Low speed, port forwarding, not a good router? Can someone help me?

[teh1archon]

Hi all,

What am I doing wrong, I cannot figure it out.

Let's start with what I have and have done -

3 computer connected to the router-modem D-Link 2650U (aka D-LINK 96358VW2), 2 desktops via cables and they have winXP pro with SP3 and the last one is a laptop with Vista connected wirelessly. All connect succesfully to the internet. But let's focus only on the two desktops with XP and cables for now.

They all have µTorrent installed (although most of the time only one machine download or 2 of them) and working. For the 2 desktops I fixed static IPs.

I port forward ports for all of them them in the custom router program (it runs only through internet explorer, it 90% in hebrew and it sucks). I opened TCP and UPD. I can also access advanced settings (the router's true software) and this is also done only by IE.

Windows' firewalls are turned off.

Also, there is no info about this router-modem in www.portforward.com .

I get very low speeds at best, half of the time the indicator is ok ("The green light") and half of the time it has problems (mostly "The yellow light" and sometimes "The red light"). I took those meanings from http://www.utorrent.com/faq/network#faq5 . When I run the test from µTorrent it always returns "An error has occurred! Port 36413 does not appear to be open.".

What can I do? I can upload screenshots if you want, just tell me where can I host them and how do I do it.

Also if it may help I can tell you what menus I have:

For the router custom program (the one in hebrew): Login - relevant fields - phone number, router model (as above), user name, and IP. No fillable fields.

Home network map (no fillable fields and half of the time not even showing the network correctly).

Defend wireless network.

Port-forwarding.

Update ISP.

In the Port-forwarding I have the following options: Normal Forwarding or Advanced forwarding;

Choose program - uTorrent TCP is in the list among others like eMule and bitcomet.

Choose computer with the installed program.

Also it has a list of the forwarded ports and I can edit them individualy. There I have the following fields:

Program Name (can be changed freely),

Remote Host (I have no idea what it means, the default is set to 0.0.0.0),

External Port (the default is set to 6881),

Protocol (TCP / UPD / TCP/UPD),

computer address (set correctly to the static IP),

Port number (the one I chose, also I made the external port the same the "normal" port number, default number is random number between 9000 to 20000 I think).

What are remote host and external IP?

As for the DSL Router real configurations program I have the following menus:

:Device Info --> Summary, WAN, Statistics (--> LAN, WAN,ATM,ADSL), Route, ARP, DHCP

:Advanced Setup --> WAN, LAN, NAT (--> Virtual Servers, Port Triggering, DMZ host), Security (--> IP Filtering (--> Outgoing, Incoming), MAC filtering), Quality of Service (--> Queue Config, QoS Classification), Routing (--> Default Gatway, Static Route, RIP), DNS (--> DNS Server, Dynamic DNS), DSL, Print Server, Port Mapping, PPTP, Samba Config

:Wireless (not relevant for now)

:Diagnostics

:Management --> Settings (--> Backup, Update, Restore Default), System Log, SNMP Agent, Internet Time, Access Control (--> Services, IP Addresses, Passwords), Update Software, Save/Reboot.

I haven't touched any of the settings via the router's real software (just to remind - accessed only via Internet Explorer, I have no manual for it and is not in the list in portforward.com)

What other info can I provide you?

Please help me, thanks ahead,

Shay K.

[Switeck]

If uTorrent gets the green light only sometimes, it could be the torrents aren't active enough OR your ISP is disrupting the connection.

...Or the connection is overloading.

[teh1archon]

Thanks for all the help, you guys. BTW I was cynical.

Anyhow to serve others that may come with the same problem with this router-modem I've found the solution:

Enter to the router setup screen (in this router case it's 10.0.0.138 in IE but may be other if provided with a different setup, I got this router from my phone/DSL company (not the ISP)). Go to "Advanced Setup" --> NAT --> DMZ Host ---> and then enter the computer's IP (after making it a static one, may be able to do so via the router but the normal ways also work perfectly fine). Ta-da!

But the only problem is, that it affects only one computer at a time and I need to find a way to open the DMZ or whatever the operation called on all the computers

And now for another request - since I have no experince with networks at all till this router can someone, please explain to me (you can even domb it down for me) what are - external IP, remote host and DMZ?

And another question, not µTorrent related if you will, I'm trying to make the 3 computers share access to their HDDs. The one with the Vista can see and access the other two (with the XP) just fine, but the two with the XP can't even see the Vista's. What am I missing? Someone knows af a guide for it, please?

Good day,

Shay.

[GTHK]

Vista's file and folder sharing sucks.

External IP is the address everybody else online sees, not a private address like you get from a router (unless you have one of those ISP's that puts you behind a router). A remote host is a host you access, including through the Internet. DMZ forwards all unsolicited incoming traffic to one computer. On a router this means it no longer acts as a firewall that blocks everything that's unrecognized, including potentially harmful traffic.

[iTheBadGuy]

A remote host is a host you access, including through the Internet.

So if my router asks me for a "Server IP" = My internal IP right?, and a "Remote IP / Remote Host" = what do i enter there? ..

[DreadWingKnight]

Set it to "Any" if possible.

[iTheBadGuy]

Can't D:

[teh1archon]

Ok thanks a lot, I'll do more research myself later.