How to set up your router properly for Modern Warfare 2

Tinman

MyGaming Silverback
Are you having trouble finding games on IWNet's matchmaking service? Are you having trouble joining games off your friend list? Are your friends having trouble joining your games? Are you getting disconnected randomly? Are you being dropped during host migration? Are you losing confidence, self-esteem, and the will to live?

How to configure your connection for MW2
 
as i said in the comments section, even after going through all that, in some isolated cases there are people who are still unable to play
 
Thanks Tinman...works well

Strange how the NAT worked in the begining (when the game came out) and now you have to add rules to get it to work :\
 
Thanks Azi i added the other UDP ports now im not getting Strict NAT anymore... before i did what you suggested and it would only happen once or twice now its perfect... still a bit laggy every now and again... and end up getting magic bullets to the fasch but ja things should be hundreds...
 
Thanks Tinman...works well

Strange how the NAT worked in the begining (when the game came out) and now you have to add rules to get it to work :\

Must be something they added in steam patch stabbing us in the back without us knowing :eek::p


Thanks Azi
 
Glad you guys got yourselves sorted out. It's one of those things that's so easy to fix - but only if you know what the problem is, and lots of people simply don't. :P

I used to use a connection setup that incurred an inherently moderate NAT, so I know all about what an enormous pain in the bum it is.
 
just one thing about all this. the process was supposed to be "easy" for the casual people, and yet faffing around with router and firewall settings hardly seem "casual" to me...
 
just one thing about all this. the process was supposed to be "easy" for the casual people, and yet faffing around with router and firewall settings hardly seem "casual" to me...

"Casual" doesn't mean "stupid".

I'd regard myself as a casual player, and I wrote the article.
 
"Casual" doesn't mean "stupid".

I'd regard myself as a casual player, and I wrote the article.

So we could assume if the "casual" player is technical enough to port forward and set up their router, they might be technical enough to double click a server in a list..... A server list and double clicking is complex stuff though.

Sarcasm aside, I assumed IW.net supported uPnP, which would have made it easy to avoid these problems. Was I mistaken?
 
Sarcasm aside, I assumed IW.net supported uPnP, which would have made it easy to avoid these problems. Was I mistaken?

As far as I know, it does support uPnP, but like Xbox Live and PSN, you need to forward the service ports too. I have no idea why. Life, oh life, etc.

And I know you were being sarcastic, but consider this - quite some time back, all the IS TF2 servers used the TFTrue mod. I don't want to play with the TFTrue mod. So I was stuck between not playing at all, or playing on the appallingly badly run SGS TF2 servers. Remember, catering to casual players isn't just about "simplifying" connections, it's about providing a standard, predictable platform for everyone.

Lots of people want to play the game the way it was released, and not with any mods or anything attached to it. I think a lot of you "hardcore" guys forget that. How many people just stopped playing CoD4 because everyone else was playing on the Promod servers?
 
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As far as I know, it does support uPnP, but like Xbox Live and PSN, you need to forward the service ports too. I have no idea why. Life, oh life, etc.

And I know you were being sarcastic, but consider this - quite some time back, all the IS TF2 servers used the TFTrue mod. I don't want to play with the TFTrue mod. So I was stuck between not playing at all, or playing on the appallingly badly run SGS TF2 servers. Remember, catering to casual players isn't just about "simplifying" connections, it's about providing a standard, predictable platform for everyone.

Lots of people want to play the game the way it was released, and not with any mods or anything attached to it. I think a lot of you "hardcore" guys forget that. How many people just stopped playing CoD4 because everyone else was playing on the Promod servers?

Errr, maybe a few people? Maximum? The normal guys have their servers (four of them), and the promod guys have their servers (three of them). It's not like you have a lack of choice with CoD4. It's unfortunate that you had that experience with TF2, but comparing the TF2 mod with the CoD4 is just silly. With CoD4, all you do is double click the server in Xfire, it goes ingame, and automatically downloads the mod. Not hard hey?

As to this whole port-forwarding issue, while it's okay for the console guys to happily forward their ports, for us PC people it creates a serious security risk. Not only are you opening the ports on your router, but you often have to open the ports on your firewall (or disable it complete, in some instances). Not a very nice thing, and further proof that A/B/IW didn't think this system through properly for the PC.
 
Errr, maybe a few people? Maximum? The normal guys have their servers (four of them), and the promod guys have their servers (three of them). It's not like you have a lack of choice with CoD4. It's unfortunate that you had that experience with TF2, but comparing the TF2 mod with the CoD4 is just silly. With CoD4, all you do is double click the server in Xfire, it goes ingame, and automatically downloads the mod. Not hard hey?

I think you missed my point. Not everyone wants to play Promod. I sure as hell don't. And how often are the non-Promod servers full? Certainly from what I've seen here and on the NAG forum, anyone who thinks they're anything in CoD4 plays Promod, lest everyone else think they're a noob. That's a pretty insular attitude there.

Also, this might seem insignificant to you, but XFire? I object to installing third party applications on principle. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Actually, on that topic, I was immensely unimpressed with PunkBuster in CoD4. It's an insidious little application ran on startup, reregistered itself to run on startup when I disabled it in msconfig, and sat in my system32 folder and wasn't removed when I uninstalled CoD4 despite the manufacturer's claims to the contrary. I had to manually remove it from my PC.

Yes, I'm being difficult here, but I'm presenting a side of the debate that I don't think you're considering at all.

As to this whole port-forwarding issue, while it's okay for the console guys to happily forward their ports, for us PC people it creates a serious security risk. Not only are you opening the ports on your router, but you often have to open the ports on your firewall (or disable it complete, in some instances). Not a very nice thing, and further proof that A/B/IW didn't think this system through properly for the PC.

Yup, that's true. I also read something a while back about a bunch of players that were having trouble with a worm that seemed to be propagating through MW2 online play (a somewhat unreliable story, however, as AVG later issued a false positive confirmation on the suspect file; of course, some players are still claiming a conspiracy). Having said that, this story does show that while your router is forwarding packets, any decent firewall is still going to flag suspicious content. The people using ICS setups are probably going to suffer, but that's true whether they're playing on PC or console (I know, because I ran a moderate NAT home network for two years).

But A/B/IW didn't think this system through? Of course they did. They're just prioritising their profit model over your system's security. Why is this so hard for people to accept? The gaming industry is a profit-driven industry, and anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.

I can also assure you that within a few years, the majority of PC online multiplayer is going this way. Get used to it, or get a new hobby. :P
 
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Erm.. no.

If this was the way, they never would have developed dedicated server code in the first place, because if you think about it PC MP was predominantly peer based in the early 90's, then the dedicated servers came onto the scene. so as for majority? maybe. but only by people who like to be strung along continually paying for something that's been free for many years. and that's makes you silly sheep not stupid
 
Erm.. no.

If this was the way, they never would have developed dedicated server code in the first place, because if you think about it PC MP was predominantly peer based in the early 90's, then the dedicated servers came onto the scene. so as for majority? maybe. but only by people who like to be strung along continually paying for something that's been free for many years. and that's makes you silly sheep not stupid

Remember the 80s and 90s? Gaming was such a tiny market, it wasn't worth monetising. It is now, though. Your argument is unfortunately completely irrelevant. Nobody likes paying for services that used to be free, of course, but that's not stopping people from doing so regardless - or stopping the people who are cashing in. For me, it's a question of paying or finding a new hobby. I'd rather pay.
 
I think you missed my point. Not everyone wants to play Promod. I sure as hell don't. And how often are the non-Promod servers full? Certainly from what I've seen here and on the NAG forum, anyone who thinks they're anything in CoD4 plays Promod, lest everyone else think they're a noob. That's a pretty insular attitude there.

How often are the non-promod servers full? Every single day, for atleast 4 hours of the day. How often are all the promod servers full? Maybe two hours, and thats simply because they have fewer slots available.

I didn't miss your point - you simply didn't make it clearly enough. As to an insular attitude, I'm sure you had that in TF2 as well? In fact, I seem to clearly recall an insular "omglookatthesen00bs" attitude in TF2. Singling out CoD4 as a community with such an attitude is both pointless and irrelevent.

Also, this might seem insignificant to you, but XFire? I object to installing third party applications on principle. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Actually, on that topic, I was immensely unimpressed with PunkBuster in CoD4. It's an insidious little application ran on startup, reregistered itself to run on startup when I disabled it in msconfig, and sat in my system32 folder and wasn't removed when I uninstalled CoD4 despite the manufacturer's claims to the contrary. I had to manually remove it from my PC.

Guess you don't have anti-virus. Or steam. Or skype. Or even an internet browser other than internet explorer. What were you saying in the other post about stupid principles...?

Oh, and I don't disagree with you about PB. I don't like it and I never have. But Steams VAC service is even more useless, tbh.

Yes, I'm being difficult here, but I'm presenting a side of the debate that I don't think you're considering at all.

Actually, I have considered it. I consider a third party app such as xfire to be a necessary "evil" for online gaming. Rather use a simple system such as xfire to manage your online servers than a flaky system such as the original MW1 server browser. If you want to stick with that dodgy server browser, be my guest, but it just seems odd that you don't consider the better alternatives available.

Oh, and before you accuse me of being one of those "1337" players who live on the promod server, let me just mention that I have over 500 hours on the various TDM/mixed servers, and less than 100 on promod (most of the time is made up of clannies). Furthermore, as a casual player, why would you have a problem with the "insular" clan players? They have their servers, you have yours. It's not hard to get a vanilla game, especially something such as MW1. If MW2 had had DS support, I can assure you it would have been exactly the same format as the MW1 servers.

Having said that, this story does show that while your router is forwarding packets, any decent firewall is still going to flag suspicious content. The people using ICS setups are probably going to suffer, but that's true whether they're playing on PC or console (I know, because I ran a moderate NAT home network for two years).

The thing is, although you may forward the ports on the router, you often end up having to forward the ports through your firewall, else it simply refuses the packets on principle. As a result, both the hardware firewall on your router and your software firewall are compromised. Thats not secure at all.

But A/B/IW didn't think this system through? Of course they did. They're just prioritising their profit model over your system's security. Why is this so hard for people to accept? The gaming industry is a profit-driven industry, and anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.

In a world where IT security is becoming a bigger issue by the year, a business model like that simply won't survive. People will wise up to the fact that it's hurting the security of their home networks, and they'll leave those ports closed. Which in turn means fewer hosts. Which means fewer games. Which consequently means a game that will die faster.

I don't disagree that the gaming industry is a profit driven one, but I believe they stand to hurt their own bottom line by ignoring security like this.

I can also assure you that within a few years, the majority of PC online multiplayer is going this way. Get used to it, or get a new hobby. :P

I disagree. Although A/B has gone this way, it looks as if EA (the other super-publisher) is going to continue focusing on DS. Which is the way it should be.

*edit*

Nobody likes paying for services that used to be free, of course, but that's not stopping people from doing so regardless - or stopping the people who are cashing in. For me, it's a question of paying or finding a new hobby. I'd rather pay.

Soooo, how many xbox 360s have you gone through thus far? :p
 
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