what can cause hosting problems

[andreasaspenberg]

i can host and i have forwarded the port used by warcraft 3.(it worked initially.) for some reason hosting in warcraft 3 doesnt work anymore. it works with red alert 2 but it doesnt work with warcraft 3, dragonshard, dosbox(i got the games legally) or age of empires 3. it started recently but i dont understand what is causing it.

 

[TriggerHappy]

Check if the port that you opened, is in fact open.

http://www.canyouseeme.org/

 

[jonhysone]

What do you mean? People can't join you?

 

[Deleted member 219079]

I guess wc3 uses players as hosts, like some console games. Consoles doesn't have viruses and bad things to block off, so it never fails. On PC you need to be secure. Having port open is dangerous, so it's blocked. This is only my own theory, there's no real facts to back it up.

 

[TriggerHappy]

I guess wc3 uses players as hosts, like some console games. Consoles doesn't have viruses and bad things to block off, so it never fails. On PC you need to be secure. Having port open is dangerous, so it's blocked. This is only my own theory, there's no real facts to back it up.

True but the port needs to be open to host.

Also, firewall.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

i could host through that port earlier so i did everything required but recently it stopped working. i dont have a lot of network knowledge but, if i was given a solution i should be able to use it.

 

[TriggerHappy]

i could host through that port earlier so i did everything required but recently it stopped working. i dont have a lot of network knowledge but, if i was given a solution i should be able to use it.

Have you verified it's open by using http://www.canyouseeme.org/ ?

 

[andreasaspenberg]

why dont you instead tell me how to check it directly.

 

[TriggerHappy]

Ok nevermind good luck

 

[andreasaspenberg]

i am actually asking for help here. websites can contain viruses but system tools dont. what do i need to do in the system to check the status on the port.

 

[TriggerHappy]

i am actually asking for help here. websites can contain viruses but system tools dont. what do i need to do in the system to check the status on the port.

Open your command prompt (Start -> Run -> Cmd) and enter the following;

netstat -an

Though the website would be easier.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

if it is the ports that is listed right after the ip addresses then it isnt on that list. what does that mean and how do i fix it if it is an issue. (i prefer to fix things myself.) i connected to battle.net and started a game and then the port was shown as listening but ip address was set to 0.0.0.0. what does that mean.

 

[TriggerHappy]

It means the port isn't open.

Google how to port forward your specific router model.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

i have forwarded the port in my router. it even worked initially until it didnt work anymore and i checked it but the port is still forwarded.

 

[GhostWolf]

Is your local IP the same? are you using DHCP?
Just go into your router and look around.

In addition, when having issues with the internet, it's always a good idea to check the hosts file.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

the way my router works is that it assigns ip address based on the order stuff is started in. i therefore always starts my main pc first so that it gets the first ip address which i have used for port forwarding. where is the hosts file?

 

[TriggerHappy]

You may need to set up a static IP.

http://portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm

 

[GhostWolf]

Routers have DHCP, which is a way to ensure a device on the network always has the same internal IP (for simplicity's sake, it's basically a map between MAC addresses and internal IPs).
If it's not enabled, it's a good idea to enable it.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Having port open is dangerous, so it's blocked.

Incorrect. The ports are blocked only because of how NATs work. There is no physical way for a NAT to know where to direct the traffic so it is forced to drop the packets. Of course you can instruct the NAT that you are needing the packets going to a certain port (how modern day torrent software works) but WC3 was made before this feature was standard in NATs so does not take advantage of it.

IPv6 obviously does not suffer from this problem as it eliminates the need for NATs outside of specialist purposes (server farms). As such the packets only go through the switch and not through a NAT before the switch so will not be blocked.

Anyway make sure that the port is open to only one IP address and that IP address refers to your local machine.

 

[Deleted member 219079]

Wow, I'm so glad I said this:

This is only my own theory, there's no real facts to back it up.

Well, okay, I'll keep that in my mind

 

[andreasaspenberg]

the hosting problem isnt just online but also on lan so then it is likely some issue with the pc i use. the fact that it isnt just online is in the first post though. lan doesnt require the router to be set in in a specific way. please help me out.

 

[Dr Super Good]

The underlying problem is that the TCP port used by WC3 to host is not accepting traffic. This can be both software related (firewall blocking packets) or network related (NAT unable to resolve port, port mapped to another port etc).

Try changing the port WC3 uses to host with (configurable from main menu) and setting to router to forward that port instead of the default.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

i used a different port than the default port before and it worked for a while but then the pc got a network problem that prevents other pcs from connecting to it. there is clearly some kind of network problem because i cant set up new network connections. i had a bad network problem on another pc and then i had to remove something from the registry but i dont remember what.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Try going to device manager and uninstalling all network adapters. The OS should then automatically reinstall them, hopefully fixing the problem in the process.

In case the OS does not re-install the drivers, make sure to download a copy of the latest drivers from the website of the company that made your network adapter hardware. You can always install from that if the automatic installation fails.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

the network card is an nvidia nforce but i cant find drivers on the nvidia website. i dont expect problems though because i got it reinstalled when i reinstalled windows. the problem remains.

 

[Dr Super Good]

the network card is an nvidia nforce but i cant find drivers on the nvidia website.

Nvidia no longer makes motherboards (last being 2009). As such they are under "Legacy" driver downloads.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

the drivers was installed by the system after i uninstalled the network card but the problem still remains. what happens in warcraft 3 is that the game appears on the list but the moment i try to join it it vanish.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Make sure the firewall on the host system is set to trust WC3 and allow traffic to it (especially on the appropriate port).

 

[andreasaspenberg]

the firewall doesnt work anymore so i dont believe that it is causing any issues.

 

[Dr Super Good]

the firewall doesnt work anymore so i dont believe that it is causing any issues.

Generally if something does not work, it is because it has a lot of issues. Make sure to uninstall all non-OS firewalls you do not plan to use and make sure that the one you do plan to use does work.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

i havent installed any firewalls. command and conquer 3 doesnt have any issues though and red alert 2 also works. the games i have problems with is warcraft 3, dragonshard, dosbox(i got the games legally), maelstrom and age of empires 3.

 

[Dr Super Good]

i havent installed any firewalls.

In which case you will be using Windows Firewall which, due to its stock nature, is notoriously strict and the cause of most game networking problems. Make sure to add WC3 and the ports to its rules list to allow them to communicate.

the games i have problems with is warcraft 3, dragonshard, dosbox(i got the games legally), maelstrom and age of empires 3.

Which could all be caused by an over-active firewall blocking incoming packets on their hosting port.

The difficulty with hosting is you need to have an open port that can receive unexpected incoming traffic. Standard routers with built in NATs need instructions (setting up) or special protocols to know which local IP will accept those incoming packets. Strict firewalls might block out these packets within a computer unless it is aware that it should not. This is very different from when you join a game since then an expected return path is formed automatically with a life expectancy of the connection duration.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

as it is i dont have a firewall.(i havent installed any nor do windows firewall work.) a firewall would prevent the game from appearing on the list but it do appear on the list, it just cant be joined. a problem with the router would prevent all pcs from hosting but only 1 pc have hosting problems. i believe that windows firewall stopped working long before the hosting problem appeared. please help me find a solution.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I am telling you, the only logical reason that computer does not allow other players to join when hosting is that something is blocking the required port. A firewall could easily do this and still allow the game to be seen in the game lists as those are probably generated using different ports.

Some malware could also be causing it, since malware like to hijack ports for their evil communications.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

malware is a possibility but i dont have a firewall. why is it only some games that i have problems with.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

people can join me from the internet in some games so it cant be anything blocking access to the pc from the internet.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Is the PC on the same work group as the others?

 

[andreasaspenberg]

they are a part of the same work group but the connection only goes from the pc to the other pcs.(the other cant see it but it can see the others.)

 

[Dr Super Good]

So the PC is acting as a switch of sorts for the other PCs? It could be something like that which is causing the problem.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

the pcs are part of a network that i use to transfer files between the pcs. what have happened however is that 1 of the pcs cant be found nor can it be connected to if found but it can connect to the other pcs without any problems.

 

[Dr Super Good]

the pcs are part of a network that i use to transfer files between the pcs. what have happened however is that 1 of the pcs cant be found nor can it be connected to if found but it can connect to the other pcs without any problems.

Has that always been the case? If the cable is between computers there is a chance it might not be correctly swapping since standard Ethernet cables (well what we now call them) are not designed to connect from end to end (they are meant to connect from end to some sender). To connect 2 computers directly you need to use a swapping cable.

Most commonly nowadays is you connect all wired machines to a switch for maximum network throughput. This switch is often part of the gateway modem in the average house hold (referred to as a "router"). A network will often have a local IP address system with a NAT located somewhere (usually in the router).

 

[andreasaspenberg]

i am using a router to connect the pcs to the network.(the router creates the network.) i have been using routers for a while but i switched router after my old router started malfunctioning and took a while to start. when i got the new router everything worked well for a while until it didnt work well anymore. it isnt a problem with every game either. the network issue however suggests that it is something local on 1 pc.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

zandronum(doom port) works without any problems. it must be some part of the tcp/ip protocol that is broken since the problem exists with some games but not others. the network issue also suggests something local. i cant change the settings of the network connection for some reason.