No servers in BF2142 list, and all history servers are red

Bedford2007 · 07-04-2009, 08:20 PM

I was getting booted a lot for packet loss.
I decided to set up port forwarding on the new DIR655 router we got.
The TCP and UDP ports in the 2142 "manual" are different than the ports on the support.ea.com website which are different than the PortForwarding.com website.

So I used the website ports.

Whenever I set up the portforwarding ports on the router and log into BF2142 it takes > 1 minute to log in and then there are no servers on the list. If I look at the History tab, all the servers there are red.

Taking out the port forwarding, gives me back the server list, but I know I will only play a little while before getting kicked.

Help please

Bedford2007 · 07-04-2009, 08:39 PM

So I just deleted the port forwarding rules in my router. The logged into BF2142 ver1.50 and there were about 56 servers. I logged into one of them and played for about 10 minutes. It was a little jerky, i was only manning Titan guns so there was no movement for me. Then Punkbuster kicked me because of Losing Key packets. Undoubtedly because PB ports are not opened
These are the ports that support.ea.comn said were needed

TCP: 80, 443, 4711, 9960-9969, 1024-1124, 17475, 17567, 18000, 18060, 18120, 18300, 18510, 27900, 28910, 29900

UDP: 9964, 16567, 1024-1124, 1500-4999, 18000, 18300, 18510, 27900, 27901, 28910, 29900, 55123-55125

**LogicalHarm** · 07-04-2009, 10:02 PM

Is UPNP enabled on your router?

Bedford2007 · 07-04-2009, 11:09 PM

UPNP is not enabled. I heard that was a big security hole so I have never enabled UPNP

**LogicalHarm** · 07-04-2009, 11:46 PM

Well of my v.limited router knowledge I'd say you should start there.

You've got the port numbers and you've obviously tried to forward those ports in your router. UPNP basically just does this for you so you don't have to set up static IP's etc. I've never heard of it as a security issue, as it's controlled by the applications on your machine (as I understand it).

Enable it and see if there's any difference. At least it will rule out some things.

Bedford2007 · 07-05-2009, 12:48 AM

Thanks for your comments. I did try to enable it, and it made no difference. It is very wierd that enabling the port forwarding makes the servers disappear.
It used to work fine up until a few weeks ago. And I can't figure ot what might have changed to make the difference. For the time being just so I can get my BF fix, I put my computer in the router DMZ (not something I like to do) I played for an hour and now I am turning DMZ off.

**DrBeat** · 07-05-2009, 12:49 AM

Did you ever run PBsetup? Doing a clean punkbuster install can never hurt.

Bedford2007 · 07-15-2009, 05:27 PM

I have even tried the router DMZ (which I assume should bypass the need for any port forwarding, and I still get booted because of packet loss , and notice my ping goes up to 700+.

Just now, in DMX with no port forwarding, it got unplayable jerky on the server, so I voluntarily disconnected, and when I refreshed the server list it was empty, and my 3 favorites that I saved all had a red light icon.

It is beginning to become frustrating.

If anyone has a router and could tell me which TCP and UDP ports you have set up.
BTW I am using static IP address for my gaming computer, and I have verified that the IP address I see in CMD: IPCONFIG /all is the same IP I have the ports forwarded to on the DLink DIR-655 Advanced > Port Forwarding page

Thanks to anyone who has replied, or will reply.

**PM07SNV** · 07-17-2009, 12:45 PM

Port forwarding is only needed if you are hosting the server and allowing others in, which your not. You are not restricted going out, so that is the wrong place to be looking for answers. You do not need any port forwards set up.

**Lorax74** · 07-17-2009, 04:07 PM

As others have mentioned, you should not have to forward any ports to play 2142. Disable the DMZ, it's basically putting your PC outside of the firewall which is probably something you don't want to do. I would suggest resetting your router back to factory defaults and redo the essential configs (DHCP range, admin password, etc) before you get things too out of whack.

I would look at a few things outside of the router:

network cable, try a different one if you haven't already
p2p (peer to peer) apps, have any running on your home network?
what the other pcs are doing on your network, assuming there is more than one.

p2p apps can really kill a connection...

Bedford2007 · 07-21-2009, 05:11 PM

Thanks to everyone fpr their comments. Especially grateful were the comments about not having to worry about port forwarding (thanks PM07SNV).

I have played BF2142 for a long time without problems and problems only started recently. The Packet loss problems seemed to have stopped since I re-enabled UPNP (thanks LogicalHarm).

Lorax74: Since most of the boots I get are high ping, I suspect my problem may be related to by College son home for the summer, sharing our home network, downloading -- things I am sure I prefer not to know !.

Thanks again for everyone's help

(Dr Beat I will also try a fresh install on PB, since it is PB that is always booting me lol )

**BigMcLarge** · 07-21-2009, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bedford2007

Since most of the boots I get are high ping, I suspect my problem may be related to by College son home for the summer, sharing our home network, downloading -- things I am sure I prefer not to know !.

I normally ping around 60-70 to the TG main 2142 server, but here and there, when my oldest son is home, my ping will suddenly push up to around 500!!! Quick run down two flights of stairs, tell him to knock off his download, streaming, whatever, that he's currently doing, run back up two flights of stairs and continue to enjoy my decent ping. I pay for the internet connection, and my game time is already pretty limited, so when I want to log on and play, I become the "Boss of the Bandwidth".

**jazy2** · 07-22-2009, 09:34 AM

Why not throttle the bandwidth in your router settings so that the majority of it goes to you when you need it? I'm sure most other people would know more about this than I. I just remember seeing it in my router options somewhere.......

**LogicalHarm** · 07-22-2009, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazy2

Why not throttle the bandwidth in your router settings so that the majority of it goes to you when you need it? I'm sure most other people would know more about this than I. I just remember seeing it in my router options somewhere.......

Unfortunately I think only a few routers do this. It would be very useful.

If your son is using torrents, one thing that can kill a whole connection is ISP throttling. Make sure that you have transport encryption enabled: this will end the throttling and improve speeds while a torrent client is in use.