[KappaWing]

Alright so a few days ago my file sharing program told me I needed to make sure I had port 6346 forwarded. I went to http://www.canyouseeme.org/ and it said it was forwarded properly. Good, right?

Well today my file sharing program gave me the warning and said i wasnt forwarded. I was like WTF, then i went to canyouseeme.org and it confirmed that my port was not forwarded.

I dont even know what the hell port forwarding is, I read the wiki and still dont understand it. I dont have a router or any sort of wireless connection. The line runs from the back of my computer into a modem then straight into the wall. Some help on "forwarding this port" please? 

Edit: By the way I have an "Ethernet Adapter"

[BloodEagle]

Using a file-sharing (file-stealing) program is not a good idea.

[Ashrak]

your ISP has closed your ports, so you cant forward em.

[Ashrak]

Using a file-sharing (file-stealing) program is not a good idea.

file sharing != file stealing


not on any scale


i for instance published my essay on DC++ freely shared. people did not "steale" it they downloaded it.

[BloodEagle]

So it's not stealing if you download a full game the day it comes out? Thanks for the info. 

[Flipside]

Could be that your Firewall has fiddled with the port settings, though I'm not all that up on Port Forwarding etc either.

Some people do use Torrent files for sharing legally, though, I'll admit, it's probably less than a percent or two of the people sharing files.

[KappaWing]

Oh please people, if you want to debate p2p legalities please do so on another thread.

I was using standard windows XP firewall on default settings, which I recently turned off. Now I have no firewall at all.

Ashrak, could you go into more detail please? Could I reopen the ports by simply getting into my ISP-provided modem from my web browser?

[Scuddie]

Windows Firewall has nothing to do with it.  The only way a port is not getting through is if you don't have a program listening on that port. 

Anyway...
http://192.168.100.1/ is usually your modem's IP.  Unless it is a modem that has router functionality, you wont find the port forwarding information there.

Some router IPs:
http://192.168.1.1/
http://192.168.0.1/
http://192.168.2.1/

[KappaWing]

Thanks Scuddie, I was able to get into my modem but alas, nothing there.

And how do I get a program to listen on the port?

Probably a very stupid question but I don't have any idea what I'm asking. 

[Scuddie]

Have the program running and active.  That should be enough .

If you don't have a router, you might have to open the port unconditionally.  To do this, go to Windows Firewall settings (control panel), click the Exceptions tab, click the Add Port button, give a name and 6346 for both TCP and UDP.  Your port should be fully open from there, atleast as far as Windows is concerned. 

If you do have a router, you'll have to find a way to access it.

[KappaWing]

I did exactly what you said and it still didn't work. Must be my ISP being weird.

However, I fiddled around with some settings in my file sharing program and I was able to let it use other ports. Now it uses random ports within a specified range, and I assume one of them are open because I am not getting the error message again.

Thanks for the help!