CANNOT SET UP PORT FORWARDING ON MULTIPLE DEVICES????

[Mr.Deltoid]

How on my 2wire settings can I open the same ports up for multiple devices?  For instance I have TWO Playstation 3's in my house and I created user-defined ports for better connection to the servers so my roommate and I can play games online.  HOWEVER, the router settings will ONLY allow ONE COMPUTER to use those ports.  So either his device gets those user-defined ports or mine does.  I know that in the year 2012 it sounds ridiculous that AT&T would do this to us, so it must be me who can't figure out how to get this configured.

Another way to ask the question is: how can I choose "DMZPlus" for multiple computers?  It only allows me to have DMZPlus for one computer on my network.  I have several computers in addition to two PS3's in my house, and because I can't figure this out we have to choose which ones are slow and which ones are fast.  

So, what's the deal?  How do I accomplish this?  

[JustinF]

Hi,

I apologize you are having this issue. Please tell me the model number of your 2wire and I will provide you information on how to open the ports for multiple computers.

Thank you,

JustinF

[Mr.Deltoid]

JustinF:

Thank you!  I appreciate your help.  The device is a 2WIRE i38HG, SSID: 2WIRE278.  The serial number is 361129024278.

More examples of what I'm asking:

I want to open port TCP 80 for both playstation computers.  I named that user-defined application as "PORT 80."  If  I select it for my PS3 then it's good to go.  However, if I go to my roommate's PS3 and select "PORT 80" the error message is as follows:

<<Errors "PORT 80" is currently assigned to XXXXX

To reassign "PORT 80" to this computer, you must first remove it from XXXXX and then add it to this computer's hosted application list.>> 

Why is this happening?  What do I need to do to get around this?  both Devices need access to port TCP 80!!!

Also, how can I set multiple computers to "DMZPlus" mode?  If I choose one, it works.  But if I select another one to have "DMZPlus" mode, it assigns it to that computer, but puts the other computer back to "maximum protection."

Thank you for your help!

[Mr.Deltoid]

I still don't have an answer on this.  I'm shocked that no one knows how to answer this question.

[JustinF]

Hi,

I once again want to apologize for the issues you are having. After thorough investigation, it does appear that only 1 device can have a certain port number open at any given time. The only way 2 devices can have the same ports open is if one device is put into DMZ mode and the other device has a user-defined pinhole. I am still awaiting information from the manufacturer, I hope we can get a firmware update to resolve this issue. The only other way around it is to put the modem into bridge mode and hook up another router behind it. I hope this information is useful.

Thank you,

JustinF

[Casteele72]

[edit: deleting and reposting.. since this forum's editor totally mangled everything..]

[Casteele72]

Urgh.. This forum's reply editor mangled everything.. Please forgive the double reply and any tet/formatting that gets mangled.. Trying to edit to correct it..

You cannot accomplish what you are asking for, if I am understanding you correctly.

Came across this while searching Google for another issue.. But since I know the answer to this, thought I'd go ahead and answer it for ya..

It's not possible to assign the same port to two different computers through a single point of entry (IE, port forwarding). The reason for this is because when some TCP/IP (Internet) program tries to connect, it connects to your device which does the port forwarding. When it connects, it sends two pieces of information: The IP address of the *FORWARDING* device (typically, a router, NOT the final computer that's waiting for the connection), and a port number. The forwarding device has only this information to work with, so if it receives a connection request for port 80, it has no way to know if you want to connect to your device, or your brothers device, because it has no further information to make that decision.

Think of it like a telephone number. In the U.S., telephone numbers are (3-digit area code) (3-digit exchange) and (4-digit subscriber), like (AAA) XXX-SSSS where AAA is area code, XXX is exchange, and SSSS is subscriber. Imagine if the phone company tried to assign the same number to you and someone else.. If someone calls the number, who's phone should it go to? In TCP/IP, it's much the same, except that it's normally AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD [:NNNN], where A, B, C and D are your IP address (technically, subnet number and host address, much like the area code and exchange part of a telephone number), and the :NNNN part is the port number.

Normally, we do not need to enter the port number in applications like a web browser, because the port number is assumed to be a "well-known" port, such as port 80 for HTTP, the protocol that serves HTML (and other) web pages. But the port number is *REQUIRED* when your browser tries to connect.. It's just that your browser is smart enough to silently add the :80 to what you type, without forcing you to type it. But it's there in the data that your web browser sends in the connection request.

What you *might* be able to do, depending on what it is that you want to do, is assign a different port to one of the PS3's--FOR FORWARDING PURPOSES.

For example, assign port 85 to the second PS3. Then, when you configure your port forwarding device, configure it to forward port 80 to your PS3 using port 80, and port 85 to forward to your brothers PS3 on port 80--that is, the forwarding device MUST change the port 85 TO 80, but not until it forwards the connection.

Something like this:
Receiving Port: 80 -> Forwarding IP: 192.168.1.102, Forwarding Port: 80 -- This is your PS3
Receiving Port: 85 -> Forwarding IP: 192.168.1.105, Forwarding Port: 80 -- This is your brothers PS3; Note that it "translates" port 85 to port 80 when it forwards the request to your brothers PS3.

Of course, this may not work for all situations, because you have to be able to tell other programs to use port 80 when they want to connect to your PS3, and port 85 when they want to connect to your brothers PS3. Web browsers usually allow you to do this by typing a URL like http://my-home-ip:85, where the :85 overrides the default port 80, even though the forwarding device will just translate it back to port 80. The only purpose of the port 85 change is so the forwarding device can determine who's PS3 to forward to. If you want to play a game, however, unless the game allows you to specify which port to use, you're out of luck.

Hope this was clear enough..