[FAQ] LinkSys Fixes (Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects)
 

[This thread helped so many folks I wanted to cross post it form old forums before it is gone.]

Posted by trodofor on 05 Apr 2004 23:23.
Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
Ok, I am one of the unfortunate people who have experienced the 10-minute disconnect problem, and I have come up with another temporary fix. Before you start saying why this won’t work (because it has to do with port forwarding) try it, or read the post. First, for those who just want to ‘get in to the game’, I’ll list what I did to make it work on my machine and network. Then I’ll try to explain why this works and why it is happening (to the best of my knowledge) so that it may help Nevrax and whoever else come up with a fix (if they do not have one already waiting to be patched). I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 version one. It would first be a good idea to make sure that you have the latest firmware for your router. If you own a non-Linksys router and have problems with disconnects, this technique may still work in principle, but the steps are going to be different.

How to do it:
1. Go to http://192.168.1.1 in your web browser
2. User name is usually blank, but the password is whatever you set it to be (I believe it is admin by default)
3. Click on the ‘Advanced’ tab
4. Click on the ‘Forwarding’ tab
5. At the bottom, there is a button for ‘Port Triggering’. Click that to open the port triggering form.
6. On that form, enter whatever you want for ‘Application’ (I used Ryzom).
7. On that same line, for ‘Trigger Port Range’ enter 47851 for start and 47860 for end
8. Again, same line, under the ‘Incoming Port Range’ enter 1000 and 3000 in those boxes
9. Click ‘Apply’, and then close your web browser.

NOTES:
If you have been running your computer a while, or have played Ryzom or other games/network programs since you have turned on your computer, you might need to restart your computer before you play Ryzom. Also, if it worked earlier, then suddenly disconnects you, restart your computer before starting Ryzom again.

For those of you who just want to try to get into the game, you can stop after this paragraph. If you set your router up according to this and you still have problems, make sure that you restart your computer, then open Ryzom before anything else. If this still doesn’t work, you might benefit from reading below so you can learn how to adjust this so that it may work. Happy playing, and please post here if it works or doesn’t work and what kind of router you’re using.

WHY IT WORKS
I don’t claim to be an expert at this, but I do have some experience in networking, so I’m just explaining my observations and why this in theory should work. If I say anything wrong or misleading, please correct me. I just want to share what I have learned from testing and reading the boards so that everyone can play as soon as possible. I also hope to help Nevrax determine the problem if they have not already come up with a solution.

Some background
First of all, port forwarding is generally used for providing servers to the public from your local network, which is why at first you may deny that it could work. But most servers and applications use TCP, which is different than UDP that Ryzom/NeL uses. In TCP, the client requires a connection to be established before sending data. This is more reliable, but slower. UDP, on the other hand, does not establish a connection – it just starts sending data. This is part of the reason that port triggering can work, and why the client doesn’t instantly notice that it has been disconnected

The problem
Earlier firmware versions of Linksys routers suffered from some sort of premature timeout for UDP communications. That is, when there has not been any data received in a certain period of time, the router forgets who on your local network was using that outgoing port. Then, if the server sends data to your client, the router does not know what to do with it, so it just ignores it. Therefore, the client will never hear from the server, resulting in ‘FS Lost’ or similar errors.
Newer versions of the Linksys routers have somewhat fixed this problem, because it does not occur in most other games with a firmware upgrade. I have the newest version of the firmware for my router, but since it is an older series of router (version 1) they seemed to have quit updating it. This problem may not exist for newer Linksys router users, but for those of us who don’t want to spend $60-$150 USD, have to deal with an alternative.

The Solution
Every time you use a network program, the computer must first choose a local port, or socket, to send data from. When making a connection (or just sending data as in UDP) the router will keep track of what local computer the data came from and what socket was used on the local computer. Since the router quits receiving data after a while from the server (because the server does not always have data to send), it will assume that the server is done talking and will forget the association to the local network computer and port. If we set up port triggering, we can get around this downfall. This occurs because the router will see that we made a connection on port 47851 and to forward all incoming data from that to local ports 1000-3000 (whichever is used this session). Again, since it is UDP and connectionless, we don’t have to worry about a connection being closed, and there is no way for the router to know that we are still expecting data. The problem right now is that, since Windows chooses the next available socket to send data on for almost every program, if you have been running several network programs since you have last restarted your computer, Ryzom will likely be assigned one that is above 3000 and therefore the router will not forward data to it. You can solve this by a) increasing the upper bound port above 3000 (not recommended for security reasons) or b) restart your computer before running Ryzom. This is also why turning on DMZ for your computer could be a solution (as someone has already mentioned in another post) but port triggering is a little safer since it doesn’t always allow connections to those ports. Also, it seems to be standard for Windows to start sockets in the 1000 range, but it might be closer to 1024. If anyone knows exactly, please let me know, because a smaller hole we open, the less likely we will have any security issues.

I’m not exactly sure why this disconnect error occurs only in Ryzom and why updating the firmware fixed it for other games. I can think of about two reasons. First of all, those other games that are not in beta tend to have more people running around, causing data to be sent, so the router will keep the forwarding association on its own. Another reason could be that they have a ‘keep alive message’ that is sent when there is no other data to be sent, or sent frequently anyway. I’m not an extremely experienced programmer, so I can’t say for sure whether this would solve the problem or not. But I hope that this port-triggering trick will help the people who cannot stay connected. Sorry for the long post, with unnecessary details, but again, I just want to help the community get connected, and help find a solution if there is a better way. If you try it, post your results to we can keep track of whether it works for others or not.

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Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Thx, I will check this out!

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Worked Wonders, no server drops yet, thank you kindly!

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

hmmm... since this seems to be a recurring problem for alot of new people... could an admin sticky this one?

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

So what should I do if I did all that letter for letter and I'm still getting booted? I have a Linksys wireless 8-port router, but I'm plugged directly into it, keep getting booted. I even updated the firmware.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

as a last resort... set your gaming PC as the "DMZ Host" .... i say last resort because it's very likely after you do so your Gaming PC will be the only one able to play Ryzom....

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

That's not an issue, I'm sharing this router with people who think the internet is e-mail and cnn.com. Thanks for the suggestion I'll give it a try.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Just to stress this point, please do not use the DMZ to fix connection problems except as a last resort. If you do decide to use the DMZ, please make sure you are keeping your copy of Windows up to date (www.windowsupdate.com) and that you are running some type of software firewall on your PC first. Try both upgrading your router firmware and setting up the port forwarding before even considering the DMZ - it will take more time, but will definitely be more secure.

Nevrax is aware of the problem with some of the Linksys router models, and they have one we sent them that they're using to try to fix the issue. It is a high priority fix, but we don't have an estimate on how long it'll take.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

well, it worked...I'm not getting booted anymore, I just don't know as if I trust my firewall enough. Just that now I can't log into a new char or anything, I can only get on chars that I had gotten on before I made myself a DMZ host.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Thanks Vguerin!!!! The solution worked for me!!!

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

i have the same problem, but the link http://192.168.1.1/ don't seem to work on my comp :/
Can you help me?

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Eleo, you may have a different brand router? Not all routers use the same address - I'd check your docs, or if you're in XP, open up a console window (cmd.exe from Start > Run) and use the 'ipconfig' command. The address for your router will be in the 'Default Gateway' setting.

I -am- having a curious problem related to this now, myself. I set up port triggering to work with Ryzom, and it works beautifully... with my first character slot. All of my other character slots do the same thing as before - disconnecting after 5-10 minutes of play! Anybody have any clues on -this- one? ^.^

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

I think I might have this problem -- do people who experience this disconnect get the little "please wait" window and icon, which then won't go away? Now that I think back, it has been about every 10 minutes -- and I have a Linksys router .....

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Yes, that is what happens. If can post the model number of your router and the version of your linksys firmware that would be great.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

well...I opened those ports, even found a way to get around making myself a permament DMZ host...and it worked great for a few days...and today it's booting me again even if I'm completly exposed. THere anything else anyone can think of? Or was the game patched and I didn't even know it?

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Just thought I would bring it up while it was still early in the thread. There are similar issues that can surface when using a wireless connection with ssid broadcast disabled. Even though the problem is caused by connecting to someone else's wireless network every 10 minutes or so, the actual end result may seem the same since you won't see the little notification while in game.


p.s. disable ssid broadcast is a worthless "security" thing anyways and it can be discovered with virtually zero effort... especially when compared to cracking a WEP key.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Well, I'm at work now and forgot to write down the model number of my Linksys router -- but I updatd to the latest firmware last night and after that played for about 2 hours with no further problems.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

I just thought I'd let you all know that occasionally I'm still getting disconnected after 10 minutes even after this fix. It seems to work one night and then not the next. It is working more often than not so that's still good.

On a positive note, I logged an in-game help ticket stating my problem and I received an ingame reply in under 10 minutes!!!! The tech support person was very polite and stated that they are aware of existing problems with Linksys routers. They did not have an official work-around or provide an ETA but I was very glad to get a non-automated response. I've never played another game that responded so quickly.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

I get this too, but I am not connected to a router. It happens mostly when I leave or ennter a building(train area nooblands)
I will also get disconnects from time to time while in town. Usually never out in the wild. [edit]Actually I'll say never out in the wild.

I looked around in the local area properties, and saw some interesting settings, but nothing i am comfortable fooling with.
Any suggestions for someone just running off their onboard LAN card?

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

hello, my adress is 192.168.0.17

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

This is one of the things that I would pass along to everyone with the problem.

Update your firmware first! Then check into other things if the problem continues.

Good luck, folks.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

is there a way to know what is the version of our router on our comp?
i know mine is a linksys but dunno what is the version...

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Okay - this is just getting odd. I can /still/ play just fine from my notebook, which is on a 802.11b connection. I can play for hours and hours without incident.

My desktop is on a wired connection - and for the past couple of days, I was able to play my first character slot just fine, and the others all disconnect after 5 minutes (everyone's saying 10 minute disconnects, but for me it's always been 5-6 minutes. O.o)

So today - I happily go to play my first char from my desktop a little before work, and... I'm getting disconnected every 5-10 (6... almost on the dot,) minutes again! Come up here to my notebook, and I can still run perfectly up here!

I'm totally at a loss of what it could be on my desktop. I've tried both a dynamic and static IP on the system (it's normally static,) just in case that matters for port triggering, to no effect. I've done everything short of DMZing the system (since I don't run a firewall on it - the crappy rudimentary Linksys firewalling has actually been enough for it.)

About the only thing I can think off of the top of my head is the fact that I have my desktop running through another router which is, in turn, bridged to the Linksys - which we had to do due to issues of where we had to place the Linksys in order to get decent radio coverage throughout the house. Nothing else has any issues with this (and we've been set up this way for a couple of years now, and multiple online games have never batted an eye at it,) but could this possibly be the issue? I'm really out of ideas here!

(I'd just go wireless on the desktop too - but since my desktop doubles as both a file server and VNC server for the whole house, I'm not giving up the extra bandwidth on it's connection!)

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

The port triggering fix was only partly successful for me with my Linksys BEFW11S4. Likewise, putting one computer as the DMZ host would *still* result in the occasional disconnect (although much more rare). Trying to play with two computers on my LAN was *very* problematic. We'd put one on the DMZ and it would usually do okay, but the other one would 10-minute-disco pretty often. At most I'd get 60 minutes without a disco.

So I tried to update the firmware on the BEFW11S4. Guess what? The firmware file was NOT installable by any means.

So I threw in the towel, did research on other cheapo routers, and went out an bought a D-link DI-604. $50 at CompUSA.

And it FIXED THE PROBLEM ENTIRELY. I didn't have to set up port triggering. I didn't have to futz with DMZ. I didn't have to make any special settings of any kind. Ryzom was stable and disco-free for both computers for a playing session of 3+ hours.

This is the 2nd time that a Linksys product of mine has had particular trouble with online games (the other time was due to UDP issues too). A firmware flash fixed the other problem (about 2 years ago). Not being able to flash the firmware this time, however, told me it was time to wash my hands of Linksys products once and for all. The configuration options are way better on the D-Link as well.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Umm... I don't know anything about routers, ports, IP addresses, or any of that stuff... All I know is that I have a Lynksys router and I am getting the same problem as the rest of you.

Updating firmware seems to be solving a lot of problems for people before they mess with there gates, ports, and what not... So can someone explain to me how I can update my firmware?

Thanks much.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

It's on a little tag on the bottom of the router near the front, it should say something like the type and the version of it, and that will match up with an option on the list on the Linksys website.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

They need to fix whatever is doing this.

A. I am not replacing my router, it works fine for all my other software. (including several MMORPGs)

B. I am not upgrading the firmware in my router. (See A.)

C. I am not changing my router settings.

I have a better fix. If the software doesn't stop disconnecting me, I will take it back for a refund. I bought the game for fun, but if it turns into a pain my butt, it goes BACK!

Further, I will suggest strongly to others not to buy it, because it is a technically unsound product.

Update 10/03/2004 : I managed to stay connected for 25 minutes today. My experience leads me to think that this is not a problem on my end. If it were, I would see the disconnectat some regular periodicity. Last night it was almost exactly 10 minutes between disconnects, today it was 25.

Thats all the QA i'm doing. The software goes back to the store.

Jay

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Same here!!!!
If they don't fix it, i ll have to really leave this game...(I, already, don't play anymore actually, just hoping that they will fix that, and i'll play again, because i really love this game...)

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Thanks for the attempt to help, I don't have the issues on my system, and my hubby's system is fine (going through the wireless router) but my daughters antena won't stay plugged into the tower (having a pre teen and a preschooler on ANY system is VERY rough on it to say the least LOL).

We are going to have to find a 50 foot wire to jack hers into my router hard wired, I guess it is just a gal thing to HATE bright YELLOW coax cables running across the walk way, and tacking it to the wall isn't any better. Sigh* when I can afford to build my own house, this stuff is going to go IN the walls and have plugs right next to the power outlets. But that is a tad off subject.

Also, I can vouche for the fact that having a vid card that just BARELY meets specs is NOT a good idea (my daughters vid card is the second vid card we ever bought, a Geforce about three to five years old LOL).

I will report back if the firm ware is updated or not, I am not sure. But I DO know that whatever this issue is, it IS the router and is NOT the game, because it is affecting ALL of her online connections. When she gets the stalls and has to quit game, she can't even get her EMAIL.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

also had a problem in xp. with the port triggering settings in there was working fine with service pack 1. but when i updated to service pack 2 the 10 min disconnects started again. so i uninstalled service pack 2 to go back to 1 and no longer getting the disconnects

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

It didn't work for me, although I haven't tried rebooting the machine as I don't plan on doing that every time I want to play the game. I have, however, taken my cable modem connection direct to the computer ie bypassing the router and have played now for 40 minutes without a single "Please Wait" box whereas with the router in place I was getting a pause with that box every minute or so for 10-15 minutes and then it was disconnecting.

I'm using a BEFSR41 Linksys Router, running 2 computers for two-boxing etc.. I haven't had a single other problem with the router before and have played pretty well all the MMORPGs there are including one or two currently in beta.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Just bought the game today, and seems like im having this problem alot of you guys are having. I seem to like the game so far, but cant seem to play longer than 10 mins.

Now I have one question, you guys say to update your firmware for the router. I do have a Linksys router, model befw11s4, version 4. Now for updating the router, I would goto the Linksys website, find the firmware upgrades, and choose the corresponding download that matches my router, ie being the version 4 one?

Im really kinda new to router information and stuff like that, so if I have this wrong, or right, any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks ahead of time.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

I used this tip several days ago and it definitely fixed my disconnect every 10 minutes problem.

But I logged on tonight and I get disconnected again almost every 10 minutes exactly. I checked my settings and they are still set up the way they should be.

Any one else experiencing this? I really want to continue to play the game, but there comes a point where the risk vs reward isn't paying off.

Any suggestions?

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Im having the same problem, lensar after i "fixed" the router, it worked for a day or so now its back to frequent disconects. I love the game but im tempted to not bother since by the time my 30 day trial has run out, i will have gotten about 10 hours at MOST of exposure to the game......not enoguh to continue paying.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Same here... fixed it (port forwarding) a couple weeks ago. It's been working flawlessly, but last night I logged in to Ryzom, got a PATCH (9.1M) and now the problem has returned.

I did notice a new port showing up in the outgoing IP traffic log (forgot to write it down though) and perhaps that's a clue (?)

I talked in-game to a helper, but he didn't have any good advice beyond making the PC a DMZ host! No thanks... They're quick and polite with the help, but don't seem engaged beyond the one or two quick fixes on their script. He politely said ok then and goodnight and left me to freeze again.

If they're not willing to spend a little more time coming up with a solution the game goes back to the store... sad, cause I really love playing.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

I hate to sound like one of those whiny complainers everyone knows of, but
they have till EQ2 launches. if that doesnt freeze up on me, i make an obvious choice.

And could you get us all that port? maybe thats what the problem is!

then we can start playing!

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Ports used for Ryzom are as follows as relayed from Technical Support

UDP 47851
TCP 80
TCP 40916
TCP 43434

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

so which should i port forward in my router?

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Checking back and hoping for some sort of response. I'd really like to give the game one last shot this weekend, but if I'm stuck with the 10 minute disconnect, I'm going to have to wrap it up and move on from SoR.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

So what about the port forwarding? sorry im not that good with routers and such.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Well, if you have a firewall (aka windows built in one for XP), just turn it on, and open the router up from ports 1024 on up.

Make sure your router has a very good password set on it.

This will fix any port forwarding issues.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

This is about the stupidest solution I have every heard. Port forwarding is right up there and so is putting one's machine on the DMZ!

A. These suggestions are moronicly UNSAFE
B. They ignore the fact that families might have multiple machines on their net
C. Most importantly, EVERY OTHER MMORPG I HAVE WORKS. No one needs to play this game. There are plenty of other good ones available that don't have these issues.

Over a week has gone by since I made my original post and there has been no response from the CSRs, so I have to assume the company doesn't care.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

This is astonishingly unsafe. I hope you were being sarcastic.

You might as well throw away the router and whatever host-based filtering you use if you do this. The password on the router won't mean a thing, because you've just let all and sundry past it.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

10 min disconnect using port forward. having no problem normally with these numbers in. though when i have a second computer turned on and doing something else start getting the 10 min disconnects again. any suggestions.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Just wanted to tell everyone that I tryed this idea and it worked great, no more Disconnects. Wonderful idea!

Thanks so much for the help!!!


Parasite

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Officially I was being very sarcastic, all of the posts about firewalls / router configs etc have nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the game play.

It is blatently obvious it is a packet desynchronization problem, they are unable to keep the clients / server in synch.

It has gotten 100% better in the past few weeks though, and they are still working out the bugs, but the way there handling the SOCKS connection is very disappointing.

You should be able to have your router locked down completely and still be able to play since you make the outbound call and establish the port connections yourself (via the software)

At most the only ports that will need to be open is a uni-directional call out, in the 42k range from what I have read, but then again, my router is fully locked down.

Only inbound ports I have open are point to point connections with IP filtering on them to only allow certain source IP's through, and I can play the game fine now, with only hickups now and then.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

I too, updated my firmware and that resolved the 'can't play for longer than 10 minutes before Please Wait comes up and never goes away' issue. Whenever there is an issue with graphics or connections making sure the latest software (drivers, firmware, etc...) is installed is a best first step.

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Is there anything being done about this, if nevrax cares at all about any of the customers who happen to be having problems than i would think they would make an effort to fix it! I do not have a linksys routere i ahve a linksys wireless adapter, but i still get the same disconnect problem. I've tried these suggestions but they don't work, maybe i will just buy another adapter, if linksys has this big of a problem i don't really want to deal with it. Isn't there something anyone can do!!?!?!?!!?! This is ridiculous!

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

Hi,

I'm from belgium and have the same problem.
Any solution work at this moment for me.

No support in the French forum.

Since 24 september (post from Virgil) any news from nevrax about the solution. Virgil say in the post


Plz Dear Nevrax official, Give us some recent news.


some people say update the last firmware :)
Oki have you update to the beta version of the firmware or the release version from linksys?

Thx

Abigail


ps sory for my bad english

Re: Another Solution for 10 Minute Disconnects
 

I fail to see how Nevrax can be responsible for lousy firmware developed by Linksys.