uTorrent/port forwarding trouble!

[Less Than Liz]

Sorry, no help forum anymore so I get to bore all of you with downloading troubles.

So, hypothetically, this individual I may or may not know uses uTorrent. She has never had any trouble downloading anything, although sometimes it can be temperamental, but generally it has worked out well. Suddenly she cannot download anything, though she can still upload. She tested whether or not her port was forwarded and received a "no" answer and went and opened that particular port. Unfortunately, torrents are still not downloading and this port is still showing up as blocked or closed or whatever. She tried switching ports, randomizing ports, etc and has had the same result. Also, the program itself is (allegedly) an exception to the firewall as well. She also tried limiting the scope of these (allegedly) opened ports to her wireless IP address alone, as she has this much better router connected to a poorer router and so that they may share a cable connection (Roadrunner.) She finds this whole ordeal bizarre considering she has had no problems thus far.

Anyway, suggestions and advice?

[moogle]

The thing you're probably missing is creating a static IP. I copied this guide from What.cd:

Help! My ports are blocked!
You've probably arrived at this guide to help solve that problem. The goal is to fix your blocked ports and rid your torrent client of its "NAT Errors".

This page, for the most part, will assume that you're connected to the internet like this:
Cable/DSL modem -> Router -> Computer
It is irrelevant whether or not your computer is connected wirelessly, or if your router and modem are one unit.

But what's a NAT Error?
A NAT Error means that other computers on the internet are unable to connect to yours. This is normal, because most routers block all incoming connections by default.

Your router has an external IP address. You can see it at WhatIsMyIP (http://www.whatismyip.org/) or IPChicken (http://www.ipchicken.com/). Your router assigns your computer an internal, or local, IP address. This internal IP address will be in one of the following formats:
192.168.X.X
172.16.X.X
10.X.X.X
The idea is to set your router to take any incoming connections directed at it, and forward them to your internal IP address.

How do I forward my port?
PortForward.com hosts many excellent guides (http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm). Find your router on the list and follow the instructions.

What ports do I forward?
Look for a "Listening port" or something similar in your torrent client's settings. You should not have it set from 6881-6889, because many ISPs throttle or block traffic on those ports. It is good to just choose a random port between 10000 and 65535.

What IP address do I put in the port forwarding settings?
You put your internal IP address into your router's port forwarding settings. Here is how you find your internal IP address:
In Windows, go to:
Start -> Run -> cmd -> (Press Enter or click OK) -> ipconfig -> (Press Enter); It will be listed as IP Address

In Mac OS X, go to:
System Preferences -> Network -> (select the network connection with the Green dot) -> Configure

Do I choose TCP or UDP?
You will be presented with the option to forward your port on TCP or UDP, or both. You definitely do want to forward TCP, because that's what all torrent traffic travels over. UDP is optional, and does not affect torrents on private sites such as this one. UDP is used for your client's DHT service that allows you to find more peers on public torrents. Forward UDP as well if you use DHT and public torrents a lot.

What's this about a static IP address?
If your port forwarding guide mentioned that you should have a static IP address, then read this.
Your router automatically assigns your computer an internal IP address, like 192.168.1.101. But sometimes it will assign your computer a different IP address, such as 192.168.1.102. This often occurs because another computer connected to the router has already taken .101. This presents a problem because, for example, if you have your listening port forwarded to .101 and your IP address changes, it will no longer be forwarded correctly and you will receive a NAT Error. It is recommended that you follow this guide (http://www.portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm) in order to assign your computer a static internal IP address. In Windows, if you find that only one DNS server is listed, then leave the Alternate DNS Server box empty or throw in an OpenDNS (http://www.opendns.com) address like 208.67.222.222 as backup.

Contrary to what the guide says, though, you should set your static IP address to a relatively high number, so that other computers on your network never have a chance of being assigned that number automatically (causing a conflict). For example, if your IP addresses are currently ending with .101 or .102, you should set yours to .244 or something, in order to avoid any conflict (.255 max).
A word of warning:
When you set your static IP address, you had to specify the DNS servers. In the future, your ISP may change these addresses. So if you ever have connectivity problems, change back to a non-static IP address and see if your DNS servers need to be changed to new addresses.
Oh no it killed my internet
99% of the time, when your internet connection stops responding after setting a static IP address, it means that there is a typographical error somewhere. You incorrectly typed in the IP address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, or DNS Server(s).

Port Test
Make sure that a torrent is running, then use one of the following links to test whether your port is now open or not (replace 12345 with your listening port):
http://what.cd/user.php?action=connchecker (recommended)
http://www.utorrent.com/testport.php?port=12345
https://www.grc.com/x/portprobe=12345
http://www.canyouseeme.org/
http://www.checkmyports.com/indexen.php?doscan=yes&port=12345

My port isn't open. It said:
Stealth/Blocked, with timeout/Connection timed out/Error!/Locked
Are you sure that you clicked the Save Settings button after setting the port forwarding rules?
Are you sure that you forwarded the correct port to the correct internal IP address?
Does your modem also have a built-in firewall that must be configured?
Are you sure that you had a torrent running and listening on the port that you tested?
Closed/Actively Blocked/Error!/Locked
Are you sure that you forwarded the correct port to the correct internal IP address?
Are you running any software firewalls (such as Norton Internet Security, ZoneAlarm, or Sygate) that could be blocking incoming connections? Note that the free version of ZoneAlarm does not allow you to open your ports under any circumstances.

[Less Than Liz]

When I check if my port is open (I'm using the uTorrent site), should it say the port number on [my IP address]? Because I'm getting an address that isn't my IP.

EDIT: Nevermind. Everything seems to work fine - even download faster - using Bittorrent instead.

[Karsh]

I'll open your port for you....nyuck nyuck nyuck

[dutch]

Newsgroups blow away torrents like no tomorrow, tell your friend to look into it.

[Polygon]

Newsgroups blow away torrents like no tomorrow, tell your friend to look into it.

My friend would recommend anyone else's friend try Usenet.

[Nickoten]

Don't newsgroups and usenet cost money?

[Polygon]

Sure do, but they're worth it. If you want it, Usenet has it.

[generalelectric]

Sorry, no help forum anymore so I get to bore all of you with downloading troubles.

So, hypothetically, this individual I may or may not know uses uTorrent. She has never had any trouble downloading anything, although sometimes it can be temperamental, but generally it has worked out well. Suddenly she cannot download anything, though she can still upload. She tested whether or not her port was forwarded and received a "no" answer and went and opened that particular port. Unfortunately, torrents are still not downloading and this port is still showing up as blocked or closed or whatever. She tried switching ports, randomizing ports, etc and has had the same result. Also, the program itself is (allegedly) an exception to the firewall as well. She also tried limiting the scope of these (allegedly) opened ports to her wireless IP address alone, as she has this much better router connected to a poorer router and so that they may share a cable connection (Roadrunner.) She finds this whole ordeal bizarre considering she has had no problems thus far.

Anyway, suggestions and advice?

your "friend" is screwed. ha!

you has child porn virus. :eek:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573085,00.html

[Jun]

/facepalm

[Elon]

Azerus, with the frog. All the way. Be sure can scan these torrents you are downloading friend. Don't want to be using the SODDI defense.