Ok... I think I'm allmost there! Just need a lill push in the right direction!

Before you read this remember these settings to make it a lill bit easier to understand!

- Network ip = 10.0.0.***
- Internet ip = 195.***.**.**
- My router = Alcatel thomson speedtouch 570 (it's for wireless internet )


What is the problem?
When I open a server with setting DEDICATED = INTERNET and I join my game in a new sof 2 game then my ping is NOT zero! This causes a terrible LAG!!! I've checked this at a friend and his ping IS zero with the same settings and he uses a normal DSL modem.

What have I found about this problem?
When I have a router I have a network IP and an internet IP. When I join my own game my ping isn't zero but I have a ping of 52 normaly this should be zero. Why is my ping not zero? Cause when I set up my server the server gets my INTERNET IP and when I join it, I use my NETWORK IP so my ping can't be zero!

What can be done about this?
Forward the PORT of my NETWORK IP to my INTERNET IP via my router! So when I use that port I will be redirected to my INTERNET IP! (right?)

What have I done already?
I checked my router settings (by entering my routers ipadres into browser) and found a map called NAPT. (Network Address and Port Translation) and there I entered these settings:

-----
NAPT Settings
Nr   Type   Inside address   Outside address   Protocol State  
1  Static  10.0.0.***:20100 195.***.**.**:20100 udp  UDP
-----

Now the sof2 port should be forwarded right? No! It doesnt work! How is it possible?
I found 1 strange thing in the server console and that is that is that when I connect I see that the port IS NOT 20100 anymore  => 10.0.0.***:20101

Man I really hope that somebody can help me with this!
Thanx in advance!

I'm still a little confused by what you're asking, but I *think* I understand what your problem is.

First off,

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I found 1 strange thing in the server console and that is that is that when I connect I see that the port IS NOT 20100 anymore  => 10.0.0.***:20101

As a client, you are not guaranteed to use 20100 for your port...I don't know the exact port range that SoF2 uses, but I've seen it use several different ports that are all in the low 20100s.  If you want to continue experimenting in the same vein you are, try forwarding the entire block of IPs to your server IP (20100-20110) and see if that works.  Use the traceroute command to see exactly where the traffic is going and make sure that it isn't going outside of your router.

I'm kinda guessing on this next part, but I'm assuming that you have a setup where you have a router with a built in switch/hub and both your machine and the SoF2 server is connected to the switch/hub on the router, right?  If so, one other option you might try is to multihome the SoF2 server...i.e. give the server two IP addresses.  One of them would be an internal IP that only you would use to join the server.  That should do what you want, and that way you wouldn't be having to mess with setting up forwarding rules on your router.

I hope this is helpful to you--if I'm way off on what your network setup actually is, just let me know a little more about how your network is set up and I'll see if I can help.

Hey dumpsterKEEPER, thanks for replying!
Indeed, u are right. There is 1 machine, 1 router and 1 server and the server and the machine are both conected to that router.

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one other option you might try is to multihome the SoF2 server...i.e. give the server two IP addresses.  One of them would be an internal IP that only you would use to join the server.

How do I give my server 2 ipaddresses?

While waiting for your reply I try this :

Quote

If you want to continue experimenting in the same vein you are, try forwarding the entire block of IPs to your server IP (20100-20110) and see if that works

Ok, the 2nd thing doesnt work... here are some pics (maybe i do something wrong?)

Here you see the hitch warning. I have now 1 dedecated internet server and one new console opened to join my game (ping = 56) NOT zero as I wanted


Here you see my settings: First I had both ports on 20100 but it didn't do anything, now I have my network port on 20101 and internetport on 20100 and when someone connects (even me) my firewall blocks it! and when I shut my firewall down they can get in BUT my ping is still NOT zero and the lag is still there as you can see on pic 1


My only hope is:

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one other option you might try is to multihome the SoF2 server...i.e. give the server two IP addresses.  One of them would be an internal IP that only you would use to join the server.

I doubt those hitch warnings have much to do with the router config.  If you are running the server & client on same machine you are going to see that on vintage pc's (or crap-boxes).  From your screen-shot, I can see that you have a sys-tray of many backround programs running too.  Try killing those before you test again.  

Also, server should be hardwired to the lan, and you should ensure that someone is not reaping (or raping) the benefits of your broadband connection without your knowledge.  Wireless is not so good for FPS games, and I've seen my own WLAN router lag out my hard lines during storms & such.

Otherwise, i would just turning on dynamic routing (gateway mode?), and forwarding only 20100 to the local IP.  

Post more about your rig (OS, Connection Type, LAN Topology, Memory, Processor, Etc...) and maybe the answers will start coming.

GL,
-SuB

OS, Connection Type, LAN Topology, Memory, Processor, Etc...

System: Toshiba satellite notebook 2800-600
Processor: pentium 3, 1 gigahertz
OS: WIN ME
Memory: 256 MB RAM
Graphic card: NVDIA Geforce 2go (yeah I know, but it works good for me )
Connection type: DSL -> down: 1024kbps, up: 312kbps
LAN Topology: Alcatel Thomson speedtouch 570 wireless router. Radio connection: excellent. (I'm 5 meters away from my router)

But how do I do this:

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one other option you might try is to multihome the SoF2 server...i.e. give the server two IP addresses.  One of them would be an internal IP that only you would use to join the server.

Quote

System: Toshiba satellite notebook 2800-600 Processor: pentium 3, 1 gigahertz OS: WIN ME Memory: 256 MB RAM Graphic card: NVDIA Geforce 2go (yeah I know, but it works good for me ) Connection type: DSL -> down: 1024kbps, up: 312kbps LAN Topology: Alcatel Thomson speedtouch 570 wireless router. Radio connection: excellent. (I'm 5 meters away from my router)

Is this your server machine?  If so, you're not going to have much luck with a laptop at all.  They are designed for low power consumption in order to save battery life, and so are not good choices at all for server related tasks.  In addition, WinME is not a good choice at all for a server of this type.  It was simply not designed to keep up in an efficient manner with the kind of requests that a game server needs to deal with.  I would guess that one reason your ping is so high is that your machine is overloaded trying to do so many things at once.

I also noted that in your screenshots that you posted above, you're running the game client on the same machine as the server.  That's why you're getting all those hitch warnings--those warning appear when the server is under heavy load, and you're getting more than one or two of them right after a map cycle then your server is underpowered for the task at hand.

My personal suggestion would be to build up a new machine that you could use for your server and dedicate it to that purpose.  That is the most effective way of running a server.  I would also recommend one of the flavors of Linux to run for the OS...not only is it free, but it is also adapted very well to server related tasks of this type.

However, if you are interested in trying to make this work, you can multihome the server as follows:  Go into your network control panel and open the network properties; click on the TCP/IP option within that dialog box and then click the properties button; you should see a screen that is set up for you to obtain your IP via DHCP with your router, click the Advanced button at the bottom; on this screen you can click Add to add an IP address to your system.  You will need to add an internal IP address here and then use that address to connect to your server locally.  Those instructions should be pretty much correct...it's been a while since I've used WinME so I'm running on memory.

I'm pretty sure that you could also get it working with your router as you have already tried, but without actually being able to sit down with it and play around, it's kinda hard to figure it out that way.  I know I could make it work for my router

HTH

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However, if you are interested in trying to make this work, you can multihome the server as follows:  Go into your network control panel and open the network properties; click on the TCP/IP option within that dialog box and then click the properties button; you should see a screen that is set up for you to obtain your IP via DHCP with your router, click the Advanced button at the bottom; on this screen you can click Add to add an IP address to your system.  You will need to add an internal IP address here and then use that address to connect to your server locally.  Those instructions should be pretty much correct...it's been a while since I've used WinME so I'm running on memory.

Well, First of all... THANKS!!! It works! I can now run a server with 6 people without LAG!!!
Thank you so much man!

And about that laptop philosophy that allmost everybody has: it's wrong! A PC with the same system and so on will be as fast as my laptop dude!

Take care! And once again... THANKS!

Glad to hear that's working for you.

Just to clarify one point, however, that laptop "philosophy" is correct.  For most day to day work a laptop will be able to perform similarly to a desktop system.  However, laptops are not designed to act as servers--that is simply a byproduct of cramming so much hardware into such a small area and have it all work under battery power without overheating.

But hey, if it works for you, that's what really matters.  If you're running a non-24/7 server for six people, then your laptop will probably be able to keep up fine.

Enjoy