Can't get my server set to public

[tnvarmint]

So first off, I know this is asked a thousand times over. I have spent the last 3 days researching on many different forums and reading posts all the way back to 2010 or so. Nothing seems to work. I am sure it is something very simple that I am missing but for the life of me I can not find it. Just for reference, I am not a network guy by profession but I have spent the better part of the last 30 years as an Electronics Technician in both the US military and as a civilian. I have worked on and with computers all the way back to the early 90s. I am by far more of a hardware guy and built my first PC in the early 90s. So with that being said, I know a little of what I am doing but forgive me if I ask stupid questions.

What I am using:
Repack - Ac-Web Repack V-0.8 64Bit
The repack is being run on a small PC that is hooked to my home network. It will be for my kids and their families and a few friends.
Router - Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X
Switch - Cisco SG100D-08 v2 (This is a small Cisco 8 port unmanaged switch)
DNS - Free DNS through noip.com

What I have done:
I opened the ports 3724 and 8085 forwarded to 192.168.2.180 (IP of the WoW server on my network). For the Ubiquiti router you have to specify the WAN interface which is set to eth1 (where the modem is plugged into the router) and also the LAN interface. I initially had the server PC connected to the switch so the LAN interface was switch0 (this is the port in which the switch is plugged into on my router. I have also tried hooking the server PC directly to the router on eth3. I verified that the ports were open using both portchecktool.com and canyouseeme.org. Both sites said the ports were open.

I then set up a free DNS using noip.com. It is a type A DNS and I use their DUC tool to refresh the IP with them every 5 minutes. I have also pinged the DNS from my main PC and got an average ping of 23ms with 0 packets dropped.

I have edited the system32 hosts file to contain my IP and the DNS and rebooted afterwards (wasn't sure if a reboot was needed). I have read several different posts saying that changing the hosts file is not needed any longer in Windows 10 and have tried it with the default.

I changed the IP address in the SQL auth>realmlist table to my external home IP. Then rebooted the SQL, auth and world servers.

Currently, I can connect locally from the server PC when the SQL is set to 127.0.0.1. I can also connect from any computer on my home network when using the server PCs local address of 192.168.2.180. Whenever I try to connect at this to the server PC with my main PC using the external IP set in the SQL realmlist, I get a "cannot connect" error on the WoW client at login. I did try and connect to the server with my main PC with its realmlist.wtf set to the local IP of 192.168.22.180 and the SQL realmlist set to the external IP. I was able to get past the login but got stuck at the realm select.

Because I didn't mention it above specifically and I am sure someone will ask, I am changing the WoW client's realmlist according with each attempt (i.e. when trying to connect to it publicly I use the DNS address from noip.com).

I have also disable ALL firewall and anti-virus on the server PC (it is a fresh install of Windows 10 so only have Windows Defender on it) to the best of my knowledge.

If anyone has any idea of what is going on or what I have not done correctly, I would greatly appreciate it. I tried posting on the Ac-Web forums but apparently new members can't post new messages and can only reply to current ones. My second post where I tried to ask some questions about my issue was sent for moderation and after almost 48 hours is still not posted. Hopefully someone here can help!

 

[Dood]

If you're using a DNS, I'll assume you have registered a domain. This domain should be entered as your realm address in your auth db, rather than your external IP. Nor should you need to use the IP associated with the domain. In fact, your external IP doesn't need to be used at all. Once you've set the domain as your realm address in the db, this should also be the address your clients connect with. From what I gather, this seems to be the only issue here. If you are using apache to connect via a webpage, make sure port 80 is open aswell. I hope this helps.

 

[tnvarmint]

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't mention it my original post but I had tried that already. I just tried again and no good. I tried it with both an edited hosts file and default hosts file. This was with rebooting the SQL, Auth and World servers afterwards (not entirely sure if they need to be each time but only take a minute). I did not reboot the PC after changing the hosts file. From what I was reading you don't need to do that but if someone can confirm that or not I would appreciate it.

And yes, as I said, I am using a DNS from noip.com. The DNS is XXXXX.gameserve.com and is associated with my external IP. As far as I know, it is working as it should be. I will say that when I pinged the DNS from my main PC, it came back with an IP different from my external. I assume that this is normal and that they are making the connections on their end to tie the two different IP together (the one IP that was pinged with the DNS address and my external IP).

 

[tnvarmint]

Well I may have just found the issue and if I am correct, it isn't my fault. When I do a nslookup for my DNS it comes back to 35.186.238.xxx which from I just found is linked to Google in CA, which is on the other side of the country from me. From what I just read on the noip.com knowledge base, you should be seeing your external IP when doing a nslookup, which I am not.

So I just tried several different things unsuccessfully. With this new IP, I tried changing my SQL realmlist to it and connecting from my client with the DNS...no go. I then tried changing my hosts to resolve the new IP to the DNS...no go. I changed the host file back to my external ip...no go. I also tried just setting the SQL realmlist to my external IP and my client relamlist to my external IP...still nothing. This bring up the question. From my understanding, the reason for the dynamic DNS is for if/when your ISP changes the IP on you, you won't have to have everyone connecting update their client realmlists correct? For me this is not really an issue. I would say in the last 20 years, over several different ISPs, I have very rarely had them change my IP on me. My current IP has been the same for the last year that I know of. Could I not jsut do away with the DNS all together and just use my IP? In my case, with just family and a few select friends (maybe 20 or so people connecting and not all the same time), passing out a new IP every few months at most would not be an issue. That being said, I can connect using just my external IP currently either so still got to get that fixed.

 

[Dood]

Yes, that is normal. The IP it is responding with is the one associated with the server your domain is hosted by. And no, you shouldn't have to restart your sql every time you set a new address. When you query the database, you're referencing values as they are, in realtime. It doesn't hurt to reboot, but it's not necessary. But honestly, I'm at a loss. All I can assume here is that the correct ports aren't open, or in the right fashion. I've had different experiences with different routers myself, so even that is a possibility.

On my personal server, I have all three ports forwarded to the internal IP of my hosting PC. 3724, 8085, and 80. It's most important that the router knows which PC in the network to look at, so it must be the internal IP. As for the DNS, I'm doing the same as you. The domain address is set in the 'localhost' column in the 'realmlist' table. Aside from all that, the only item left is the client. If all of these things are set correctly, and you still can't connect, I'd look into how your ports are configured. Or consider the possibility that something else is foul with your router.

 

[Dood]

Right, yes, the target IP on no-ip should be your external, but if it's coming back with something else, that is weird. Are you using a VPN, by chance? Anyhow, it should also work by just using your internal IP as the localhost and circumnavigating no-ip all together, but that shouldn't be necessary, if all proper steps have been taken.

 

[tnvarmint]

This is my router config. Stupid question, does it matter which port is first in the port forwarding? Probably stupid but I am grasping at straws at this point.

EDIT: Added a link because the other is so dang small.
Dropbox - Router.jpg - Simplify your life

 

[Dood]

The image resolution is kinda bad, because it's still a bit small, but if the ports are 3724 and 8085, and those are the ports reflected in the repack for realm server and world server, that should be correct. As for the ip, only you can confirm that, but if it's in fact your internal ip, that is also correct. Protocol also looks like it's set to TCP, so no issue there. No, the order doesn't matter either. Now, that same ip should be in both your localhost column as well as the connecting client, and that's all there is to it. Ideally, anyhow.

 

[Dood]

Lol, I just saw the dropbox link. My bad. Yes, it all looks correct.

 

[tnvarmint]

So I seem to have fixed the issue somewhat anyways. I updated the firmware on my router and that allows me to connect via my external IP address. I still can't use the DNS, but I think that has to do with noip.com not resolving the IP to my IP. I have a ticket in but they seem pretty slow when dealing with the free service.

 

[Dood]

That's good to hear. I'm glad it's working, at least. I knew there must've been an issue on your end if it wouldn't connect via IP, but the DNS thing is bizarre. Have your tried to register another domain? You get 3 free ones, so it wouldn't hurt.

 

[tnvarmint]

I finally got a reply back from noip.com and they are saying that my ISP (Charter/Spectrum) must have two IPs assigned to my modem. I really find that hard to believe when the other IP that is coming up on their end is one that belongs to Google. I could be wrong but I doubt that Google gets their IPs from Charter/Spectrum.

As far as the DNS, I went ahead and got a cheap hosting package from a place I have used before and set it up through them. Everything is working great now. I truly appreciate the help you gave me Dood!

 

[Krowten]

I finally got a reply back from noip.com and they are saying that my ISP (Charter/Spectrum) must have two IPs assigned to my modem. I really find that hard to believe when the other IP that is coming up on their end is one that belongs to Google. I could be wrong but I doubt that Google gets their IPs from Charter/Spectrum.

As far as the DNS, I went ahead and got a cheap hosting package from a place I have used before and set it up through them. Everything is working great now. I truly appreciate the help you gave me Dood!

Who did you end up hosting through?