Artless Gamer

A typical DMZ

Often enough it will happen that you can’t join a server, or can’t be joined in co-op mode of some game because of firwall issues. Some port is blocking proper communication over the network.

If you’re playing on a PC, the game manual will most commonly tell you which ports you have to open for the connection to work as intended. And if you’re playing on a console, there are usually a set number of ports that you have to forward to the console in order for games to establish a proper connection to the servers.

For new gamers, setting up port forwarding is already a daunting task. Router manufacturers haven’t really done much to make it easier on people who don’t happen to know the difference between a service and a rule, between port mapping, port forwarding and port triggering, or simply what a DMZ ist and how there aren’t really any DMZ’s on routers but instead DMZ Hosts.

You’re ready to play ODST, you fire up co-op play, you send a game and party invite to your buddy and all of a sudden you get the message that the party couldn’t be established because of some network problems. You get a chance to diagnose the issue but the offered solutions are often inane since they always lead to the same two suggestions “Contact support” or “Change the NAT type of your router”. Let’s ignore the fact that you can’t really change the NAT “type” on a common consumer router.

So, if you are a PC gamer you’re screwed. You have to port forward your way along until everything works. And when you think that all ports were configured, you probably still forgot something … like Punk Buster or some such cumbersome anti-cheating software that still isn’t properly integrated into games.

However, if you are a console gamer, then you are in luck. If you want to get rid of all your firewall problems in one quick step, then just place your console into a DMZ host. Most routers have this option and what it does it to pretty much open up all ports for your console, only.

Go here to receive instructions on how to forward ports and make other settings on your router.

I don’t recommend setting your PC into the DMZ, though. It leaves you open to all kinds of foul play. Only do this with consoles as they can’t be accessed by way of the internets.

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