Server Setup Problems

[AnFnatic]

I'm trying to set up a server but I can't. I'm getting this error:

It says something about port forwarding, but I've already done that. Here:

What's going on?

 

[pattikins]

I only have a very basic (& I mean basic!) grasp of networking. However, when I look @ your port forwarding setup I see four applications/games - Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa 2... For example, if your 'Assetto Corsa' server sends a request to the AC central server, the response will go to 'Assetto Corsa' & not 'Assetto Corsa 2' & so on. See Below.

This is what my AC server looks like:

edit: it might also be worth checking the IP address for the AC server is correct.

 

[Neilski]

I haven't tried to run a server for years now but until someone with current/fresh knowledge jumps in to help, I'll just ask you if you have also opened the correct (matching) holes in the Windows firewall?

 

[Neilski]

Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa 2

That's not a worry, because those descriptors are only used on the setup screen for the router.

 

[pattikins]

That's not a worry, because those descriptors are only used on the setup screen for the router.

I did say my knowledge was limited. lol

 

[Neilski]

I did say my knowledge was limited. lol

Hey no worries, this stuff has almost unlimited depths and most of us are somewhat fumbling in the dark until we find what works

 

[AnFnatic]

I haven't tried to run a server for years now but until someone with current/fresh knowledge jumps in to help, I'll just ask you if you have also opened the correct (matching) holes in the Windows firewall?

Yes, I did.

 

[Neilski]

Yes, I did.

Hmm, in that case I guess it looks like it should be working... :-/
You could try googling for "open port checker" and use one to verify if the ports truly are open, but beyond that I'm out of ideas. (Just to be totally paranoid: you are certain that 192.168.0.127 is the PC running the AC server?)
Edit: just saw that Patrick has updated his post above

 

[AnFnatic]

Hmm, in that case I guess it looks like it should be working... :-/
You could try googling for "open port checker" and use one to verify if the ports truly are open, but beyond that I'm out of ideas. (Just to be totally paranoid: you are certain that 192.168.0.127 is the PC running the AC server?)
Edit: just saw that Patrick has updated his post above

Yeah, that's my PC, the one running the server. I tried those open port checkers and they said that the AC ports, and every other port for that matter, are closed. Like, all of them, including ports that I know are in fact open, like the one being used by my browser.

 

[pattikins]

Yeah, that's my PC, the one running the server. I tried those open port checkers and they said that the AC ports, and every other port for that matter, are closed. Like, all of them, including ports that I know are in fact open, like the one being used by my browser.

The reason I asked about your ip address ('192.168.0.127') is that my default gateway ends with .254. I'm guessing the last octet in most home networks typically tends to be either 1 or 254 - i.e., my gaming PC is 192.168.1.1 & AC server 192.168.1.2... Thinking out loud, could it be that you're running two subnets or is 192.168.0.127 the default gateway? Have you tried running ipconfig from Windows' Command Prompt?

 

[AnFnatic]

The reason I asked about your ip address ('192.168.0.127') is that my default gateway ends with .254. I'm guessing the last octet in most home networks typically tends to be either 1 or 254 - i.e., my gaming PC is 192.168.1.1 & AC server 192.168.1.2... Thinking out loud, could it be that you're running two subnets or is 192.168.0.127 the default gateway? Have you tried running ipconfig from Windows' Command Prompt?

No, 192.168.0.127 is my PC's IP in my router. My default gateway is 192.168.0.1, however, I was under the impression that I should open ports to my PC's IP? And I've just tried to open the ports to my default gateway and it won't let me.

 

[Neilski]

Yeah, that's my PC, the one running the server. I tried those open port checkers and they said that the AC ports, and every other port for that matter, are closed. Like, all of them, including ports that I know are in fact open, like the one being used by my browser.

Well, I just tried the scanner at https://dnschecker.org/port-scanner.php on our own server at avon.racedepartment.com, against ports 9702,3,4, where I know there are servers running and answering on ports 9702 and 4. The port scanner reports that 9702/4 are open and it just times out on 9703 (which is not unexpected, since nothing's answering).
Some firewalls will actively reject packets they don't like (allowing a port checker to report "closed"), but these days firewalls will more often than not simply bin them.
Not sure which result you got. If it was genuinely saying "closed" then you definitely have either your PC or your router rejecting the packets. If you tried it with the AC server not running, then a timeout would be consistent with everything being configured OK (e.g. Avon has a firewall rule to allow packets to the server on 9703, but it simply isn't running today). It's only if you try it with the AC server running that the port scanner will be in with a chance of reporting that the port is open.

Ports used by your browser: not sure what you mean by this. Your browser will for the most port only make outgoing connections, for example to port 443 on a https site or 80 on a (now unusual) http site. That doesn't require any ports to be open because you aren't running a server within your browser. Maybe you mean something else though?
Modern routers are capable of a certain amount of "automatic" port opening (and are often configured out of the box to do some of it, the security of which is debatable) for certain scenarios that require incoming packets to be able to get through that aren't associated with an existing TCP connection that was initiated from the inside to an external host. I don't think that's what you are likely to be talking about here though.

 

[fleezy]

if the cablebox provided by your ISP is also a router, you will need to forward ports in your ISP box to your router, and then again in your router to your PC.

 

[AnFnatic]

@fleezy @Neilski @pattikins Thank you all SO SO much for the patience and and help, but it turns out it wasn't anything related to that. The problem was that my IP wasn't public. I researched a lot this last couple of weeks about network architecture and engineering, but the gist is this:

Certain ISPs make your IP be like those we see in home networks, that go '192.168.x.x". So basically, it's like there were two routers between me and the internet, and no matter how much I forwarded the ports on mine, nothing would work if they didn't forwarded on their own. So I called my ISP and they changed my IP configuration and now all is good.