Network Connection issues

[Manuel]

Hey guys,

 

I want to adress an issue I can not overcome recently. I wanted to fly a mission with a collegue and we set everything up with the mission file and the server started.

 

Sadly, my collegue cannot see me :(

 

Things I tried:

Port forwarding with the router

Deactivating Antivir / Firewall

Connecting via IP (just a black screen).

 

I use 1.5 open beta

 

 

Help is much appreciated :)

 

Thanks in advance

[Johnny Dioxin]

I had a similar issue recently - the problem turned out to be my router pointing the incoming query to the wrong PC.

 

If, like me, you have several devices going through your router (TV, Blu-ray box, other PCs and laptops etc) then it's worth checking your host PC's LAN IP number is correct in the port forwarding.

 

Mine had changed, without me realising. Once corrected, all was well.

[FLANKERATOR]

Indeed, you need to use the internal IP (not external) of the hosting device and it can change every session so double check and update routers settings accordingly. Also both TCP and UDP protocols are needed.

[Tumbleweed]

OK, here's what I'd do.

 

I presume your PC is the one hosting the DCS game?

 

So in your router, set your PC (the one hosting DCS) to have a static IP (you may need to look online for the instructions to do this depending on your router).

In some routers it's very easy. You just find the device connected to the router, in this case your PC and you tell the router to reserve an IP for this. Some routers look for MAC addresses and bind the reserved IP to them. The instructions for setting static IPs varies from router to router but there will be instructions online. This is a good website to help. It covers setting up port forwarding and static IP assignment with common routers and common games. http://portforward.com/

 

Usually you want to reserve something like 192.168.0.10 for you PC. That's an internal IP address as assigned by the router. These addresses only work internally on your network.

This reserves the selected IP for your PC only. From now on, the router will assign your PC that IP everytime it's connected. Nothing else can use that IP unless YOU release it in the router.

 

Then in port forwarding, add all the ports needed for DCS and set them to forward to the static internal IP you've just reserved for your PC.

Now, even if your router reboots etc, your PC (running DCS) will or should always be assigned that reserved static IP. No other device on the network will be allowed to use that internal IP.

 

Then what you do is find and give your friend your external IP.

I.e. your IP provided by your internet service provider. Providing your not using proxies or VPNs this site should tell you what your external IP address is. http://www.whatsmyip.org

 

Then you need to give your friend your external IP and the port number for the DCS you're hosting and that should be it. You'll likely need to reboot the router and PC to apply all these IP changes as well.

Also, sometimes servers take a while to appear in DCS server list so get your friend to try manually connecting if he cant see your server in the DCS master list.

 

 

 

Think of it in terms of street names and house numbers.

Your PC is the house and the router is the street. You can give your friend the external IP which will let him connect to the router (find the street) but from there, you need a house number and that's where the ports come in. Once your friend is on your street (connected to the router), the street (router) itself tells your friend which house on the street is yours (port forwarding).

Without a static IP though, you basically keep moving house so your friend will never find you because even the street (router) doesn't know where you live so it can't tell your friend which house (static ip & port) to go to. Sort of. It's a bit of a clumsy analogy but it's close enough.

 

 

So just to clarify incase I've confused you:-

 

1. The PC hosting DCS needs to have a static IP in your router. If you don't the IP assigned to the PC running DCS WILL keep changing and the ports wont know which device on the network to forward to.

2. You then need to go into port forwarding and add the relevant DCS ports to the router and then forward them to the static IP you've just created and bound to your PC.

3. Find your external IP as given to you by your Internet Service Provider (ISP)

4. Give your friend the EXTERNAL IP and DCS Port number

5. If your server / hosted game doesn't appear in the DCS Master Server List, get your friend to connect manually.

 

 

Hope this helps!

Edited October 27, 2015 by Tumbleweed

[Manuel]

Thanks for all you answers,

 

the situation is a little bit more complicated as I just realize now.

 

I have a router set up which sends the signal via WLAN to another router, which operates as a repeater. To stay in that analogy with the streets:

The Router can point to a house number which then contains the info where my house is.

 

Unfortunately in that second router I cannot port forward again. So, right now the port is forwarded to my pc ip.... this ip is not directly connected to the main router. Only the repeater router is known to the main router.

 

Should I point the ports to the second router... what will it then do with it.

 

I will maybe just try out the different options. one thing I did not do the first time was setting udp protocol as well. Maybe thats just about it. I will let you guys know.

 

Thanks again, also for improving my knowledge about networks and how ports work :)

[Manuel]

It works with the repeater as well... Seems it was just the UDP Protocol what was missing.

 

Thanks again and best regards :)

[Big-foot]

How did you get it to work with the repeater? Did you just ignore the repeater in the process and set up port forwarding on the 'first' router?

 

Very interested as I promised to host a mission this weekend and I'm in the same situation.

 

I would really appreciate your help!

[Manuel]

I ignored the second router and forwarded the port directly to my pc