No connection when pinging router

[hmuk]

Unfortunately I'm not very lettered in the terminology, but hopefully I can still communicate my problem.

I am trying to host a server. It will only be up for as long as my PC is online and it will be shut down when not in use. It is for FOnline, and all the equipment required to host a server came with the SDK. Ideally, I would host the server, open and configure the port, then get my friends to connect using the client software and giving them my IP.
My BT Home Hub 4 package does not seem to include a dynamic external IP for the router. I'm not sure if this would normally be an issue, and whether or not it would simply be a case of redistributing the dynamic IP to friends when they attempt to connect.
Nonetheless, I set up a No-IP domain, and have configured correctly, to my knowledge, in both the DUC software and in the Home Hub settings.
I am also have port 4000 open (this was used for Diablo II, I read), which is the port the FOnline server is listening for when the clients try to connect (hope I worded that correctly).

The issue is that when I ping my router IP (formatted like: 86.xxx.xxx.xxx), I get no connection. Nor do I get any connection when I ping the domain name No-IP is redirecting towards. As a result, my friends cannot connect this way.

The issue does not lie in the FOnline software. I set up a Hamachi network and it worked fine - the only issue is that the free version of Hamachi only supports five people to a network.

I hope I've laid out all the necessary information here. Please let me know if you need further details; I can fetch them for you.

 

[iPwn]

You didn't do too bad with terminology, but there's a lot going on in this issue.

First, from a PC that is in your home, go to 'www.ipchicken.com' to get your external IP address. Note: this could change every now and again. ISP's typically don't assign static IP addresses, so the address they connect to may change.

Next, you have to make sure that your router is properly forwarding the packets based on incoming request port. There's a fantastic site here that walks you through forwarding the requests based on port, with most router manufacturer/models shown.

A failed ping, while it is heavily used as a test, means nothing. It is common practice to disable ICMP on many servers, devices so even a failed ping doesn't mean 'no connection'.

I imagine that if you get the appropriate external IP and have the port forwarding setup properly, you shouldn't have much issue. The only other hindrance would be any host firewall you have (e.g. software firewall) that's blocking those ports too. Make sure those are white-listed (if applicable) and you should be okay.

 

[hmuk]

Thanks for the prompt response, iPwn.

I have already configured port 4000 to be open - I checked out the site you linked me and looked up Diablo II, seems like I did it correctly, according to that website.

Interesting to note that the ping command isn't 100% indicative.

Okay, so I downloaded the PortChecker software from portforward.com. Without the server up, I tried to check port 4000. It came back as "closed" or "unreachable". I understand the former could arise if there is no service listening at that port.

So, I started up the server. Now when I try to check port 4000, it says:
Could not test port 4000, because some other application has that port locked. Please close any applications that may be using this port and try again.

Unusually, if I try one of the port checking websites like canyouseeme.com - canyouseeme Resources and Information. This website is for sale!, it gives the same result regardless of where the server is up, i.e. port 4000 is closed.

The only software I have other than Windows Firewall is Microsoft Security Essentials. I tried turning off Microsoft Security Essentials and the Wi-Fi firewall, briefly (for like ten seconds), to see if they were causing the problem. It changed nothing, although I didn't try turning both off at the same time, although I suspect that wouldn't help.

 

[iPwn]

Interesting.

MSE is using the Windows Firewall. So even disabling MSE does nothing to the Firewall.
In Control panel, go to Windows Firewall. On the left, select Advanced Settings.
On the left, select Inbound Rules
On the right, select New Rule
Follow the wizard (first screen, select "Port") and specify the port 4000.
You'll have to create two rules, one for UDP and one for TCP (assuming they're both required by the server).

Re: PortChecker
I think that you should be testing the configuration of the port 'checkpoints' without the server running. If the server is running, it will use port 4000 and not allow PortChecker to test it. PortChecker is more or less seeing if it can hear stuff coming in on that port... whether the server is running or not won't affect whether or not the packet can come in on that port.

 

[hmuk]

Didn't work. To reiterate - I made two rules in Inbound, one that opened Port 4000 for UDP and one for TCP. I noticed that the Profile tab for fonlineserver.exe (the application used to launch the server) is Private. Would that make a difference?

 

[iPwn]

Wouldn't hurt to change that to all network types. (e.g. +Domain/Public)

 

[hmuk]

Actually, I ticked all three options (Domain/Public/Private) for both rules. :/

EDIT: Misread! Sorry, I'll do that now.

 

[hmuk]

Still not working. Port isn't open - I tried booting up the server (it initially failed before I realised I still had PortChecker running), and inviting my friend to connect, using port 4000 and using both the DNS given to me by No-IP as well as my external IP.

 

[iPwn]

There has to be something blocking that port... It's one of the devices in the route to your PC. So, if you have a modem and a router, the modem just passes on, so make sure the router is retaining the forwarding rules (e.g. power cycle it and make sure rules are still there).
Then, if there's any device between the router and your PC, it has to be allowed on that.

On the PC, do you have any other firewall software running? (e.g. Norton? Avast? etc?)

 

[hmuk]

I've heard of "tracecert" - is that of any use? I saw it in threads that unfortunately weren't specific to my problem.

What do you mean by power cycle?

And also, no other firewall software.