Amatuer in OZ needing assitance with firewall and opening ports!!

[magicman]

Hello all. I have just registered so i can try and solve my problem. I have read most of the help topic guides and forgive me if i just can'y get it, please help.

I have recently upgraded to a cable connection 5 bit . (been usiing utorrent for over a year on 512 connection, no problems) I have a wireless router. Motorola sbg900. My isp is telstra. The first day i got switched on, i was downloading at approx 186 kbps, which is fine. by day 2, utorrent shows that red exclamation and says problem with my incoming connection, my downloads are now at 26-30kbps

Now this is what i HAVE done to try and rectify the problem.

1) Tried setting up a static IP address

2) used portforward.com to try to establish on open port.

3) changed the settings in the 'gateway' tab in the router to open a port

4) Tried changing the windows firewall settings to allow an exeption for utorrent

5) called my isp to ensure i was using the correct dns server numbers

I have spend days on this and just want respectable dowloading speed, i actually downloaded quicker using 512 with another isp!!!!

Please help

[Ultima]

It appears that your modem acts like a router/gateway, which means you just might be double-NATed (not to mention the fact that SurfBoards are generally badly-regarded around here). Check the user manual's advanced port forwarding guide regarding double-NAT.

[magicman]

Thanks ....er i think... will look it up and see how i go.

ta

well looked up the user guide and there is nothing about double nat-ing in the advanced port forwarding guide.

Could my isp be throttling my speed. You said that surfboards are badly regarded. Why?

What choices do i have then. My cable connection is 10 metres from my pc through 2 rooms.

I only have one router connection, how could i be double NAT-ed?

Its all very confusing.

I am running norton also. Should i switch it off and switch off all my firewalls to see if my connection speed improves? How can i do this safely

Sorry for the grief!

1007

found something else. When i check to "see if port is forwarded correctly" on utorrent 1.7.7 it checks the port against a stated IP address. The address shown is different to the static address found in the LAN settings in the wireless router.... but it is the same IP address as the WAN settings in the router. Should i be setting up a static ip address using the WAN setting IP address or not?

I set up a port according to portforwarding.com, but the static addresses shown do not match the address the "utorrent" check the port against?? why is that? which settings should i be using?

[Ultima]

Um. I think I need to ask you to clarify something... when you say "I have a wireless router. Motorola sbg900," are you saying that the Motorola is the wireless router? If so, then I misread, and your problem probably isn't a double NAT issue >_>

Regarding the apparent discrepancy in the IP addresses... ignore it -- it's to be expected.

[magicman]

Yeah sorry bout that. I have a motorola surfboard sbg900 wireless modem and it is connected wirelessly to a wireless usb adapter. Having spoken to someone over the phone earlier.... i can clarify that i do not have a router, just a wireless modem.

so...its not a double nat.......why am i having so much trouble opening a port. I have switched off my firewall for a period of 5 minutes and it makes no difference to my downloadable speed.

I have tested my isp speed with speedtest.com and it comes back at 4500+ so there is no problem generically with the line speed.

Help!!

[Switeck]

Are you SURE your connection can actually do 4500+ kilobits/sec on the UPLOAD side?!?!

Download and upload are often vastly different in speeds, with upload often being less than 1/10th the download's speeds.

Wireless + USB = you need far more conservative settings -- especially as far as max connections, half open connections, and DHT disabled are concerned.

Are the OpenOffice test torrents also crippled-slow in download speed?

[jeds]

I had terrible problems port forwarding so I finally 'got it' and bridged my modem and router and called my router manufacturer's help line and they walked me through it. Sometimes you need a live human to tell you what's wrong.

btw, I don't have a static IP which is why I had to bridge my modem, and it worked so you might try that.

[magicman]

Hi guys.

Thanks for the help. Finally got it and managed to sort out the ports.. My average speed now for utorrent is 189kbps so thats cool with me. Dont know how i did things any differnet but after restoring all the factory settings, i gave it one last go and finaly a port opened for me. The thing is, i opened 2 individually numbered ports and a range of 10 ports also. I dont know which one did the trick and to be honest, i cant be bothered with the hassle of working out which one it is in case the whole thing blows up in my face again.

What are the dangers of having these ports open ...on a wireless+USB system.

ps im in a real country kinda area so not heaps of residential folks around to try and tap into my wireless. Do i need to encrypt my wireless or anything (i'm such a dumbass novice)??

Thanks all who helped.

[Switeck]

It's not so much the security risk that I mentioned USB + wireless = bad.

It's that neither USB nor wireless seems to do well with lots of connections at once.

Using both at once means you have the worst bottlenecks of both.