router - Minecraft and Networking
2014-04
Becca
I am a college student on a small campus. The school's network is set up like so: one single router with a bunch of different subnets connected to it. A friend and I would like to play Minecraft, and he's on a different subnet than I.
I've seen this set of instructions.
However, since he and I are connected via the same router, is it possible to play minecraft without going to the internet and, therefore, don't have to make a server and go through all that mess? (I'm not sure if the minecraft software even allows this atm?)
Earlier this year we tried to connect via wireless, and I could see his game but I could not connect to it. I have yet to try using a hardline to see if that fixes the problem.
David
I'm assuming that you were able to see each other when you both were on wireless because wireless is probably using the same subnet. You can check this by connecting to the wireless network, and running ipconifg from command prompt (Windows) or ifconifg from terminal (Linux) to see your current IP and subnet mask.
In the router (which you probably don't have access to I'm guessing), there is probably a firewall. If you allow the port you are playing Minecraft on, which I believe is 25565, bidirectionally between your IP address/network and their IP address/network, it should work just fine.
The DMZ set by the router/firewall will most likely not allow traffic between private networks, unless specified.
SnakeDoc
The solution is incredibly simple. Both of you should install Hamachi which is a free software VPN that will allow you to add users to your VPN network and they can communicate with your PC directly via this connection. Hamachi will either work via direct connection between clients, or if this is impossible, it will relay the connections (very similar to how skype works).
https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/
Just use the free version (which I think limits you to 10 clients on your VPN network, but this should be enough for just you and a couple buddies).
It will assign a new IP address for your "Hamachi Network Adapter" and this is the IP address you will use to connect your minecraft.
With this setup, you could be in the next room from each other, or half-way around the world. Hamachi doesn't care and your PC's will appear to be on the same network (virtual private network), and can communicate with no problems. It does not require any ports to be opened on the schools firewalls neither, so no worries there. It just works. And it's free. Hard to beat that.
EDIT: I think you'll want to use the "Mesh Network" type when you set things up. This will allow all clients on your VPN to see eachother.
George Hatton
There is also a good tool called connectivity and this enables you to host your own WI-FI connection through your PC, although you won't be able to go online you can still play minecraft together by using the "Open to LAN" button in a single-player world.
meflowers331
Not having any control over your network, your best bet is to try to create your own server off-campus somewhere or buy some cheap hosting. I've used http://www.mpserv.net/ before, they're pretty cheap with a great control panel and lots of options. You could split the cost and invite friends. Just an idea.
Marcks Thomas
Being on different subnets does not necessarily prevent your friend from connecting to your computer, but it does require the router to forward the traffic appropriately, whereas you normally would be able to communicate directly. Clearly, you do not have access to the router configuration, so there is no way to ensure this, but the gateway is probably set up to do the required routing already. In that case, you will be able to join via 'Direct Connect' (provide LAN IP address), although the hosted game will not be detected automatically, since broadcast messages do not reach hosts on other subnets.
Logan
I recently switched my phone service to Verizon from ATT, and I get somewhat spotty service in my house. I called them and they sent me a "network extender" device for free. Its a femtocell that connects to my home network.
The directions that come with it are very dumbed down, basically just say to connect it to your router and put it near a window (so it can get a GPS signal, it has to make sure its within the correct area before operating).
The problem I'm having is the network light on it stays red. The troubleshooting information that came with it tells me this means there is a bad network connection.
Its connected through an ASUS router running DD-WRT. No other devices on my network have a problem with it, including a Western Digital WDLIVE device, mine and my wife's cell phones (via wifi), a Wii, and an Xbox.
If I connect the device directly to my cable modem, the light goes blue (which means good) and it starts working. So this tells me that its definately a configuration issue with my router.
Verizon basically washed their hands of me when I connected it to my cable modem, and told me that its a router issue and to try a different router. Because normal people just have extra routers laying around their houses...
When I connect it to the router, I can watch the DHCP Clients list on the status page, and the MAC of the network extender quickly fills up the clients list, grabbing every available DHCP address. Its like it grabs an address, can't connect to the internet, releases it, grabs another, then another, then another.
So in the DHCP server settings I assigned a static IP to its MAC. This made it quit doing what it was doing before, but its still not working. I found the ports I needed to open on verizon's website, and opened them in the port forwarding config on my router.
This still didn't help.
So, I tried setting the network extender device's IP as the DMZ IP on the router. This still did no good.
I called Verizon back and got the tech to write up a report which he passed on to a "senior network tech" who I got a call back from a few hours ago. This guy told me that while an ASUS router isn't listed as a supported device, he's not really sure why its not working. He suggested restoring the firmware to stock ASUS firmware and trying again.
I have a very hard time believing its DD-WRT doing this, since every other device is working just fine with it.
But its also not the Network Extender, since it works just fine when connected directly to the modem.
At this point I'm out of ideas, and the next step is to restore the stock firmware on my router, and then going to walmart and getting a linksys WRT-54G to try.
Is there anything else I could try before going that drastic?
Cliffs- -Network extender won't work behind router, works when connected directly to cable modem. -Extender goes nuts when allowed to pick its own DHCP address, I had to assign it a static IP. -Won't work when correct ports are forwarded to it -Won't work with a DMZ address.
Larry
I just got off the phone because my extender stopped working and I was told the entire extender network is down as of yesterday (6/3/2011). However I was told a very interesting tidbit that may have been causing your issue and/or many other people's. If your router is set to use and issue addresses in the 10.x.x.x subnet you will have problems because Verizon uses the 10.x.x.x subnet for the backend of their extender network! So it is advised to have your router use the 192.168.x.x subnet.
Sathya
Since no one has been able to provide any insight, I decided to go ahead and answer my own question.
I never was able to get the Network Extender device to work behind my router. I borrowed a friends router (a Dlink) and tried with it, and was never able to get it to work either. Verizon told me that the device was designed to work behind a standard consumer router device and were unable to offer further assistance. They suggested I call my router manufacturer for further help.
After several hours of bashing my head against my desk, I called TW Cable, and asked exactly how many IP's I get via my cable modem. Suprisingly, I was told I was able to use up to three.
So, I placed the verizon device and my router both on a hub with the cable modem.
The stupid WAN Light on the verizon device STILL didn't go blue (which means good) for over half an hour, even after resetting it. So who knows if I ever did actually have my router config correct, because I never waited half an hour in between changes to find out.
I do have it working now, but its wide open to the internet. I would much prefer it to be behind a switch, but apparently it doesn't play nicely with mine.
Jasin
Sounds to me like you didn't have VPN access available in your dd-wrt config.
I have successfully used the NE behind my router since day one. But you have to make sure you have dhcp enabled and then set the device to have a static ip and finally open up the four ports and start the vpn daemon.
Timothy L
FYI, my Network Extender (which has been working since October 2009) stopped working last week (2nd full week of July, 2011). After calling technical support for VerizonWireless, Qwest, and Samsung, no one has a solution, although VerizonWireless has noted an increase in complaints from people saying their NE would not work with the Qwest modem MODEL PK5000, starting last week (same week mine starting having problems).
An interesting fact is that Qwest converted their system from a TM or ATM system to a DSL2 system (whatever that means). This switchover occurred on July 13th, 2011 ... exactly when all heck broke loose with the Network Extender boxes VerizonWireless sells. The fact that the switchover was made at the same time the NE problems started suggests to me there is a cause and effect here. However, I don't know what else to do except wait for the VerizonWireless tech to call me back if he found out what can be done to fix the problem (which he promised to do. I took down his email address and plan to keep reminding him to call me (on my landline) when he can help me.
Travis
I started having this same issue last week July 18 or 19th, 2011. After getting a new network extender sent to me and talking to Verizon tech support 3 times before I was informed of the change on the qwest side, the rep from VZW suggested trying another router.
I purchased a basic linksys router at Walmart $40, put the CD in and followed the instructions on setting it up in addition to my PK5000, plugged all the computers and the NE into the linksys and waited.
After about a half hour or so, all of the lights on the NE were blue.
If you're having the same issue, it's a relatively cheap solution until VZW can back up their network with real reception.
Hopefully this helps and the time I spent saves someone their time.
Roger
I've found my NE to be very touchy over the 2 years that I've had to use one. I have two Asus routers, rt-n66u and rt-n56u, and I've found that when I re-flash router firmware I always need to erase the nvram and completely re-enter my settings. Even then, it may or may not work the first time. I have no idea what the problem is with the thing, but I've got about a fifty-fifty chance of getting lucky the first time, and may have to change routers or change firmware to get it to work. There's no real troubleshooting information from the device itself, which would be very useful to poor souls like me trying to keep them running.
I really lay this on Verizon for not providing the service that they bill you for, thus necessitating my using this pile of junk, and on Verizon and Samsung together throwing this thing out into the field without better native troubleshooting capability. It's a very troublesome black box, it has been nothing but problems and a time sink.
zombiemonkey
I had issues getting my network extender to work with my new Asus rt-n56u router at first, but after reading through some blogs I found I had to enable the VPN settings on the router, which under factory settings were initially disabled. I signed into the router control settings by typing the IP for the router, went under advanced settings, then WAN, then NAT passthough and enabled all the passthroughs