Please all Team Members Read Below. The testing I did this year lead me to realize that many people do not have all of the ports that need to be open set in their routers.


All instructions below refer to DSL or Cable connections. Dial up connections should not have Port Forwarding issues as you are connected to the internet directly. We refer to that as a truly Pants Down Internet Connection.


Setting your router


First Disclaimer: While messing around in your DSL Modem you may change something that will cause you to be unable to connect to the internet. Care must be take that you understand the procedures I give you I will not be held responsible for any mistakes on your part. If you do not feel comfortable with making the changes STOP now and proceed no further. If you do feel confident take screen shots of your Router Admin Pages before you make changes. Know your user name and password to your account. This should help you from making any fatal mistakes that will prompt you to call your ISP for support. Post your questions to this thread and we will help you set up your router.


Let’s talk DSL first

In today’s world all DSL modems are multi-function devices. Part one is the Modem that Authenticates you to the ISP by a PPOE Log on (in the USA other Countries may use other Protocols), then converts the ATM signal to Ethernet, Part two is the router that joins the WAN segment of your network to the LAN portion of your network. Part three is the network switch it may only be configured as 1 port but it is still a switch. Part four maybe your built in Wireless Access Point. If you plugged an aftermarket Router into your DSL modem you may be running two routers on your network. This is a recipe for problems discontinue this if you have done so NAT or Port Forwarding will not work correctly. If you have your router setup this way we need to talk. Post here and Iwill send you instructions on testing your setup.

To set up your PC/Router to connect you need to set the port forwarding in your router. The ports you want to forward are

FS2002:
TCP 47624
UDP 2300 to 2400

FS2004 and FSX:
UDP 23456 (or the "2004 host port" on FSHost's Server / Options / Session tab)
UDP 6073 Direct Play port
UDP 2300 to 2400


You can get more help on forwarding ports in your particular router at www.portforward.com.


If you need help post your make and model of your router and modem Screen Shots are always a help. If you don’t know how to access your router see instructions further below.


There also is a program called FSPortTest that you can run on your PC to check to see if you have all the ports forwarded correctly in your router. Use it hands down it will tell you if you are set up right. If it fails and you cannot figure it our Post screen shots of your router. These things are not hard to setup.


Cable connections

Second Disclaimer: It has been over three years since I have installed any Cable Modems. They may have changed and the instructions below maybe incorrect.

Cable connections differ from DSL the Modem authenticates by the MAC Address assigned to the device. It will receive a private IP address from the ISP and assign a public IP Address to your PC if you attach your PC to the modem directly. It will only assing one address it will not allow multiple connections via a switch like a DSL Modem functioning as a router. You should have a quality Router connected to your Modem.

How do I access My Router?

You need to know the IP address of your router. Here is the fast way to do it. On Windows XP or Windows 2000

Click Start

Click Run

You get a box to open up type cmd

Press enter

You should now be at a command prompt

Type ipconfig

Your IP Address of the your router on the LAN side is the Default Gateway mine is 192.168.10.254


You can now close out your command prompt

Open your preferred Internet Browser


Type in the address field http://192.168.x.x (whatever your default gateway was)


This should bring up your admin page for your router. If you are prompted for a password


Lynksys used to use admin in the password field nothing in the user field.
If you have a different router consult your owner’s manual.


Now how do I forward my ports?


Look for a heading that refers to NAT and Gaming or Home Networking. They are all built different.


Ask questions if you cannot figure it out.