PCA Forums

I have sprint dsl and i have a dlink di604 router. I like to play games online like age of empires and the such but I never can for different reasons. I think it is because the ports are blocked in the firewall, so i enabled them and all and i run a check to see what ports are open with a program called port detictive and it shows the ports still disabled. I tried to dmz the router but it still had all the ports closed. I want to be able to play games online with my friend but i never can. Im beginning to think it was better when i had dial up!

you need to find out what port is needed for each game and then you can just forward that port to your PC, then you can play fine

Port forwarding is a beast and can be an adventure. Some games don't advertise what ports they use and some do.

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sha ... t_list.htm


That website lists a lot of common ports for games and such. Age of Empires isn't listed but if you are using the MSN Gaming Zone service then it lists the ports. Your best bet would be DMZ. In the router enter your IP address on the local network and click Apply. Might have to reboot the router. Now goto http://grc.com/x/ne.dll?rh1dkyd2 and see what happens (Click on Common Ports) and if you get Closed instead of Stealth then DMZ is working. Unless you have a firewall on your PC, you should get Closed reports. Also you want to disable File and Printer Sharing if you go DMZ.

If all you're doing is playing games, then you should NOT need to fiddle with the router. Modern routers allow port forwarding for most games automatically.

If it's a real old router then you may have problems, but a firmware upgrade would probably fix it, or better yet just go buy a new router.

Office Depot has one for $20 this week after rebates.

I play a LOT of games and I've never had to mess with port forwarding.

Only time you have to do that is if you HOST a game server.