Can host (portforward) but can't join?

I set up my router to portforward, and people can join it perfectly fine.
But I can't join other games that players have portforwarded. What could be the cause of this problem?

 

Have other people managed to join a port forwarded server that you were trying to join? It might well be possible that the problem is due to the host and his/her network configuration (e.g. NAT related settings).

 

Two others.

 

Due to my lack of knowledge, I need more information about the problem.

To start with, the person hosting the server, is he/she using your local network or somewhere else across the globe? Also, the people joining that person's server, are they on the same network or again somewhere else across the globe? One more thing, were you the last person to join this server?

 

We're all in different locations in the world.
I was just curious if you could give an answer like "it could be this, this, or this". Could firewall rules be blocking things like this?
I don't need to know if it's something on their end: that's not my problem and I shouldn't be worrying about it. (unless it's a common issue with people and it's going to severely hamper my ability to join anyone because of circumstance) If there's no possible way that the statement "I can host, but I can't join a perfect server" could be true, then tell me and I'll chalk it down to a freak occurrence.

 

"I can host, but I can't join a perfect server" <--- Very strange in my book. Generally speaking, I have heard a lot of cases where people couldn't successfully host. This is my first time where I hear about someone that can host but can't join other servers where other people have joined.

Frankly speaking, it is most likely an issue on your side rather than theirs. It might well be due to your firewall settings blocking connection to other external ports. Try disabling your firewall momentarily. Note, you might have two firewalls. One being the windows default firewall while the other one due to your antivirus software.

One more thing worth testing because RoR sometimes suffers from software based problems. Go to steam and verify your game cache integrity. I know a person who had this case which fixed his networking problem (although his problem differs from yours but worth a shot).

Another thing, other people using other games such as Terraria and what not seem to have suffered from the same problem as yours.

 

Thanks for your advice, I know I gave very little information to begin with.
I'll try running it from a different computer too, to see if that helps.

 

Don't worry about it . That's why I had to ask a question or two at the start .

Cool, that would be very helpful. Once you do, post what happens and I will probably be able to give follow up suggestions.

Oh one more thing before I forget, hopefully this isn't your problem but you can't join other servers when they are currently ingame. You have to wait for them to be in lobby in order to successfully connect.

 

Here is the thing. Port Forwarding is pretty literal.

When Hosting:
The problem arises when 2 way communication - inbound & outbound requests - are trying to be established.

When you set this up, on your router, you are doing just that; forwarding a specific port to your computer( server ) over the LAN( Local Area Network ). The computer that requests that port first - within the LAN, will have the port available for 2 way communication( inbound & outbound requests ), all other unsolicited incoming requests for this port will be denied. Only ONE computer can have this port access at a time.

Any computers on the same side of the router( locally ), do not need any forwarding what so ever, as the forwarding is ONLY for access from outside of the network: i.e. to the www( World Wide Web ). This way, the requests coming from the outside( www ), are not stopped at the router's firewall, and are ... ready for this? ... FORWARDED to the hosting computer.

When Joining:
Again, the problem arises when 2 way communication - inbound & outbound requests - are trying to be established.

When one computer( client ) is just trying to connect to another hosting computer( server ), ports do not need to be forwarded on the client( your ) computer. This is because you are allowed - by the router's firewall - to make all the www requests you want. Remember, the router ONLY stops unsolicited incoming answers/requests; i.e. answers/request that you have not specifically sent out for.

If you sent a request out, and are waiting for an answer, the packets will say so to your router. So, if the client( your computer ) cannot connect to the server, then the SERVER's ports are not configured properly! NOT YOURS!

ONE MORE ASPECT:
Network Address Translation( NAT ). This is becoming common place in new routers, and introduces a whole new set of problems.

Though that sounds helpful, it causes more problems, and exposes incorrect router/port setup on the hosting( server ) computer's side.

Please note sentence 3:

Take the languages of Spanish and Italian, for example. Though they construct sentences sort-of similar, and have several words in common, they are in fact two separate and identifiable languages.

Seeing as they are more heavily latin-based, they can communicate with each other in basic terms very easily: "Hello", "Goodbye", etc, etc. They do this better than Chinese or English can with one or the other. NAT is similar, and improper setup can cause these differences to be exposed; thus confusing the router's firewall.

This is due to the NAT not interpreting correctly between the two devices.

BOTTOM LINE:
You can't connect to your friend's server, because they have not set up their router properly. Trying turning your NAT off, and see if you can connect. Fail that, if they are friends, have them TRY turning off NAT, and try again.

Hope that helps!

 

Best and most beautiful wall of text ive seen in a long time 10/10 would read again

 

Wall? I wouldn't call it a wall; I used the ENTER key, as well as punctuation ... I even threw a header or two in!