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http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews...lld19JRD0xMzY0Quote:
NAT works well for browsing the web, where the computer on the LAN is always the computer initiating the exchange of data. However, what if a computer on the Internet wants to initiate a connection. How does the router know which machine on the LAN to send the request to? The simple answer is it doesn't; it's impossible for it to tell. To get around this, we have to tell it what to do.
intresting read. that port list for BF2 is insane!
bear in mind some routers only have provisioning for 10 virtual servers.
It also precludes most home users from running a local web server on that machine / IP as HTTP requests are available to it.
( not everyone would want to run BF2 servers from home as I understand it needs a pretty beefy upload for anything more than a handfull of players ? )
the other way would be to build a machine with a very solid software firewall on it , and use the DMZ functions of cheap routers to forward all unknown ports to it.
This isn't a DMZ in the common networking sence of the phrase ( where the DMZ is firewalled from the private ( or trusted ) network as well as the public network.
Indeed some cheap routers do have a limit to the number of ports that can be forwarded.
However most of the time the ports a user might want to forward are few.
You can get away with one of bittorrent uploads, one for MSN transfers, one or two for P2P applications, some games need ports open even when playing as a client.
Of course, since NAT routing become popular, there are now lots of applications that can live with it. Still, knowing what port forwarding is and how to do it if neccesary is rather handy. :)
it is a usefull thing indeed - hopefully more and more applications will be NAT friendly.
I have had brief flirtations with uPnP to dynamically map ports as needed , but have had mixed sucess with it.
uPnP sure is a weird one. Remember all the security issues it had?
heh thats the one I have. The £20 ebuyer thing. Works really well and never had a problem with it.Quote:
The top picture is of a hilarious cheap router which uses a very common web admin interface.
I have it too, but it's configured as in PPP Half Bridge mode. That means the public IP is passed on to another machine, which happens to be my ClarkConnect gateway :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Famished
So, in my setup, that wonderfully cheap router is functioning pretty much just as a modem, leaving the more powerful ClarkConnect to do the routing.
Saying that though I cannot fault that ebuyer router and other conexant based stuff like it - they're cheap and cheerful, but do a fair job.
One of the reason I've stayed away from NAT is because of Port Forwarding. I remember running into heaps of issues (in part due to make lack of understanding a couple years back).
Still, I am thinking to change ISP, and the ISP do not provide multiple IPs without charging extra. If I can get NAT to work, then I may be able to save... a lil per month.
But I've got a question though. What if two users on the network use the same service?
You can get a bit stuck. However, if you can specify what port the service operates on, you will be OK. For example, my bittorrent client allows me to specify the listen port. If I had more than one machine needing to run BT, I could setup different listen ports and forward the necessary ports to the respective machines.Quote:
Originally Posted by TooNice
Zen dont charge extra for multiple IP's
@Kez: Ah thanks - well, it does seem that NAT simply has some innate issues.
@Moby: Yup, I am with Zen right now (been for the past 3 years). But Freedom2Surf is looking increasingly attractive. I think even paying their £5/month for extra IPs is worth it to be honest. Zen is just so expensive.
Zen may be pricey but they are worth every penny :)
Well, thats pretty much why I signed up for them. But I have to wonder now, what makes them better than other ISPs? My friend pointed out an issue with Zen: a whois on your IP will reveal who you are. Probably not the end of the world, but its not exactly desirable either.
With Zen , its their service that sets them a league apart from other ISP's
We used to manage a large ammount of DSL lines for our clients. If there was ever problem I knew that I could call up and a) not spend long on hold b) get thoruhg to someone in the UK c) who knew what he/she was talking about and d) was in a position to do something about it ( Ie poke BT with a sharp stick )
Thanks Pyle - looks good! Must give it a try sometime.