Im behind router and giving this a try.
But which ports should i open up or does it matter much?
OMP uses 2 kind of connections: TCP and UDP.
An OMP client will have to establish an outgoing TCP connection to the server first. This should be no problem with most routers/firewalls. If so, create a TCP forwarding for the appropriate server's TCP port FROM your machine TO the internet.
Second, the client needs to send UDP packets to the server on a dynamically assigned port. Normally, this is no problem, too. If it is, create a UDP forwarding for all ports TO the appropriate server's IP FROM your machine.
In addition, the client needs to receive UDP packets on a certain port. This is the biggest problem, because many routers/firewalls don't forward UDP packets FROM the internet TO your machine. OMP supports 3 different UDP "modes" to circumvent this problem:
1. Standard mode - in this mode, a NAT traversal technique is used. It works by means of reusing the port that was used for sending TO the server for receiving FROM the internet. This is also known as firewall piercing, UDP hole punching etc. Unfortunately, there are still many setups that don't support this method.
2. Server-LAN - this mode is really only needed for people hosting servers. It is intended for clients WITHIN the server's LAN, that should be reachable from the internet, too. Therefore, for the casual user, this is not the right option.
3. Custom mode - this mode supports two additional parameters: client's IP and receiver port. You can enter arbitrary values here, the server will send all packets to the appropriate address. Of course, the IP and the port should be your public IP-address and the port you've forwarded FROM the internet TO your machine, so your client really gets the UDP pack...
There are several ways to detect if any of those connections is missing, but these are the easiest:
1. If you don't have working TCP, you'll get that immediately - OMP will simply refuse to connect.
2. If you're connected, walked through the dialogs, the session starts up and you see your time acceleration stuck to x0.1, you most of the time suffer from the UDP-problem. To be sure, you can enter "\ls" in the chat-window and check the result. If your client shows only numbers without vessel names, you are sending UDP, but you're unable to receive them. If your client shows nothing at all, you're not even sending UDPs.
Be sure to add orbiter.exe to your desktop's firewall exceptions, too. For both TCP and UDP.
regards,
Face
BTW: A tunneling feature is on its way, hopefully lowering the entrance barrier.