Computer networking question

[Richard]

3 Windows machines (98,98,ME)
Linksys router (4 port)
1 printer
adsl line (and loving it)

I need to "open" some ports in the router so I can play Euchre at http://www.zone.com

I have done what the Lynksys folks said and still doesn't work. The Zone folks say I need to open all 3 machines. Something about turning on one machine prior to another assigns certain ports to given machine.

Yeah right /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Anyone that can put some of this mumbo-jumbo into English?

Thanks
Richard

 

[jwstewar]

I don't have any experience with this particular Linksys router (learned my lesson on Linksys stuff several years back and vowed never to buy any more of their junk, oops, I mean stuff /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif), but I have experience on several of these other DSL/cable type routers. Are you running DHCP? If so, the router is probably handing the IP address out on a first come first serve basis. You might need to disable DHCP so that you can assign the required port to a certain IP address i.e. which machine do you want to play Euchre on. Currently the router could be sending to the machine you are playing on. I know the routers I've worked with you could only open ports to 1 machine/IP address at a time. Therefore you need to know which machine you want to do what.

Hope this helps,
Jim

 

[DocHeb]

I have a Linksys EtherFast 4 port router and love it - it gives both of my computers access to the internet, and to each other. I installed it two years ago so some of the details are sketchy.

Can you access the Internet from any of the machines while using the router?

Is the cable from the DSL modem attached to the WAN port on the Router? It is the one the furthest from the power plug.

Make sure you aren't using the Uplink Port on the back of the router for one of the PC's. Its the one closest to the power plug.

Do all of the machines have TCP/IP configured? Check Start/Settings/ControlPanel/Network. There should be a TCP/IP installed - if not install as described in the back of the manual.

 

[rf33]

Richard, perhaps this link will help:
Zone: Network Ports Required to Play
As to some of the jargon, perhaps I can help to sort some of this out.

IP Address - every host on the internet, be it a router, a computer, a printer, etc. has an IP address. This contains all of the information about how to get to the particular machine.
Port - The port is a number (between 1 and 64,000 I think) which indicates an opening on the computer through which data may be transmitted. Some common services have assigned port numbers like http (web) servers generally listen for incoming connections on port 80. A list of these can be found on NT based machines in the windows system32 directory (usually c:\winnt\system32) under the drivers\etc folder in a file called services.
NAT - Network Address Translation - This is a method by which a router uses invalid internet addresses behind it (on your computers side of the router) and translates them to one valid address to the outside world. This is useful because valid internet addresses are becoming more and more scarce and expensive.
DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - This is a method by which a server or router can assign computers on a network IP addresses as well as other IP related settings automatically. It is especially useful on large networks, so when setting change, they only need to be changed in one place. The problem with this method, is that machines are not guaranteed to always have the same IP address. They are chosen from a pool, so your IP address could be different each time you log in.


I hope that this helps you sort out all of the silly acronyms.



rf33

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[Richard]

Thanks for the site. I've printed it & will see if I can figure it out.

I kind of suspect this is similar to brain sugery. If you know what you're doing, it isn't "that" hard.

Want me to explain selling call & put options in a stock account...no problem...

Brain sugery...problem
Networking...problem

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Richard

 

[rf33]

Thats funny, I trade stocks and futures too. Brain surgery is a little out of my league, as I generally mess up carving the thanksgiving turkey/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. I have for quite some time written software and designed systems for stock trading. Let me know if you need further help along these lines.

rf33

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