Connecting to servers with NWN

[Vagabond]

OK i was playing for a while online and enjoying the game but now i can not get to serves I keep timing out.... I see the list of servers. I see no favs, or buddies (even though website says they are online).. I am running a Dlink (DI604) Switcher hub....

I think i set open the ports on the bioware FAQ site but may not be doing that right , still on good..

in the hub applications i have enabled
UDP and TCP ports 5120-5300,6500,27900,28900
with the Trigger Port set at 5120

any help txs

[giga413]

I need to open up some udp ports can someone help me do this? is there some kind of step by step process on how to do this?

I thought i had opened up the udp ports properly but when i went to some website that scanned my ports to see what ports were open it said that all my udp ports were being blocked.

Trying to play Neverwinter Nights but for some reason I can connect to other people's servers but no one can see my server and cannot even "direct connect" to me with my ip.

someone please help me

[johnnyis42]

ok, port forwarding and external port access are 2 different things.

port forwarding is what you use when you know exactly what computer will be using which ports. usually if your router supports SPI (stateful packet inspection) you never need to forward ports to connect to a server as a client. however, if your router doesn't explicitly state that it supports stateful inspection, then you probably need to forward.

the "trigger port" is typically used for when you run some kind of server, usually a game, from your machine. the trigger port listend for a connection, and when it detects it, allows traffic to other ports as well. port forwarding on the other hand just outright forwards all traffic detected incomming that was not originated from the inside of the router to a specific ip address. in other words, you can use port forwarding instead of the trigger port if you know the exact ports that your server will be expecting traffic on.

with port forwarding, the scanners will not detect an open port. when the router sees traffic ont hat port, it turns to that ip address the port is forwarded to and checks to see if it is accepting connections. if it is, then it allows the connection. if it doesn't see the ip address listenning for that traffic, it drops the packet just as if the port were stealth.

external service access is what you set to "open" a port. sometimes the trigger port setting also shows the port as open, but anything that says external access or server, that will actually open the port outright and detect you in a scan.

[giga413]

Ok well i know what ports i must open. How do i open them? Is there some step by step process?

Also i have just downloaded the new xp service pack if that helps any.

[johnnyis42]

well, you need to look in your router's documentation for how they impliment port forwarding, external server access, or virtual server/trigger port configurations. most routers support some kind of a combination of any, some or all of those options.

as for the xp service pack 2, whenever a program attempts to gain network access that windows does not have a default configuration for, it should prompt you for action, whether to allow always, allow once or deny the access. if you run up your game and go to multiplayer, chances are there is a firewall pop-up on the windows desktop that you may or may not see from within the game (either the game minimizes or the little window shows up behind the game, making the game screen flash or the graphics corrupt for a short time while the pop-up message displays on the desktop)

if you do not configure the firewall option, the game will never work multiplayer.

[giga413]

Well yea i just opened up my udp ports that were required except 5125-5300. In my settings it wont let me type in a full range. Does this mean i have to open each port individually? I really dont' want to sit there typing in 200+ ports =(

In any case I've opend up 5 ports that neverwinter nights uses. Still my friends cannot see my server listed... They've even tried to "direct connect" and still my server is unreachable or fails each time...

[johnnyis42]

like i said, when you say "open up ports", you're not telling us much. you need to specifiy what terminaology your router uses, whether it is port forwarding you are using, or external alias, etc. it sounds like your ports are not "opened" when you do whatever you are doing since the web site scanner didn't pick them up, so there may be some other setting you need to deal with instead of the one you are currently working with.

the type of router you are using will help narrow it down as well.