You must open ports in your firewall!
To be able to use Zone you must have these ports open:
The following TCP ports must be open:
80
443
6667
28800-29000
You must also, if this is required by your firewall, to allow the IP address of the Zone, which you can find by opening a Command Prompt window (start menu/run and then type "cmd" (without the quotes and Enter). Once in the Command prompt, type (without the quotes): "ping www.zone.com" followed by Enter. The IP address of the Zone will appear - in my case it is 207.46.203.12, but this may vary.
Now, after you are able to use the Zone, you still need to open the ports for the game AoE.
AoE uses the same ports generally required by DirectX, which are:
Using DirectX 7 method:
Connection Ports for Client Configuration Ports for Host Configuration
Initial TCP Connection 47624 Outbound 47624 Inbound
Subsequent TCP Inbound 2300-2400 2300-2400
Subsequent TCP Outbound 2300-2400 2300-2400
Subsequent UDP Inbound 2300-2400 2300-2400
Subsequent UDP Outbound 2300-2400 2300-2400
Using DirectX 8 method:
Connection Ports for Client Configuration Ports for Host Configuration
Initial UDP Connection 6073 Outbound 6073 Inbound
Subsequent UDP Inbound 2302-2400 2302-2400
Subsequent UDP Outbound 2302-2400 2302-2400
To determine the DirectPlay method for games that utilize the DirectPlay Lobby service, follow these steps:
On the Windows Start menu, click Run.
In the Open box, type dxdiag, and then click OK.
Click the Save All Information button to save a Dxdiag.txt report.
Click Desktop, and then click Save.
Open the DxDiag.txt file on your desktop and find the section marked "DirectPlay Lobbyable Apps".
Note that each game listed here will report either "(DX7)" or "(DX8)" which corresponds to its DirectPlay connection method.
Note DirectPlay8 games can work with the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) capabilities of Windows XP. When the game begins hosting, enumerating, or connecting, the appropriate ports will automatically open and when the game shuts down, these ports will automatically close.
My friend, this looks complicated - and it is!...
Good luck (you'll need this to play ANY game ANYTIME in the Internet, in case you are using a Firewall.
There is no way you can bypass these steps (unless you are not using any Firewall, or turn it off completely -which I strongly advise you against!).
Wise_Max is the slowest player on Earth.
But Wise_Max has a lot of fun playing. So, he always wins
even when he loses the game. And he made Friends.
Is that Wise or what?...