Firmware: Latest (1.0.4.106_10.0.80) OS: Windows 10 x64
Hey there. I've been picking away at this issue for a day and it's been pretty tiring. I hope I can find some help here.
I'm trying to forward the TCP/UDP 25565 port on my router in order to enable a Minecraft server that my friends can connect to. My external IP address matches what's on my router, and I created an IP reservation for the desktop that runs the computer.
The IP reservation is 192.168.1.3. The port I forwarded on specifies 192.168.1.3 as the target IP.
I've walked through the port forwarding steps with NETGEAR helpdesk support and a technician, and did things like set my PC as the DMZ (did not work), connected my PC directly to the modem (did work, so my ISP isn't an issue), and I also swapped the router out for a new one at the store. I've also added a custom inbound rule on my firewall to make sure that's not causing any issues, and set my NAT type to Open for the time being while I try and figure this out. I use netstat in the command line to double check and make sure something's listening at the port, and I use yougetstatus.com to check if the port is open or not.
Therefore, I believe the issue is not related to hardware, not related to my steps setting it up, and that there's gotta be something everyone is missing while we've been troubleshooting. I'm really not sure what it could be.
Here is another weird issue: when I assign a device name for the IP reservation of my desktop, the device name doesn't propogate to other fields. For instance, if my desktop was named QyoooDesktop in the LAN reservation, it doesn't show up as QyoooDesktop in the list of devices to attach the port forwarding rule to.
I've been digging around and it seems like there are a lot of similar port forwarding issues listed all over the net, and I'm really not sure if the damn router model itself is just screwy for some reason. Please help.
> My external IP address matches what's on my router, and I created an > IP reservation for the desktop that runs the computer.
What _is_ that address? If you're worried about revealing secrets, then the top half of the address, "a.b" out of "a.b.c.d", would satisfy most of my curiosity. Or, plug that address into the form at: https://whois.arin.net/ , and see if it is a public or private address.
> The IP reservation is 192.168.1.3. The port I forwarded on specifies > 192.168.1.3 as the target IP.
Sounds good.
> I've walked through the port forwarding steps [...]
That's a little vague.
> [...] connected my PC directly to the modem (did work, so my ISP isn't > an issue), [...]
What is your "the modem"? Is it a modem, or a modem+router, or what?
> [...] I've also added a custom inbound rule on my firewall [...]
What is your "my firewall"? Software on the Windows system, or a separate box, or what?
> [...] I use netstat in the command line to double check [...]
That's nice, but I can't see your command or its output.
You seem to have "2" and "3" covered, from what you say.
> Here is another weird issue: [...]
The number of complaints around here, across various models and firmware versions, regarding the names in an Attached Devices report beggars the imagination. I would not hold my breath while waiting for Netgear to fix the problem(s).
> I've been digging around and it seems like there are a lot of similar > port forwarding issues listed all over the net, [...]
Thanks for the helpful links. Many people have trouble with port forwarding, but many people also don't understand it well enough to spot the causes. With Netgear router firmware, many defects are possible, but I can't remember a case where the router was the cause of a port-forwarding problem.
(Unless, that is, you count the D7000v2, where NAT loopback doesn't work, so any use of the WAN IP address from the LAN tends to fail. But even there, it still worked from the outside world.)
I have figured out the issue at this point; for some reason the port was forwarding correctly, but my firewall was blocking the request. I went ahead and tested a few things, including disabling my firewall, just to confirm that everything was going well. Seems to be working fine now.
When I say "My external IP address matches what's on my router, and I created an IP reservation for the desktop that runs the computer", I know you're just trying to confirm that I know what I'm talking about, and I appreciate the steps you take here to make sure that a user didn't miss anything simple. However, that wasn't the issue 😛
For what it's worth, when I say "I've walked through the port forwarding steps", what I mean is that I set up the port correctly according to the netgear tech I was on the phone with. Give me some credit here, I was workin' on it for 12 hours. 😛
When I say "my modem", and I'm talking about a separate router, I'm talking about the modem provided by my ISP (Charter Spectrum). You can assume that it's separate from the router considering I listed a separate router in the title of the post.
When I say "my firewall", it's Windows Defender Firewall. Useless gd program, lol.
For netstat, I used "netstat -a -n" and then read through the TCP/UDP addresses to see if there were any ports listening at those addresses. This is what led me to understand that my firewall was blocking requests.
As a lesson for future people having trouble port forwarding their routers:
1.) Check everything on the host computer that could potentially block the port, such as the firewall.
2.) If the Netgear tech tells you it's defective, it means they hit the end of their script. Try a few other things.
3.) Reply to this forum post if you'd like to receive any troubleshooting tips from me for setting up a Minecraft server. I went through hell and I won't let you go through it if I could help it.
Let me know if you have any further questions--nothing to do these days except chat about port forwarding on the Netgear community forums.
@Qyooothank you very much for your sleuth work and write up. I have one follow-on question:
> ...for some reason the port was forwarding correctly, but my firewall was blocking the request.
Can you offer a micro-tutorial on how to tweak Windows Defender to stop blocking the reqeust? (I'm sure I can figure it out, but you've been down that path...)
I'm on Windows 10 x64 so I'm not sure how this'll apply elsewhere. In the end I had to take down my firewall completely just to confirm that it's working--this will tell you whether or not the firewall is the problem, lol.
