Can't Connect Externally

[SolarDragonSTK]

Hello, I've been trying to to get this set up and going for two days now and I'm out of ideas. I have gone through the posts and tried everything I can think of. I have Windows 7, a Netgear wireless router and a cable modem. The wireless router doesn't have a firewall and I disabled mine to see if that would fix the problem. I used portforward to make my IP static and set up the port forwarding to port 1802 on my wireless router. Didn't work. I disconnected the wireless router and made a new connection directly to the cable modem. still can't connect. I tried canyouseeme.org while hosting a game and it doesn't show that my port is open while I had the wireless router hooked up. But, when I turned UPnP (I think that it what it is called) on, it was showing activity on port 1802 with my internal ip address. I ran two instances of FG and I was able to connect locally with the wireless router in place, but still nothing externally and the connection test always fails. Thank you in advance for any help or suggestions.

[Moon Wizard]

Some clarification questions:

* Which version of FG are you running? (from upper right corner of launch screen)

* You mentioned that you saw activity on port 1802 when you enabled UPnP. Was this using canyouseeme.org, or some other detection method?

* After seeing activity on port 1802, did you try running connection test?

* Have you tried connecting between 2 machines on your network?

I usually recommend testing from local to global, which it sounds like you are doing for the most part. (i.e. run 2 instances on same machine, connect between machines on same local network, test connection, connect across Internet.)

Regards,
JPG

[Trenloe]

I'm not 100% sure of what you've tried from your post, so please forgive me if I'm not reading it right.

You're configuration is like this, right?

<INTERNET> ---- <CABLE MODEM> ---- <WIRELESS ROUTER> ---- <PC running Fantasy Grounds>

To simplify things, I'd connect your PC directly to the Cable Modem - and disable the wireless network card on the PC, so you only have 1 network card running (this is important). Then, try the following:


If your cable modem has UPnP, enable this. Make sure you have removed any previous port forwarding you may have set up for port 1802.
If you cable modem does not have UPnP, setup port forwarding for port 1802 to the IP address of your PC wired network card connected to the cable modem.

Try the FG network check again, or use canyouseeme.org when running a FG game.

If the above doesn't work, keep this configuration and check the following - test again after each item.


In Windows network and sharing center, make sure your wired network card is setup as "Home" and not "Public"
For testing purposes - disable all firewalls you may be running on Windows.
Double check that you have no other network interfaces enabled on your PC - such as interfaces for VPNs, virtual machines, etc.
Double check what the IP address of the wired network card on your PC is. Do not take this from Fantasy Grounds, but from Windows network and sharing center.
If your cable modem provides a list of active UPnP ports, check that the IP address port 1802 forwards to is the IP address of your active wired network card on your PC. If you manually set up port forwarding check the IP is the correct one (from item 4 above).


If you manage to get it working on this wired connection, then we can start looking at your wireless setup...

[SolarDragonSTK]

Thank you for your help. I have version 2.9.1 of FG.
When I have the wireless router connected , I can see any activity on the UPnP screen. When I host a game, it will show my internal IP and port 1802, but canyouseeme.org still doesn't show it as open.
I did get it to work when I ran two instances with no problem.
I have my PC connected directly to the cable modem and the wireless network card is disabled. The wireless router has the options for UPnP and port forwarding and I can't find anything to set up port forwarding on the cable modem. RCA Digital Broadband modem from Time Warner.
1. My wired network card is set up as home
2. Windows Firewall is turned off
3. Turned off Daemon Tools (Would a mounted image interfere?)
4. IP address from windows network and sharing center matches the one in FB. Actually, my internal and external are exactly the same now. (They were different when I had the wireless router hooked up)
Thanks for your help, it is most appreciated :)

[Trenloe]

OK, so the cable modem gives you an internet IP address. In that case, it should be directly connected to the internet and there should be no need to setup any port forwarding on the cable modem. But, if your connection tests are now failing with the external IP address, then either the cable modem is blocking port 1802 or your internet service provider (ISP) is blocking it further down the line.

What is the model number of the RCA Digital Broadband modem so I can try to find a manual online?

Does the cable modem have anything like a firewall setting or something like that in the admin pages which might be blocking unknown ports?

[SolarDragonSTK]

The modem is RCA/Thomson DCM425. I contacted Time Warner and they said they are not blocking it and the modem doesn't have a firewall.

[Griogre]

Try following the instructions below. Note: there is an ad that will pop, I think. Just close it you don't need or have to buy anything.

https://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Thomson/DWG855/Fantasy_Grounds.htm

[Trenloe]

The modem is RCA/Thomson DCM425. I contacted Time Warner and they said they are not blocking it and the modem doesn't have a firewall.
*IF* that is the case, then we are back to something on your PC blocking the communication.

One thing to try would be to uninstall Fantasy Grounds, reboot the PC and then re-install Fantasy Grounds - hopefully this will set it up fully.

[SolarDragonSTK]

I will try to uninstall, reboot, and re-install. I ran into something interesting though, I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the issue but my antivirus won't load, uninstall or anything. Could this be the problem?

[Griogre]

It could be a problem, though not necessarily the problem. Are you trying to uninstall it while it is off? If so it may think its under attack by a virus. Try turning it back on and uninstalling, if so. Most AVs treat being turned off is the possible precursor to an attack, and while they don't mind being turned off a while, they don't like having permanent changes made to them while turned off.

The most likely reason a AV would cause you a problem is because it also has a built in firewall, a lot of them do. That actually isn't usually a problem either, what can be a problem if you have two software firewalls on like one with the AV and one built into the Operating System.

[SolarDragonSTK]

I got Norton for free from my former internet provider. I just moved and got Time Warner. I guess when I closed my account with the other company, Norton stopped responding. I couldn't turn it off to uninstall it, even in safe mode. I downloaded and used the Norton Removal Tool and rebooted. Now when I run test connection it says Success. Thank you all for all of your help. I greatly appreciate it.

[Griogre]

Glad you got it working. :)