Question Portforwarding not working

[Xeloi]

Hi Everyone,
I'm not your average idiot -- I'm a very special idiot -- which is probably why I can't figure out why I can't get port forwarding to work. I'm trying to set up a Minecraft Server for my kids using a windows 10 machine and a D'link DIR-842 router. I've spent about 12 hours now reading, installing various tools, testing, thinking and getting "connection refused" no matter what. It should be very easy to set up port forwarding on this router, given the pull down menus for choices and whatnot. I've gone through various troubleshooting guides (portfoward.com, http://www.pcwintech.com/common-problems-fixes-port-forwarding), disabled windows firewalls (briefly), experimented with virtual servers, etc. with no luck. Here's hoping someone with take pity on someone who's probably missing something pathetically obvious

 

[bill001g]

So first question is do you have a public ip address. Check the ip address your router shows on its internet connection/wan port. See if that ip is the same as a site like whatsmyip. If it is not you do not have a public ip address and will never get port forwarding to work. You need to contact your ISP and see if they offer public ip. Some charge extra and some do not offer it at all.

I would next try to set the router to use DMZ mode. This is very simplistic and will eliminate configuration issues and bugs in the port forwarding. This is only to test you do not want to use DMZ mode long term.

Make sure the program is actually listening on the port you think it is. You should see it on the network tab of the resource monitor.

After this you get into the question is the pc receiving the packet and not responding or is the packet not getting to the server or maybe the response is not getting all the way back. To do this you need to use a tool like wireshark where you can see the data but I would check all the above before you get to this point.

 

[Xeloi]

Considering that I can't find any information on my public IP address or WAN port on my router setup, I'm guessing that's the problem. I guess I'll have to talk to my ISP. Thanks for you help!

 

[bill001g]

Without reading the manual I can't say where they hide it but almost all router display it. There should be a wan or internet tab. Many times it is the same screen you used to configure the wan settings.

 

[Xeloi]

Screen shot of my Internet Tab (why is it hassling me when I try to embed the image?)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mwrnVgtHvEndXLvuhnrHH520j87QjgWe/view?usp=sharing

Here's a link to the manual:
ftp://ftp2.dlink.com/PRODUCTS/DIR-842/REVB/DIR-842_REVB_MANUAL_2.01_EN_US.PDF

WAN is mentioned 9 times, all in connection with manual configurations. Except under something called "DS-Lite"

 

[Xeloi]

I freely admit my ignorance when it comes to setting up routers manually.

 

[bill001g]

There is little information in the manual. It says on page 22 to click the internet icon for details.

Since you must have a modem of some kind you could also plug your PC directly into the internet. You most times must reboot the modem when you change what you plug into it. You should be able to see the ip address on the pc.

 

[Xeloi]

Good idea to plug the computer in directly - I'll try that. I agree that the manual felt very superficial.

 

[Xeloi]

To be clear, the computer is plugged into the wifi modem directly, without using the wireless. I can get the public IP from various places, what I can't manage to do is set up the modem -- apparently manually -- to acknowledge that IP.

 

[bill001g]

You can't set the ip manually unless the ISP gives you a static ip. The problem comes if the ISP is giving you a private ip and then running NAT on one of their routers. You can not put port forwarding rules in the ISP NAT router which means you can't port forward.

This is why it is extremely important to see if the IP the ISP gives you is the same as the one you see from whatsmyip. If they are the same you are getting a public IP and then it is some other strangeness that is making the port forwarding not work.

Normally this is easy to find and check off and go to the next step if you have good ip addresses.