Connection.....Difficulties

[ShadowedKnight]

Alright, a week ago I reset my connection which changed my personal computer's IP...so I forwarded the port to that, then two days ago my power went out and my router fried....so I replaced that, forwarded the port again to my new IP address....My firewall has never been a problem before.

I am now having a problem where none of the can connect and I have no idea why. They connected before the reset and now they can't. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling FGII, I have updated it...I've tried all I can think of.

I believe I have the most recent version of FGII, so if any one could be so kind as to explain what to do that would be most appreciated.

[Oberoten]

I am thinking your new router has a firewall up. Try port 1802 with FG running on www.pcflank.com (https://www.pcflank.com) the advanced port-test

[ShadowedKnight]

Well, I tried that but every time I try to load up PCFlank I get "The Server has taken to long to respond" or something like that.

I really am running out of ideas because my dad tells him he did the same thing he did the last time when it worked. The new router is just a crummier version of the last one, but is there any way to shut off a password protected router's firewall?

[Oberoten]

Without the password, no not really.

We might have more of an idea if you could tell us what brand and version the router is.

[ShadowedKnight]

it is a Linksys 4 Port Ethernet/DSL/Cable router model BEFSR41. I have no idea what to do.

[Oberoten]

https://www.hansenonline.net/Networking/Linksys102.html



Port Forwarding.

Port forwarding is a way of allowing outside users access to your LAN computers on a given port (or range of ports). Basically, if someone connects to the WAN IP address on port 80 on your router and you have set port 80 to be forwarded to an IP address on your LAN, then the router will allow that traffic to pass right through to the destination. To the outside world, it will seem like they are accessing the web server directly on the WAN IP address. The same goes for other services.
This is directly linked to the use of static IP address. The documentation that comes with the router claims that you must disable the DHCP server if you are going to use port forwarding; also, the config page where you set up the port forwarding says the same thing. This is INCORRECT! You do not have to disable the DHCP server on the Linksys router to use any of the features on the router 1). What Linksys probably should have said is that it makes sense to use static IP addresses on the machines you are forwarding ports to (disable DHCP on the client). When using DHCP, it is possible that you will not get the same IP address you had the last time. If you are forwarding ports to the old IP address, outside users will not be able to connect as the router will direct the traffic to the wrong computer. So, if you are going to set up a web server or a mail server, or any other type of server, then use a static IP address on that computer.
Forwarding ports is actually quite simple. Using a web browser, connect to the LAN IP of the router, and click the "Advanced" tab in the top-right corner.https://www.hansenonline.net/images/ls-forward.gif Then click the "Forwarding" tab to get to the port forwarding configuration screen. You can forward up to 10 ranges of ports. Simply enter the start port and the end port (same number in both if there's only one port), and click the Apply button to save configuration. Once the router has re-started, traffic will be forwarded to the IP address selected.
With firmware 1.37, you can also specify TCP, UPD or both to have better control over what type of traffic should be passed on to your LAN.

[Oberoten]

DMZ.

Linksys have chosen an interesting definition of DMZ. Essentially, it's a "public" computer. Setting the IP address in the DMZ field to match that of a computer on your LAN, you are essentially placing that computer outside the router. That means the computer is not protected by the router. Any incoming traffic which is not forwarded somewhere else will be forwarded to the computer in the DMZ. This is not a good place to be, but unfortunately, sometimes it is required. If you wish to use MS NetMeeting, you need to place your computer in the DMZ. Due to the fact that MS NetMeeting uses some random port allocation, the router wouldn't be able to pass the traffic to your computer otherwise.

[ShadowedKnight]

Thanks, Oberoten, I'll see if that worked or not to get it up and running again.

[Griogre]

A comment I have on your new router, is make sure it is not assigning internal IPs dynamically. The other is if you are using DMZ you should make sure you have a software firewall on the computer because you are wide open - and if you are running FG we are not usually talking a few minutes.

[ShadowedKnight]

I have a firewall, and my network assigns my IP on its own. The program is also still not allowing people to connect to me.

[Griogre]

Do you have a static IP on you internal Network? How many computer are on the internal network?

[ShadowedKnight]

Ahem, the problem has been resolved. The problem was my router didn't forward TCP/UDP along with the Port like my old router did so I wasn't able to get connections....however, it has been fixed :-D

[Griogre]

Good news. :)