GM hosting FGU over mobile connection

[Tanzin]

Hey All,

I recently took out a sub for FGC in the hopes of running a session with a group of friends who currently use FGC. Once I went to start a server and realised FGC relies on port forwarding, I knew it was a dead end due to my internet connection. I have a 5G mobile broadband connection as it is surprisingly more stable and infinitely times faster than any phone line connection we can have at the property. It means however that I cannot use port forwarding due to my mobile carrier using CGNAT with shared public IP addresses.

I saw FGU appears to have a slightly more modern approach to host/player connections using the server browser and states no port forwarding is required for the host. I can't see anything else posted here addressing this specific setup so was wondering if this could be a viable option?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Imagix]

Something I don't see a lot of information about: what's the typical _upload_ speed in a 5G network?

[readymeal]

Hi Tanzin,

welcome, to answer your question, FGU will work well from hot spotting your phone. I do it regularly. I wish there was a free vpn working with FGC not requiring every one to install a 3rd party software...

[damned]

5G upload speeds can be very fast.

[Tanzin]

Hi Tanzin,

welcome, to answer your question, FGU will work well from hot spotting your phone. I do it regularly. I wish there was a free vpn working with FGC not requiring every one to install a 3rd party software...

Thanks for the reply. Is that hosting or joining you can confirm works? I've been able to join games on FGC with no issues using 4G and 5G from different carriers.

[Tanzin]

Something I don't see a lot of information about: what's the typical _upload_ speed in a 5G network?

I avergage around 300Mb down and 30Mb up with a latency of around 18ms. It's not mm wave speeds designed to impress, but for general internet usage and gaming it is more than capable at a reasonable price.

[Trenloe]

@Tanzin - if you can't do port forwarding on your mobile connection then there are alternative solutions mentioned here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?43607-Port-Forward-Alternatives

It is these solutions that @readymeal eluded to above.

However, FGU, currently in open beta/early access, gets around these issues using cloud brokering.

[readymeal]

Thanks for the reply. Is that hosting or joining you can confirm works? I've been able to join games on FGC with no issues using 4G and 5G from different carriers.

Hi Tanzin, no Difference with FGU they both (joining and hosting) work perfectly with hot spotting. FGC hosting is a bit more complicated...Where i currently work, there s only one cell phone provider so i am using 3G most of the time as 4G is slower during peak hours. no 5G business in the bush.

[Tanzin]

Hi Tanzin, no Difference with FGU they both (joining and hosting) work perfectly with hot spotting. FGC hosting is a bit more complicated...Where i currently work, there s only one cell phone provider so i am using 3G most of the time as 4G is slower during peak hours. no 5G business in the bush.

That's excellent news. I'll switch my subscription over today and give it a test. 3G speed must be on the limit, especially if you are on voice chat at the same time? Living in the UK, I can't imagine what it must be like to have no choice in carrier.

@Trenloe - Thanks for the link. If I have any issues with players connecting when I test I'll check out that page. Hopefully it should work as I hope.

[mpp7mato]

Hi all,
In the same situation here. Just moved and the only internet option available to me was a "mobile internet" solution that uses an LTE router. I can use the 4G+ service and am very happy with speeds I am getting.

The annoying thing though is that I cannot seem to be able to use my FGC Ultimate despite forwarding ports on the router and following all the steps outlined on Portforward and those found on the forums here. I'm guessing this is because of the nature of mobile internet?

I've read the alternative options such as Hamachi, but want to make getting connected to my games as effortless for my players as possible so was also considering upgrading to FGU. I wanted to ask though, are community rulesets and modules made in FGC compatible?

[superteddy57]

For community rulesets and extensions, availability to FGU is largely dependent on the community developer that is working on the project. Many have worked on their products and got them working with FGU, but some have not. So you would have to take stock on the extensions and rulesets that you use and see if the developer is working on compatibility with FGU. Most of the issues tend to be related to fonts, but I would still check in with the developers of what you use and see their status.

[Tanzin]

Hi all,
In the same situation here. Just moved and the only internet option available to me was a "mobile internet" solution that uses an LTE router. I can use the 4G+ service and am very happy with speeds I am getting.

The annoying thing though is that I cannot seem to be able to use my FGC Ultimate despite forwarding ports on the router and following all the steps outlined on Portforward and those found on the forums here. I'm guessing this is because of the nature of mobile internet?

I've read the alternative options such as Hamachi, but want to make getting connected to my games as effortless for my players as possible so was also considering upgrading to FGU. I wanted to ask though, are community rulesets and modules made in FGC compatible?

I had no issues with FGU while using 4G or 5G connection and my players joined with no problems.

If you are upgrading, it may be worth making a back up of your FGC game data folder as both versions seemed to default to the same folder. When I installed FGU it appeared to take all my custom modules out and I was only left with purchased modules that it downloaded again. If you can specify a custom folder during installation it may be worth making one to avoid any issues going back and forth between the versions.

[Trenloe]

If you are upgrading, it may be worth making a back up of your FGC game data folder as both versions seemed to default to the same folder.
FGU should *not* default to the same data directory as FGC - the default path is slightly different SmiteWorks\Fantasy Grounds (FGU) vs. just Fantasy Grounds for FGC.


When I installed FGU it appeared to take all my custom modules out and I was only left with purchased modules that it downloaded again.
This is because it was indeed using another folder, and your custom modules would have still been in the FGC data directory.

You can verify exactly which data directory each version is using on your installation clicking the folder icon at the top of the FG startups screen for both versions.

[mpp7mato]

Thanks for the replies all. So I took the plunge purchasing a FGU Ultimate license, and have been trying to host via the cloud option. Although I've seen some success, I've experienced many instances of the program just hanging on "starting cloud server". There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern either. Hopefully this issue gets sorted as it wasn't the cheapest of purchases! :) On another note though, I am pleased to see that Hamachi seems to have done the trick for me - allowing me to host as a LAN and provide the Hamachi IP to a player today with multiple successful log-ins through FGU. Hopefully the same can be said for FGC as I have been working with the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition ruleset for quite some time now and unfortunately it isn't compatible with Unity.

[LordEntrails]

Thanks for the replies all. So I took the plunge purchasing a FGU Ultimate license, and have been trying to host via the cloud option. Although I've seen some success, I've experienced many instances of the program just hanging on "starting cloud server". There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern either. Hopefully this issue gets sorted as it wasn't the cheapest of purchases! :) On another note though, I am pleased to see that Hamachi seems to have done the trick for me - allowing me to host as a LAN and provide the Hamachi IP to a player today with multiple successful log-ins through FGU. Hopefully the same can be said for FGC as I have been working with the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition ruleset for quite some time now and unfortunately it isn't compatible with Unity.
See this thread; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?59982-Connection-Issues

If it doesn't get solved with info there, please post in that thread the info requested in the OP.

[Tanzin]

Thanks for the replies all. So I took the plunge purchasing a FGU Ultimate license, and have been trying to host via the cloud option. Although I've seen some success, I've experienced many instances of the program just hanging on "starting cloud server". There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern either. Hopefully this issue gets sorted as it wasn't the cheapest of purchases! :) On another note though, I am pleased to see that Hamachi seems to have done the trick for me - allowing me to host as a LAN and provide the Hamachi IP to a player today with multiple successful log-ins through FGU. Hopefully the same can be said for FGC as I have been working with the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition ruleset for quite some time now and unfortunately it isn't compatible with Unity.

My server never had any issues starting while on mobile data so I can't offer much help. Just for reference, I never had any port forwarding or VPN configured for FGU. It just worked as long as I had an internet connection on the computer.

[mpp7mato]

Thanks for the link to the other thread - I'll be sure to share logs if needed to try narrow down the issue. It seems to occur most when attempting to host multiple sessions in relatively quick succession (troubleshooting my end at the moment).

I also haven't set up any port forwarding on my router as I was hoping the cloud hosting option would circumvent the need to do so given I have a mobile internet connection now. As I mentioned before though, Hamachi has worked a charm thus far and is a viable option worse ways when needing to host directly.

Thanks again for all the responses :)