T3200M port Forwarding not working

[Sylvain10]

Hi,

I've been trying to apply port forwarding for quite some time for all kinds of needs, but I've never been able to do it successfully.

To make a long story short, the only way I can be visible and accessible from outside the network is to put my PC or my server as a DMZ.

Indeed, it works, but it is not practical and I can only have one computer as DMZ at a time and it is not secure because all the security of the firewall is then bypassed.

I know this topic has been discussed often on the forum, but nothing has worked for me.

If anyone with some experience could look at the following and give me their opinion it would be very helpful. (I may have made a very simple mistake)

What I want to do
Make a dedicated Conan Exile server accessible. (I can access the server from a computer on my local network with the local IP of the PC serving as server.)

Windows firewall setup
For this server to work, the following ports must be open:

7777 (UDP)
7778 (UDP)
27015 (UDP)
25575(TCP)

These were opened in Windows Firewall (and since I can connect from the local network, I tend to think it works fine).

On the router now (T3200M).

1. In “DHCP Reservation”, I added a line so that the host computer always has the same local IP. For example: 192.168.1.150.

2. In “Firewall” then “Port Forwarding”, I manually added an entry for each port mentioned previously with the IP of the server computer. For example, 192.168.1.150.

3. In “Firewall” then again “Firewall”, I tested with the “NAT Only” option, or even “Low” with all the boxes checked but in both cases, it was impossible to access the server from the outside of the network.

Other configuration

Also, I tried to configure port forwarding via "Firewall/Applications" which allows you to add rules that can be reused and which automatically generates entries in the "Port Forwardin" section, but without success.

How do I test
I have another PC on the network that I connect to a VPN (without local access) then use the public IP address that is on the router to connect to the game with the password and port .

(A direct connection window in Conan Exile like
10.200.10.10:7777 +password)

What works
As stated earlier, the only thing that made me successfully connect to my server from outside is when I put my server as DMZ. In this case, it connects directly and without problem.

What do you think?

[FuzzyLogic]

It appears you have done all the right things. If you haven't seen this you may wish to review to see if you missed something:

Opening Ports in a Actiontec T3200M Router (portforward.com)

[Sylvain10]

Thank you for your feedback. I was hoping for a response from a veteran like you. 😇

I will try to upload pictures of the actual configurations in an ultimate attempt to understand.

In the meantime, any idea why it wouldn't work? Would you suggest anything?

[Nighthawk]

Are you talking about not being able to connect to the server using the external IP from another device within your same network? If yes, that is normal for Telus. If you can connect to the server using a VPN when it's not DMZ. That's not limited to the T3200 either. I have a T3200 and do forward ports on it. The only way I can connect to the external IP or the dynDNS I have set up is to do so from a device on a different network or a VPN.

[Sylvain10]

Hi,

The only way I can acces my server from outside of my local network is by setting my server as DMZ.

I use a vpn from my local network to test it and confirm it works.

So with dmz : anyone from outside can connect to my server.

Everything is the same with the router firewall and port porwarding but not set as dmz : no way to connect from outside the local network.

Any ideas?

[Sylvain10]

Some pictures of my setup. Is there something bad? Do you need more pictures?

https://ibb.co/8NkC5qc
https://ibb.co/grdNdDC
https://ibb.co/zsT86HG
https://ibb.co/1GFjnd9

[FuzzyLogic]

In my setup I have the firewall set to NAT Only and the IPV6 Firewall is Stealth Mode Enable and Security Level is medium. I doubt that the IPV6 settings will have any effect as I believe that's the defaults.

[Sylvain10 · Accepted solution]

Omg. Just tested again to put it to "NAT Only" and tested with no succes...

But when I rebooted the router, it worked.

Looks like it was the key. "NAT Only", reboot and it's now working.

At the end of the day, i'm quite sad about the fact that I have to choose between having a firewall and nothing about port forwarding work or port forwarding with no firewall.

Have you any idea about the risk of living the setting as "NAT Only" forever? 

[FuzzyLogic]

With the NAT only setting you still have protection. More here:

What is a NAT firewall, How Does it Work and When Do You Need One? (comparitech.com)