Ok a friend and I are tired of our current ISP, the local telco company, screwing us over with DSL. He is getting charged for his old dial-up account even after he changed it to DSL, so he is being charged for both. The Telco blocks server protocols so we cannot run TWGS, a Telnet BBS, a Web Server, Mail servers, etc.

Tried Speakeasy.net, but they do not offer ADSL in our areas only the more expensive SDSL and IDSL services at $120 and $90 a month respectively. D'oh!

I could not think of a forum to post this on, so I thought I'd try the anything goes Smack Talk forum. [:D]

If you are a GameOp and you run TWGS, what DSL company do you reconmend? It needs to be $50 a month or less, and allow a server to be run from the IP. It can be a dynamic IP, we got Direct Update to update the domain name every X minutes to the current IP using DynDNS, etc.

We might just have friends play it first so they can learn. Unless a GameOp wishes to run a private game for us to learn in? Right now I am trying to teach two people in a System 78 game, one of them has computer problems and I am trying to get his computer fixed so he can get online. He keeps having problems that prevent him from bringing his computer to me, so I can fix it. I have at least two other people interested in learning, maybe one or two more considering it. While I am not as knowledgable as Grazhoppa, I can at least teach my friends the basics of playing TW.

I would like to get a decent server running without having the ISP screw me over so I cannot run any server protocols or mess up the billing and charge us for services we may not be using.

Any help here, or am I beyond help at this point? [:P]

I could bang a training or private game, on my server, if you want.



Let me know..............

I belong to a startrek sim org and i've been getting people addicted for months now
I have enough of a following to start my own server.. .i'm running on cable from roadrunner. Though once the credit cards go away i will get T1 Not just for TWGS but you know what i mean.

i pay about 45 a month for roadrunner residential in my area

I do not have cable, nor do I want to. I would need cable to be installed to my house and in the area the server is located at. My friend feels the same way.

I switched from cable to Direct TV because the price was cheaper and it offered more channels for a lower price. Direct TV had me as a DSL subscriber when they bought out Telocity, and I could run a server off my DSL back then. Problem is that Direct TV dropped their DSL services and went satelite only. Satelite is cool, but I lose the connection when it rains or snows. Just pop a tape or DVD in when that happens to my TV service, but for server uptime it is not acceptable.

quote:Originally posted by TraderJoe

I could bang a training or private game, on my server, if you want.



Let me know..............






Sounds good to me. I will consider it. Are you interested in using custom game edits? I need to test them out before sending them to other servers. Nothing like having friends test out the game edits for me as I train them.

Just run the twgs on a port other than 23.

I did, I used 2002 and the ISP still blocked it. As soon as it went into the ANSI screen for the game it locked up. The Telnet protocol was blocked and only allowed X number of bytes to go through before the communication was shut off. Same thing with the BBS I was trying to run. Same thing with the web server, it loaded the HTML but not the images. Everything works fine locally and on the local network, but over the Internet something is preventing access. Yes the virtual ports are set to the server's IP on the DSL Router. When I had Telocity.com for DSL, nothing was blocked this way and everything worked.

It depends on the ISP. I use Time Warner (Roadrunner), and they don't block 23.

Also, OB as I've said before I'd be happy to host any games you want to put online.

quote:Originally posted by rompca

It depends on the ISP. I use Time Warner (Roadrunner), and they don't block 23.

Also, OB as I've said before I'd be happy to host any games you want to put online.


Great that is two TWGS servers we can use for a training game. Thanks.

I was going to fix my friend's system, but here in St. Louis we got hit with a blizzard ice storm today. The other day his car died and he was trying to get it repaired. I have a busy schedule and setting aside time is hard to do, but things keep coming up that prevent me from fixing his computer.

In other news, let me bash the ISP a bit. I have BASIC DSL service so they say I should not be using a DSL Router and should directly hook my DSL Modem to my system. Windows XP Pro has greyed out the PPPoE option and refuses to use it. The DSL Router needs to be reset a few times a day because it loses connections. I have had this happen with three different DSL Routers. Yet the ISP places responsibility on the router maker, and the router maker places responsibility on the ISP. I have multiple PCs that need Internet access. They won't tell me when my contract is up, they say I need to contact the billing department for that. The help desk runs by scripts and have yet to give me something useful. All they do is give me the run-a-round, refuse to help me because I have BASIC DSL service, and never take responsibility for downtime, blaming it on other factors. My local telco company is the ISP. So I will contact the billing department and see when I can cancel the service and find something else to use for DSL.

You should be able to attach the modem port (ethernet I assume) to a router. The router interfaces, or "talks" to the DSL link, and your computer(s) interface the router. That's how mine works anyway. Is there anyway to know if your DSL line is going down, or out-of-service? If so, when it restores, you may have a different IP.

Your DSL provider is probably using DHCP. If so, they may have the lease timers set low. I'm no expert on DHCP, as I have static IP(s)
in my area.

Just some thoughts...

If it -is- DHCP, check out DynDNS.org with a client (I use DirectUpdate) that will change the name to your current IP automagically when it changes.

Yes I registered Direct Update to use Dyndns.org and I also registered a domain name to use. ISP uses PPPoE and I think DHCP to assign an IP. Router is set up to use PPPoE and works fine until the connection goes down.

I suspect the ISP is checking for their custom software and if the custom software is not found (it is spyware anyway) the connection is shut down. I do not really need custom software, all it seems to do is eat up valuable memory and CPU resources and cause system crashes. XP has its own PPPoE driver that does not need their malware to work, nor does the Router need their malware to work. I can set up virtual ports on the router and assign it to a local IP address to run as a server.

Also I was told that they do not allow servers on BASIC DSL plans. I suspect they enforce this by blocking server protocols. I'd have to pay extra to get a static IP to run a server, which is way beyond what I can afford per month.

quote:Originally posted by Orion_Blastar

I did, I used 2002 and the ISP still blocked it. As soon as it went into the ANSI screen for the game it locked up. The Telnet protocol was blocked and only allowed X number of bytes to go through before the communication was shut off. Same thing with the BBS I was trying to run. Same thing with the web server, it loaded the HTML but not the images. Everything works fine locally and on the local network, but over the Internet something is preventing access. Yes the virtual ports are set to the server's IP on the DSL Router. When I had Telocity.com for DSL, nothing was blocked this way and everything worked.


The Telnet Protocol was blocked?.. You mean TCP.. You only have 2 really, TCP or UDP..

I think you have some duff hardware somewhere or maybee some misconfigured software. Try uploading a file somewhere, if you can upload more than 1 meg then that tells you that someone should be ablet do download more than 1 meg!.. It's basically the same thing..

I woulD probably tell you to run spyware/adware/anti-virus stuff first cause there are some really neat (err bad) things out there that muck with your connection..

quote:Originally posted by Doctor Who

The Telnet Protocol was blocked?.. You mean TCP.. You only have 2 really, TCP or UDP..

I think you have some duff hardware somewhere or maybee some misconfigured software. Try uploading a file somewhere, if you can upload more than 1 meg then that tells you that someone should be ablet do download more than 1 meg!.. It's basically the same thing..

I woulD probably tell you to run spyware/adware/anti-virus stuff first cause there are some really neat (err bad) things out there that muck with your connection..




I have been able to upload more than 1 megabyte, I have been doing so with a Yahoo briefcase to shuffle files between one computer and another.

The system has the following installed on it:

The Cleaner 3.5 (cleans trojans)

AVG 6.0 AntiVirus (cleans viruses and worms)

Spybot: Search and Destroy (cleans spyware/adware)

Nothing is found by any of these apps, all have been updated.

As I already have posted, server programs can be accessed fine by machines on the same local network as the system I am using as a server. It is over the Internet where it seems to have the problem. Looks to me like the server is being blocked somehow over the Internet.

Does the connection drop if you have a computer plugged into the modem, or only when you have the router plugged in? If they are "looking" for their spyware, then shouldn't the connection be resetting when you don't have a computer turned on ? If they are looking for their software, wouldn't they need to be using a port..sounds like packet sniffer time to me.

This may sound like Router 101, but are you using DHCP on the LAN side of your router as well?

As I said in my earlier post, after the connection drops, you're probably getting a different IP, when the connection restores. Then the router has the wrong IP, until it is reset.

Again, I would like to know if the connection drops, when nothing is plugged into the modem ( PCs or routers ). If it does, I would think you have a line problem between you and your DSL provider.


TJoe