NAT error (yes I read faq/searched forums/etc...)

[jaxyouthna]

I do not feel as new as I am after all the reading I have done to fix the NAT error problem. Download speeds are slow, but I am on DSL lite from Bellsouth. Like to fix the NAT error so I know I am optimizing my available connection.

Let me summarize what I have done. It is long, but I want to be specific and thorough. Please someone tell me what I missed. (You can see I worked on this a little before posting)

1. Read/searched forums and portforward.com.

2.Set static IP for computer

3.Unchecked UPnp and picked port 35000 in uTorrent network options

3.Forwarded the port specified in my router (dlink DL514) to static IP. Saved setting and reboot router

4.Set DHCP range in router so there would be no IP conflicts in LAN. Saved settings and reboot router

5.Confirmed excpetions in my software firewall (EZ Firewall) for uTorrent, still NAT error

6.Read Faq/searched forums/internet, and portforward again

7.Double checked all my numbers were input correctly(IP/Subnet/Port, etc)

8. Disabled windows firewall/ICS in administrative tools/services (picked that up in a forum), still NAT error

9.Read Faq/searched forums/internet, and porforward again. Checked all previously mentioned settings.

10.Post on uTorrent forum......

(The below has not happened yet)

11.... someone tells this dummy what he's missing

12....NAT error fixed = Good download speeds!!!

[jaxyouthna]

More relevant information.

I am on Windows XPSP2.

Other peers upload from my client at consistently higher rates than my download.

I do not appear to have incoming connections (no blank ports in peers tab).

When I restart uTorrent it takes some time for the NAT error message to appear.

[jaxyouthna]

OK, I guess the people who can help me are asleep or busy. I went to canyouseeme.org and checked the port that I forwarded and the reponse was "Error: I could not see your service on 68.218.xxx.xx on port (35000)

Reason: Connection timed out"

[alcaholjunkie]

Tried disabling your software firewall to see if that's blocking it (even with the exceptions).

Also you could try using a different port.

Or you could try enable UPnP on both your Router and µTorrent (That's if EZ firewall allows UPnP traffic, never used that firewall myself)

Other than that I haven't a clue (unless you made a small mistake in the static IP settings).

[Animorc]

Does the router and/or firewall have a logger so that you can check whether the traffic is blocked or not?

[jaxyouthna]

My software firewall and router did not have any settings regarding UPnP. I left it unchecked (per portforward.com)as I am not sure if it will be allowed through. I changed the port in uTorrent and router forwarding to match (34567). I also rechecked the static IP numbers to make sure everything was correct. I did check the logger and could see where my port test was blocked (UDP) from canyouseeme.org. It also looked like all the outgoing connections to torrent trackers where also blocked. I opened up some ports for outgoing connections 1000-9000 in my software firewall (TCP and UDP). I also made sure that incoming port 34567 was open (TCP and UDP.) I did a portcheck again and got the same error "I could not see your service on 68.218.xxx.xx on port (34567)Reason: Connection timed out". I then checked the logger in my firewall and did not find its recent attempt blocked? I did try the OpenOffice torrent and got good down speeds 20kb+. Perhaps its my torrents or I am just over my head in networking!

[alcaholjunkie]

The DI-514 router does support UPnP (Tools -> MISC in the router's settings).

Though static routing should work anyway. :-/

[jaxyouthna]

Wow! I knew I missed something. It must have been enabled by dafault since it was already checked. I appreciate the feedback and help. I really want this to work and have put a lot of effort into understanding this stuff, but sometimes you need another set of eyes/brains to look at a problem.

Have not recieved a NAT error (yet) since I made the above changes. It looks like the settings I changed in the firewall are allowing the connections to go through. I left the UPnP unchecked in uTorrent simply because those were the instructions on portforward.com Should I give up on static routing and try the UPnP exclusively with uTorrent? I have read that there are security issues doing this. Or can I check UPnP in uTorrent with the static settings and TCP/UDP forwarding in my router. I'll look at my software firewall again and see if there are any settings for UPnP. Is it a valid assumption that if I do not receive the NAT error message in uTorrent that the port forwarding and firewall configuration are allowing uTorrent to work properly? The download rate fromt the OpenOffice torrent seems to confirm it might just be the torrents that I am picking. Thanks again for any feedback.

[Animorc]

I did check the logger and could see where my port test was blocked (UDP) from canyouseeme.org

Did you see this in the router log or in the firewall log?

Assuming it was the firewall, UPnP won't help you. Follow this guide to allow the port you selected (34567):

http://www.spamfighter.com/FAQ_Firewall_EZ.asp

[jaxyouthna]

It was the firewall logger that I saw this in. I allowed the 34567 port for incoming only and not outgoing. I thought uTorrent used a random port within a range of ports for outgoing connections and a single specifed port for incoming connections. I still have not got a NAT error message; however, I will add 34567 to the list of allowed outgoing ports. If I don't need all those outgoing ports open then I lwill need to close them (?). Crap, it looks like the logger is showing more blocked outgoing connections starting with port 3000 (one I thought I allowed as an outgoing 1000-9000). Now what do I do?

[Firon]

http://www.utorrent.com/faq.php#My_firewall_is_reporting_connections_being_made_by_.C2.B5Torrent_on_a_port_besides_the_one_I_selected._What_gives.3F

[jaxyouthna]

That damned NAT error came back. I took the moderators hint and read the FAQ (again.) Made another software firewall change. ALL OUTGOING PORTS OPENED, (Duh Duh Duh... Dummy, guess I should've pay more attention to 4.3 the first four times I read the FAQ) and the restricted incoming ports do not include the one I have chosen in uTorrent. I also checked the port forwarding in the router and IP #. I'll leave uTorrent on tonight and check it in the morning, hopefully no more NAT error. Thanks again for the FAQ reference, us newbies are really hardheaded.

[jaxyouthna]

NAT error came back. I am really at a lost as what to do now.

[Animorc]

I think µTorrent only checks the network status for incoming connections, but I'm not sure. You could probably close all those ports again.

Have you tried disabling the firewall to see if the error goes away? You won't be vulnerable to viruses since your router protects you as well.

Edit: Looking into it, I noticed you can't close all outgoing ports (kinda obvious), and the FAQ says that all ports must be opened for outgoing TCP and UDP traffic.

[jaxyouthna]

No I have not tried disabling the firewall yet. I adjusted the settings so that all the outgoing ports were open and the incoming port that I have selected in uTorrent and forwarded in my router was not in the range of incoming ports to be blocked. The firewall logger confirms that there were no blocked attempts to access the port in uTorrent since I made the changes. The logger also shows the times when the incoming port was blocked when I did not have the firewall configured properly so I am confident that my port forewarding is correct.

I do need my outgoing ports all open correct? Thats what the FAQ says. I will turn off the firewall. If I don't get the NAT error back then I guess I can be confident the problem is in my firewall settings. If the NAT error returns with firewall turned off, then the problem is elsewhere.

[jaxyouthna]

Tried disabling the software firewall. Still got the NAT error! If there was any blocked traffic with the software firewall it should've showed up like it did before especially since I have all alerts being logged. These are the other things I have checked again after searching and reading the FAQs and forums. What am I not doing here?

Confirmed windows firewall/ ICS disabled.

Checked Static IP adress on computer and in router.

Confirmed the port forwarded in the router matches the one specified in uTorrent.

Now what?

[Firon]

Did you make sure you forwarded to the right IP? :]

[Venimus]

are you sure there is no other firewalls on the way? you may forward the port in the router, but it still could block the port with its internal firawall. happens on win2k3 server, regardles forwarding firewall have to be set separately.

[jaxyouthna]

Yea. I have probably checked it 20 times by now just to be very sure. I even opened up and adjusted all the windows where I could look at them simultaneously just to be sure I was not writing the numbers down wrong.

The router firewall screen shows the port as being allowed through. Before I changed the settings in my software firewall, I could see in the alert log where the port was being forwarded past the router and being blocked at the software firewall.

[Venimus]

it is quite possible that your provider blocks the port, try using port 80, 8080, 21, 23, 25 for connections, they should be open, of course you wont be able to use the default programmes

[jaxyouthna]

The faq suggested a port above 10000. It seems like it takes some time for the NAT error to reappear. Are my connections still good even if I never get the NAT error or Network OK? I will try a different port I know the ISP does not block

OK. I know the port I selected is being forwarded. When I turn my software firewall on to block all incoming ports and do a port check I see it being blocked in the log. When I set my software firewall to allow the port through and do the port check, the check still fails saying the connection timed out; however, I do not see the attempt being blocked in my firewall log. Could the incoming connections into uTorrent be timing out in a similar fashion? Is there some virus that I could have that AVG free addition is not picking up that is causing the "timeout"? I get all my updates daily and check for spyware/viruses. I am just guessing at what to try at this point

[slayers]

I think someone posted before difficulties with the AVG/uT combination. I use those two myself without any problems but you never know. Try stoping at least the P2P shield in AVG.

On a completely wild guess perhaps your firewall installation is corrupted in some way? I'm not familiar with EZ firewall but could you uninstall it for testing sakes?

And on another shot in the dark perhaps you are behind two routers; yours that you configured and another by your ISP? Have you ever ran a bittorrent application with success or any other that required port forwarding? This is a long shot but I can see you are running out of options.

[jaxyouthna]

I did not see a setting in AVG for P2P Shield. I am using AVG free edition, perhaps it does not have the level of control that yours does. I assume that if there aren't any controls than the P2P is not shielded.

I could uninstall EZ firewall for testing, but I turned it completely off and still developed the NAT error.

I am not sure if my ISP has a router in line before my router (I imagine they have some kind of router). If they do, it does not appear to affect the forwarding of my ports as I mentioned above.

I have tried any other torrent application until recently (bittorrent) and it displays the NAT erro message, instantly on startup rather than uTorrent taking awhile.

[Firon]

µTorrent doesn't display NAT error unless you start a decently seeded torrent to be accurate. It doesn't have an external NAT checker, but some other clients do.

However, you can get Network OK virtually instantly, even without a single torrent started if you have DHT on.

[jaxyouthna]

I am still getting the NAT error. I got some decently seeded torrents and my DHT enabled. I get DHT connections but all my connections are outgoing(?) (no port # of the peer displayed). Where do I look now?

Just another thought (if anyone is still checking this thread.) If UPnP is enabled in my router (DL-514) and not checked on uTorrent could that be a the problem.