Sharing An Internet Connection; Removing Router

[Elliot B.]

There is an attached image to accompy this post to help understand.

I currently have a 1536/256 cable connection coming into my bedroom which plugged in to a router (Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Router with 4port 10/100 Switch). My PC is connected to the router, and there are two links going downstairs for the laptop (can simply plug into either one). This all means the PC and laptop can use the Internet connection at any time.

However, I want to remove the router out of the equation. It's causing me slow speeds and I'm sure it's to blame for my constant 'speed hack' problems in UT2004. I have unblocked (or whatever it's called) all ports etc. and I don't want further advice on how to configure it. I basically and simple want it out of the eqaution.

How I can have a direct link to the Internet on my PC but so that my laptop can share the connection too? Maybe move the router or something? I can three LAN points in my PC if that helps? I don't mind if the PC would need to be on for the other points to be able to be use the Internet.

Cheers!

[PseudoRandomDragon]

I really suggest that you consider fixing the router. The problem can probably be solved with a firmware update (did you do that?)

But if you insist, you need to use internet connection sharing. Looking at your setup, some of your computers are going to need two network cards, which means you would have to buy extra equipment for a problem that is potentially solvable.

[turbomonkeycock]

I have no idea if this is possible, but could you not have the net connection going straight into your PC, then to the router for the laptops to share? This would give you prime speeds on the PC I would imagine.

[+BudMan MVC]

From my understanding of the "speed hack" - this is caused when your ping time changes, etc.. Highly doubt it has anything to do with your router, more than likely your having other issues on your network or your ISP.. Are you running anything in the background while your playing? P2P running on one of the other machines, on yours?

Are you running a software firewall - No need for this when behind a router.. Are you wireless? Do you have UPnP active - this could be resetting your router when it opens a port - and cause you problems with your game connection, etc...

There is NO way for you to configure your network in such a way that you would be FASTER than you currently are setup.. if you use ICS on your machine -- this will be a drag on your machine, it will now have to route traffic for your other machines.. which will do nothing but slow its overall network performance down... If you use one of the other machines - same thing!

You could get another IP address from your ISP, then place a switch in between your modem and your machine and the router -- Use the router for your other devices, and you would have your own ip address -- and be on OPEN connection to the public NET - NEVER a good idea. Again - this would not increase your performance -- since if one of the laptops is BUSY downloading/uploading something -- it could cause a blip in your connection and cause the speed hack issue..

Unplug your other devices from the network when playing - does this make the issue go away? Make sure UPnP is OFF, don't run P2P apps while playing - don't run other apps that would be accessing the network while playing, etc.. Turn off your software firewall, turn off any type of wireless polling that might be going on (your not on wireless are you?), etc..

As to opening ports on your router -- This has NOTHING to do with network performance and or anything that would cause you to see the speed hack, etc.. If anything - it could cause you more issues, since now any inbound packets that the router would of just ignored -- he now is doing something with, ie forwarding them somewhere, etc.. logging them, etc.. etc..

Does this speed hack happen with ALL servers? Maybe you have a bad path to one of them? Ping your ISP gateway -- do your ping times fluctuate a lot?

Ping something on the net for an extended period (use ping -t) even your ISP gateway, google, something - is your ping time all over the board?

Ping statistics for 64.233.167.147:

Packets: Sent = 20, Received = 20, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 10ms, Maximum = 15ms, Average = 11ms

As you can see here -- very small sample (only 20), but times to google where between 10 and 15ms -- how does your look?

Edited March 15, 2005 by BudMan

[Elliot B.]

I run a very clean and fast system, there are no programs running in the background whilst I play games. I do not use a firewall as people are too scared about hackers nower days, it's wasted RAM and CPU time.

I am not using wireless and I have no idea what UPnP is, and definietely don't know whether it's enabled or not.

It happens on all servers UT2004 servers I join, not just one. I have reformatted, used all sorts of drivers for my graphics card, network card (built into my motherboard, nForce 2) and modem. It's what lead me to think it's either UT2004 or a hardware problem.

Pings to www.google.com and www.google.co.uk are all around 45ms.

[+BudMan MVC]

dude - what are your ping times to something? Ping goog for an extended period - say a couple hundred pings How does this look...? Ping your ISP gateway -- if your getting bad response times and or dropped packets to your gateway -- your going to have issues..

You did 200 pings to google - and they were "ALL" 45ms -- bull**** dude, your going to fluctuate ;)

[Elliot B.]

I said around 45ms.

eb_pinggoogle.txt

[+Elі Subscriber²]

Looks to me like an internet connection issue, or the path between you and the game server, I highly doubt it this has anything to do with your router and even much less your Operating System, no need for reformats at all.

I would suggest you, upgrading your internet connection go a higher upload speed or as the other ones here have said, deep examine your internet connection to make sure there are no issues with it, and if it does then tell your ISP to fix it or switch ISPs.

[Elliot B.]

Looks to me like an internet connection issue, or the path between you and the game server, I highly doubt it this has anything to do with your router and even much less your Operating System, no need for reformats at all.

I would suggest you, upgrading your internet connection go a higher upload speed or as the other ones here have said, deep examine your internet connection to make sure there are no issues with it, and if it does then tell your ISP to fix it or switch ISPs.

585619075[/snapback]

I have a 1536/256 cable connection, more than enough. The game was fine up until about 3/4 months ago, so I guess it could be a patch. I also only choose servers <100 ms.

My problem generally only lies within UT2004, but I can't see it being a UT2004 problem as no one else seems to have it.

[+Elі Subscriber²]

Dude I'm on a 6600MB Down/768Kbps UP Link and sometimes I have had issues of that sort and had to have them fixed.

[+BudMan MVC]

those look pretty stable to me - I would make sure your on the latest firmware of your router, make sure UPnP is off - it use to be on by default I do believe on some linksys routers.. I have seen where a request for a port can reset all active connections on your router, this could cause all kinds of problems with online games, etc..

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/s...d_02july22.mspx

You could turn off the SSDP Discovery Service on your machine - if you have NO idea what UPnP is, then you sure and the hell do not need it running ;)

You have this speed hack issue when your other machines are NOT connected to the network?

From my limited understanding of this speed hack thing - there seemed to be quite a few people having problems with it, some patch to the unreal servers or something made it real bad for awhile - and then fixed it?

Patch 3323

# speed hack detection improvements (less problems for people with just bad connections)

[Elliot B.]

those look pretty stable to me - I would make sure your on the latest firmware of your router, make sure UPnP is off - it use to be on by default I do believe on some linksys routers..? I have seen where a request for a port can reset all active connections on your router, this could cause all kinds of problems with online games, etc..

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/s...d_02july22.mspx

You could turn off the SSDP Discovery Service on your machine - if you have NO idea what UPnP is, then you sure and the hell do not need it running;))?

You have this speed hack issue when your other machines are NOT connected to the network?

From my limited understanding of this speed hack thing - there seemed to be quite a few people having problems with it, some patch to the unreal servers or something made it real bad for awhile - and then fixed it?

Patch 3323

# speed hack detection improvements (less problems for people with just bad connections)

585619096[/snapback]

How do I check what model of router I have and how can I check what firmware I have (and what is the latest). Will updating it reset my settings? I currently have it so that all ports are unblocked (couldn't be bothered finding out what each game uses in order to host a game) and I want that retained.

Reguarding UPnP, Google produced this website with a small utility. I downloaded it and it told me UPnP was enabled. I didn't click the Disable UPnP button just in case, but do you think this software will successfully disable it?

Finally, I have disabled both on-board LAN ports in the BIOS and I'm using a seperate network card NETGEAR FA311 Fast Ethernet Adapter. I remember this causing me trouble with torrents, and if it still does, I'll go back to the nForce controller.EDIT:b> After disabling the SSDP Discovery Service using Services.msc, the application mentioned above now produces UPnP is Safely Disabled. Is this true?

[+BudMan MVC]

Dude if you forwarding all ports? HUH? You mean you put your machine in the DMZ? How did you accomplish this?? If anything that could be cause you problems.. But if you did this - then you know how to access your routers web inteface normally on 192.168.1.1 for the linksys routers -- this interface will tell you what firmware your on, and the model of your router, etc.. I am guessing your on the original firmware from your statements -- depending on the model, there could be some updates to its performance, etc.. How old is your router?

edit: yes turning off that service disables it on your machine - but any machine on your network could request for your router to open a port, which could reset ALL connections, etc.. Its best to turn it off on the router.

I do not believe you ever answered the question - do you have the problem when your other machines are NOT connected to you network? Have you tested this?

edit2: as to grc -- just make sure you take anything steve says with a grain of salt ;) he seems to get a bit over zealous on some topics! And some of it just pure BS if you ask me ;)

edit3: also if you fowarded all ports -- How exactly are your other machines working? You must of just put your machine in the DMZ, not a very safe thing to do -- and really removes all of the protection a NAT router provides, etc..

Edited March 15, 2005 by BudMan

[Elliot B.]

I could never host a game of UT2004 or Duke3D etc. because my IP was a static one (I believe it's called). Something similar to 192.x.x.0.0, I dunno. I even went onto www.whatismyip.com and got my IP but my friend still couldn't connect to any game. He said my server showed in the in-game server browsers (if the game featured one) but could never connect. I unplugged the Internet from the router and connected it straight to my PC. It then worked perfect. I got advice from a few people (and I'm sure I made a Neowin thread about it) and was told it was something about port forwarding. Problem was, everytime I wanted to host a server in a game, I had to find out it's port and enable it (or forward it, don't know the expression) which was annoying so I was told to open them all by opening/forwarding ports 1024 to 65535 (check the screenshot, ignore the first three entries, just couldn't be bothered to delete them).

I have disabled that service on the laptop too, as I don't know how to do it on the router. And to answer your original question, the laptop is rarely plugged in and in use. My dad and sister only check their mail etc.

EDIT: I know how to upgrade the firmware by file, saw it in the router options. No idea how to find out which one I currently have though. It's about a year or two old.

[+BudMan MVC]

Dude - that has got to be one of the STUPIDEST things I have ever seen, remove that ENTRY!! There is NO point of running a router if your going to do that ;) And sure as hell is causing your router extra work, etc.. If you want your machine to be FULLY exposed to the public net - then put in the DMZ, you do not forward 1024-* What idiot told you to do that?

edit: If I am not mistaken Unreal uses UDP ports 7777-7780, you only need to forward those ports and ONLY UDP to your machines private IP address, ie the 192.168.1.100 to host a game, etc.. That is your machines IP address?? If not - then no it will not work, etc..

edit2: you might also need TCP 27900 and 27902? Not 100% on that.

Edited March 15, 2005 by BudMan

[Elliot B.]

Dude - that has got to be one of the STUPIDEST things I have ever seen, remove that ENTRY!!  There is NO point of running a router if your going to do that ;)  And sure as hell is causing your router extra work, etc..  If you want your machine to be FULLY exposed to the public net - then put in the DMZ, you do not forward 1024-*  What idiot told you to do that?

585619175[/snapback]

I can't remember, I just wanted to host servers etc. like I was able to before the router without having to trawl on game forums/help files to find the ports.

I have removed the entry, but now I'm back to square one when it comes to hosting games surely?

[+BudMan MVC]

I posted the ports you need for Unreal - you might want to double check them though.. As to your firmware -- all of that info is on your status page, ie the first page that opens when you conect to the routers interface, ie do believe -- or the "status/setup" tab? Been a while since I played with linksys routers.

edit: and if your a couple years old - then yeah you really should update your firmware. Also another way to find the model number is to look on the bottom of the router.

[Elliot B.]

Firmware Version: 1.44.2, Dec 13 2002 (Model: BEFSR41). I think this is the latest?

What is DMZ? And also, are these settings now correct...? It's gonna be bloody annoying having to do this with every game I want to host a server in lol

Edited March 15, 2005 by King Mustard

[Elliot B.]

I now always get a yellow light (no incoming connections) in BitTornado and my speeds are crap.

I don't use the router for protection, we only bought it for share the Internet connection. I am highing considering releasing all those ports, at least I got my connection speed back that way.

Why don't things just work? :|

[+BudMan MVC]

They do JUST work - if you have even clue 1, Put your machine in the DMZ if you want it to be FULLY exposed to the public net -- VERY stupid if you ask me.. but hey its your machine -- RTFM on how to put your machine in the DMZ, its really really difficult - you put in the IP address of the machine you want to be FULLY exposed to the public net.. in a BOX that says DMZ ;)

IF your model is new enough - it will also have to be plugged into a specific port on the router.. This is to help keep STUPID people from directly exposing their machines to the public net... ;)

Making BT work is also REAL hard - forward its ports, off the cuff those would be TCP 6881-6999 -- oooh real HARD, why do they make it so difficult?? WTF dude?

Things are only difficult, or do not work for those people to freaking lazy to RTFM that came with whatever your trying to make work! Make BT work through a router is ALL OVER the net, you can not help but run into the info if you search for "bittorrent ports" shoot the FIRST link gives you all the info you would need to forward the correct ports through your router - shoot it even gives you the page number of the BEFSR41 manual that talks about port forwarding, etc.. ;)

And yes - I do believe that is lastest firmware for your router.

edit: I just noticed your screeny, where did you see anything about TCP on the 7777-7780 forward? I know for a FACT I said UDP! Why do you have them both forwarded?

[+BudMan MVC]

edit2: I just noticed your forwarding the BT ports already -- 192.168.1.100 the IP address of your machine? IF not - then NO it will not work! do an ipconfig on your machine -- what does it says its IP address is?

[Catharsis]

Wow, I don't even think I can count how many times BudMan has insulted you, King Mustard. I wish people who knew more than others would understand that they were once in their shoes. He's implied that you're stupid I don't know how many times.

Anyways...DMZ stands for De-Militarized Zone. It exposes to the Internet whatever IP address you indicate almost completely, for lack of a better explanation. Not the best for security reasons. Port forwarding should be doing the trick.

I would say turn off the speed hack. If other games run OK, and it's already been noted that other people have problems with the speed hack, then simply don't use it. You said that the 1536/256 connection was fast enough, right? ;)

Oh, and Ely...there's no WAY you have a 6600MB download speed. That's 6.6 GB, dude -- no stinkin way.

[Elliot B.]

I am so lost.

IPConfig says my IP address is 192.168.1.101 so I changed all my 100s to 101s. I have also removed the Protocol TCP setting from the Unreal1/2 entries. Is this correct?

Do I have to do this for every game I want to host? I hope not!

EDIT: Still getting the yellow light problem and crap speeds in BitTornado.

[Elliot B.]

Oops, I don't have a 1536/256 connections, it a 2048/256 connection (2 MB basically)

[Catharsis]

From what I'm finding on other sites, you don't even have the right ports set up. I read on a site that it's:

7777 UDP

7787 UDP

7778 UDP

28902 TCP

You have 27900 to 27902. Change that "7" to an "8".