DMZ and forwarding ports?

[Brood]

I hope this is going to be my last topic, because damn it I've started a lot in order to get help with setting up a server. It seems everything is wrong with my computer and internet connection: Dynamic IP, router, etc. etc., but now I've finally come down to the last (for the love of God, pleeease!) problem, the router.

To tell you the truth I know nothing about that, nada, completely blank. I don't know what DMZ is, I don't know how to forward ports, and everywhere I search on the forum they seem to just assume you do. So I'm going to ask here, what do I do?! How do I forward a port and enable 7990-8000 and 9000 or whatever I need to use, and what is DMZ? What does it do? What can I use it for? Etc. etc. Help will be very much appreciated, I've spent so many hours trying to get that god damned server to work, and to just be stuck at what seems to be the last problem will be devastating for me.

[FiCtIoN]

ive included some info below thanks to my linksys router to help give you an idea and better understand what it is your dealing with then we can go from there on what u dont understand.

DMZ
The DMZ Host setting can allow one local PC to be exposed to the Internet. If a local user wishes to use some special-purpose service such as an Internet game or video-conferencing, Enable
DMZ, fill in the IP address, and click the Save Settings button. Select Disable for DMZ, deactivates this feature. When enabling this setting, the Router firewall protection of the local DMZ host will be disabled.

PORTFORWARDING
Port Range Forwarding can be used to set up public services on your network. When users from the Internet make certain requests on your network, the Router can forward those requests to computers equipped to handle the requests. If, for example, you set the port number 80 (HTTP) to be forwarded to IP Address 192.168.1.2, then all HTTP requests from outside users will be forwarded to 192.168.1.2. It is recommended that the computer use static IP address.

[Brood]

Thank you for the tip. I just have one problem: If I have no idea what DMZ is, how am I to enable it?!

[FiCtIoN]

are you using a router and what type

[Brood]

As I already mentioned, yes I'm using a router, which is the problem. I believe it's called D-Link 602.

[FiCtIoN]

goto a webbrowser and on the address bar typ 192.168.1.1 a password window should pop type admin as the pasword no username if that doesnt work find the documentation on the router and check the default settings to access it.

[taran99]

The d-link brand uses the ip 192.168.0.1, they kind of stray off what the norm uses. Type that in, and see if it works.

[samandhi]

Let's first explain a little about what forwarding and DMZ really mean/do... This will be in lamens terms so that you will understand it (not calling you stupid, so please dont take offense).

Port forwarding on a router, can be construed as two things because different routers use different terminology... One is the easy one. It is talking about your router firewall. This is to say that you are telling your router that you want to make sure your router relays the packets that your pc sends to where they need to go, or blocks them, according to how you have them set up. This CAN be used for simple home use, but is better used on the business end of things.. This way the IT can block or send ANYTHING they want from a router level and not have to set up EACH machine with firewall sofware...

The other defenition (and more standardized meaning), is this: You have an external IP address. This you know because you had to use a DynDNS type of site to NAME your ever-changing IP address (read dynamic IP address). Now, let's take a web server for an example of using this meaning of port forwarding. If you wanted to set up a web server on your pc, so that the outside world would see your web page you had set up on your machine, when they type in somethingorother.no-ip.info, you would have to tell your router that you pc IS in fact connected to that external IP address...

Your computer has an internal IP address. In fact all your computers BEHIND the router have a specific IP address that is only reachable from within your own (Local Area Network)... Well, we have to make sure that the REST of the world can also reach that internal IP address.. The way to do this is to use port forwarding.. This tells your router that the internal IP address 192.168.1.x (where x is whatever number you have listed as your IP address for the pc in question), should be the address that is accessed when someone tries to access somethingorother.no-ip.info...... So in your router settings, you would tell it to assign the internal IP address to be accessed when someone actually types in somethingorother.no-ip.info, and of course you can take it a step further and tell it what port that SHOULD be, or even a range of ports (port 80 being the standard web browser port)...

Now, DMZ stands for Demilitarized Zone, and just like you would think this means the same thing... When you put a computer on DMZ, you are actually putting it outside of the protection that the router offers you... It is essentially a way to tell the router "Hey, I dont want your protection, so put THIS machine outside, so the rest of the world sees this computer as NOT behind a router"... It is actually a little more complicated than that, but that will suffice where you are concerned...

In your case you MAY not have to worry about using DMZ, as some routers will let you forward ports without having to put THAT pc on DMZ. But, some routers will not allow this unless you DO put it on DMZ...

Go to the website that makes your router, as they should have a manual that should help you set this up (they are all different, this is why the board here assumes that you know how, because it is NOT a standarization in routers, Linksys is TOTALLY different than Blitzz, for eg..)... I hope this help explain a little better whats going on inside your router, so you can better fix it...

BTW, you acces your settings in your router by opening up your web browser and typing in the address that your router is set to.. This is different for each router so I cant help you there either, but check the documentation on the router as it should tell you the default address and the UN/PW that will access it...

[edit] Sheesh everyone was quick to answer this one.. I started typing this when there were NO replies, so take from this guide what you will... But hope it helps you better understand the basics of what is going on behind the scenes....

[FiCtIoN]

yes and youll be looking for a tab most likely named dmz im not sure the location in the settings d-link uses should be under advanced or gaming enable dmz enter your internal ip found by going to start, run, type cmd, then ipconfig

[samandhi]

If you have an email address, I have the documentation that you need for your router if it is the DP-602...

[taran99]

Okay, going off of what samsdhi posted, which i would listen to, here's the full poop on what to do with a d-link router (i work in computer administration, and that's mostly what we use on small networks). *if i repeat anything anyone else has said, please forgive me*

First, you need to find out what your internal ip is. Goto your command prompt, (go to start -> run -> type in cmd, and press enter).

Next, type in 'ipconfig'. There should some stuff that comes up, should look something like this:

Etherenet adapter *local area network*:

Connection-Specific DNS suffix . : *your isp DNS*
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.XXX
Subnet Mask. . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway. . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

K, pay attention to nothing other than the IP address. and remember what those last digits are (if there are more than one). Write them down, or something.

Goto a browser (Internet explorer), type in 192.168.0.1 (and enter). There should be a login screen that comes up. Type in Admin for the username and nothing for the password unless you've changed those two.

You should see about 5 or so tabs, and the second one from the left should be advanced. Click on that one, and as soon as it comes up, look to the left of it, there should be some blue buttons. One should be 'DMZ'. Click on that, and you should see:

0 Enable 0 Disable

192.168.0 (and a space for your number)

Add those digits you got from the 'ipconfig' ip address program, and click enable. Then hit the green apply button. It'll go to another screen that says 'the device is rebooting' and viola, you should have all your ports opened onto the DMZ.

If that doesn't help you, let me know please, or if anyone finds any inconsistancies with this, please correct me.

[samandhi]

Just a question, as I am not familiar with the D-link routers, but does the D-link router require that he be on DMZ in order to forward ports to his address? I dont like to HAVE to unless it is totally needed, because then he will be open to all sorts of attacks from the net (unless he has a good firewall set up on the pc iteself)... I know Linksys does NOT, but the router I use (Blitzz) DOES require that I be on DMZ in order to correctly forward the ports... :(

[taran99]

on the d-link, when your on the dmz, all of your ports are open. You don't have to forward anything. Unfortunately, becuase of the way they set it up, you can only have one computer at a time on the dmz, and also, it lets all 65535 ports open on your computer. Which is great when you're trying to solve problems like this, and you don't want human error to get in the way. but it sux for obvious reasons.

[taran99]

and likewise, you don't have to be on the DMZ to be able to forward ports to your computer. I run several types of services from my computer, with only having, like, port 80 (http) open, or 21, or something like that, and i'm still behind a firewall, for the most part.

[samandhi]

True, true.. Upon research into his router, if that is the correct model # it is listed as a 56k router... and has OTHER software that must be installed upon configureation... I dont know much about the router, but I have downloaded the "Internet server" set up documentation, that seems to fairly specific to what we are dealing with here... Not a bad guide.. it is in .doc AND .ppt format.. hehe..Wish my router had such good documentation for all specific WANTS and NEEDS>>> <smile>

[edit] AAAH that is NOT true.. it is NOT a 56k router, he had listed the wrong model... it is the 604 not the 602...