and onboard (disabled) to play around with so I can retest my thoughts).

If you still have a problem Reggie, try disabling you network card with the crossover cable in and try hosting again to pinpoint the problem item. http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

S~

[No1_Reggie]

@Troll2k - my machines are connected together via a crossover cable from the onboard LAN port on my motherboard in pc - direct to invuilt LAN port on my laptop.

I am connecting to the internet via an external USB broadband modem.

@BBloke - i have tried disabling my network connection, leaving only my internet connection enabled. This had no effect at all. The only other thing i have not tried is actually disabling my onboard LAN port in the BIOS and trying to host then. I may try that tonight if i can find someone to run a couple of tests with me. Do you thin then BBloke that i should get a second NIC card anyway and put it in to see if it makes a difference?

[BBloke]

Hi Reggie,

I doubt a second NIC card will resolve the problem. Thanks for trying disabling the onboard network card. There was a time when UBI really did something screwy with the software and disabling NIC cards worked for me. It maybe worth the extra step of disabling the card from BIOS just to be sure. I know whenever I've shut a piece of hardware off I've rebooted so that the system is on a fresh start.

Unfortunately I have no experience with USB broadband modems or how they sit in a machine. I only have a cable modem connected on my network card. The stench of M$ at work seems to be rising and I think it could be a slight clash of hardware and what is taking precedents in the box and through the system.

[No1_Reggie]

Thanks for the suggestion guys. I have checked my socket udp in game and it is listening on the correct i.p. address so that is not the problem. Unfortunately i could not find anyone to test it with me with the onboard LAN disabled, but as BBloke says the stench of M$ is definately getting stronger and i suspect that disabling my onboard LAN totally will probably sort tis out. Thanks again for all the help - we will see what happens when i find someone to test with me with my onboard LAN disabled in the BIOS.