WRT54G + XP SP3 - Port Opening

[bman2005]

Afternoon all-


After dealing with some unstable issues using Gamespy I have been inspired to try and get the private LAN game back up and running. I have been trying over the past year to get other gamers to see my machine but to no avail. All we get are time out errors - which has led to a battery of port tests.

It appears that everything is blocked or filtered. I have checked with my ISP and they do not block any ports. However, no matter what I try - I get the same response

a) connection refused

I am beginning to think this is a SP3 (XP) issue as I have tried completely bypassing the router (wrt54G), in safe mode with networking and I get the same messages and game response.


Here is what I have:


WRT54G Version 2
Updated Firmware to version 4.21.1

Windows XP with SP3

Game trying to plan - Flight Simulator X
Ports anticipated by FSX = 2300-2400, 6073 and 23456

I have two workstation running into the router. One system (non-gaming) is hardwired. The second system (FSX machine) uses a wireless adapter D-Link DWL-510

I don't have any network connection issues as a whole. Everything has been running stable and access is fine. The wireless adapter is under WEP security.

What I have tried:

1) Verified that all antivirus software is off (windows and !avast)
2) Made gaming computer static IP - 192.168.1.110

3) On router - set port forwarding to the ranges as noted above for FSX

4) On router - enabled DMZ for 192.168.1.110

5) On route - unchecked "Block Anonymous Requests"

6) Connect directly to modem
7) Safemode + networking


That's about all I can think of. No matter what I try, I can not see the ports open. I can ping my IP.

Lost and confused. Any help is appreciated.

Benjamin

 

[LookinAround]

just an update for you... i've seen your post and plan to look into your problem so i will get back to you again.. probably later today.

 

[bman2005]

LookinAround-

Hey thanks for the update. I have an update myself. I think I found my solution last night after about 30 straight hours of hunting, trying and pecking.

I believe that my solution has come from the RPC Locator service. I found some obscure thread that talked about SP3 turning that service off. I turned it back on and now have connection from other users.

Other information however - all ports are shown as stealth on GRC's ShieldsUP and all ports come back as

Error: I could not see your service on 173.22.183.162 on port (21)
Reason: Connection timed out

When I test on http://www.canyouseeme.org/

Last but not least when I go to anonymous surfing (http://www.auditmypc.com/anonymous-surfing.asp) I test anonymous. When I enable DRZ - it works as suspected and tells me ports are visible but closed.

Is there any software that will test ports open / closed or stealth rather than getting into a game and trying and seeing if it does in fact work or not?

Thanks for your help!

Benjamin

 

[LookinAround]

Zenmap is a Windows graphical interface front-end for, i think, one of the best and versatile port testing tools: Nmap.

In fact figuring out all the commands and options can at first appear overwhelming but the Zenmap interface makes it much simpler. Especially if you start Zenmap then click Tools->Command wizard to help you build all the basic commands/scans you can start with.

Website has some good documentation also