I’m trying to get my BitTorrent set up here and I have a question. I don’t have it set up for a Static IP, but I get the same IP every time I connect to my wireless router, and my router is connected to a modem/router, Now I vaguely remember how this is supposed to work. Basically you want the router to know that traffic on a certain port goes to a certain machine. Now if I want to set my stuff up, how would I do this?
So for example, my router is 10.0.0.2 on the network created by the modem, and my computer is 192.168.0.1 on the network set up by my router. I am guessing I can’t enter in the second number on my NAT here, right? Wouldn’t I need to forward it twice here?
Your computer that is running BT has an IP address assigned to it by the router. Looks like it’s 192.168.0.1. Log in to the router configuration interface and look for the port forwarding section. It should have a form that contains a bunch of rows on which to type a program name, port start, a selection for TCP or UDP, and a place to type in your computer’s IP, which probably starts with 192.168.0 and then a box (at least, in my experience this is what it always looks like).
Type in the BT program’s name. Type in the port number you want to open. Select TCP or UDP (depending on which you’re trying to set up). Type in the 1 at the end of the IP address to represent the “1” that is your computer. Save the settings. Test using your BT client. Should be all good.
If you ever find your BT program unable to connect, it might be because your computer’s IP has changed (mine normally doesn’t, even though it’s not static, but every so often it does). Just look for your new IP address, which will be 192.168.0.X and go back to port forwarding in the router config interface and change that 1 to whatever X is.
A more flexible method would be to use a client that supports UPnP (most do), and enable it on the router (most also do). The client will automatically request the router to forward the appropriate port to the client’s current IP address.
Okay I actually fixed it yesterday, but I thought the thread was dead so I figured I’d leave it alone! But since my modem had its own NAT scheme I had to forward the port to the router’s IP on the modem’s network first, which is what I had wrong.
And UPnP! I’ve seen this around and it seems cool! Well my modem seems to support it, but my router doesn’t! I can’t find it anyway. Too bad, but at least I got it working anyway.
UpnP is great until some malware compromises your PC and uses UPnP to open huge holes in your firewall for nefarious purposes. And you have no idea at all that it has happened.
If you manually have to forward ports, you at least know a bit about what you are doing.