Router/Firewall FAQ
I cannot connect to the zone through my router or firewall
You MUST have the correct ports open in your router and firewall.
Log in to your Router. You normally do this through your Web Browser,
and type
in the address of your router on your network eg. 192.168.1.1.
Consult your manual
for more details.
A Router has two basic functions;
1) it shares your internet connection between all the computers on
your network
2) it acts as a natural firewall because it keeps the IP addresses of
all the
computers private and just displays one "public" IP address
for the
whole network.
There are two ways to enable the router for online play. The first is
to find
out the IP address of the computer you want to play on and put that
IP address
in the DMZ section of the Router. The second is to open up the ports
used by the
game. Your manual or router help should tell you where to find the
control panels
for Port Forwarding and the DMZ.
DMZ
This is the easiest way to do it. The DMZ is the Demilitarised Zone.
Any IP address
put into the DMZ bypasses the router's natural firewall so that it
can connect
to the game server. The drawbacks are that it exposes the computer to
the internet
completely and will only allow one PC on the network to do it.
The procedure is simple. Just type in the IP address of the computer
you want
to play with and hit OK. Job Done.
Note also that even with a PC in the DMZ, it can still be protected
by a software
firewall.
PORT FORWARDING
This is the safest way to play online and involves opening up the
ports in the
router that the game uses. This does not expose the PC any more than
is necessary
to play the game, and allows all PCs on the network to play
online.
The ports you need to open are as follows;
For AoE and RoR;
47624 TCP
2300-2400 TCP
2300-2400 UDP
Some routers, usually older ones, do not allow you to put a range
of ports in, which means you will have to put the PC in the DMZ and
set the ports in the firewall. See your Firewall documentation or
help files for details, as all firewalls have their own interfaces.
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