Model 5352/5354/5360: Online gaming

NOTE: This answer applies to Zoom Cable Modem/Router Models 5352, 5354, and 5360.

Read this answer if you are going to use your Cable Modem/Router for online gaming. Some online games require you to make changes to your firewall. This answer explains the different ways you can modify the firewall to allow your online gaming system access.

Gaming

If you are using your router for gaming, you may need to make changes to the router’s firewall setting for the game to work. This is done by setting up a DMZ or using Port Triggering so that the Cable Modem/Router’s firewall won’t block the other players from your system during your gaming. The main difference between the methods is the amount of access someone has to your system.

A DMZ allows access on all ports of the computer. Because of this, DMZs are less secure and should be used with caution with your computer. However DMZs work well with gaming stations since security is not as much of an issue for gaming stations as it is for computers.

Port triggering works by sensing when data is sent out on a predetermined outgoing port and then automatically opening up the corresponding incoming port(s). It will automatically forward the traffic on the incoming port to the computer that accessed the outgoing port. If your game uses one port to send outgoing data and a different port (or ports) for incoming data, you may want to use port triggering. You do not need to know the IP address of your gaming station to set up port triggering. You will need to know which ports your game requires you to open. This information is usually available with your gaming software or you should be able to find it by searching for it on the web.

• If you want to set up a DMZ for your gaming system, go to DMZ Host.
• If you want to set up Port Triggering for your gaming system, go to Port Triggering.

DMZ Host

The DMZ (De-militarized Zone) Host page allows you to configure a network device (e.g. a PC or gaming system) to be visible directly to the Internet. This may be used if a game doesn’t work with port triggers or if you are using a gaming system, where security is less of a concern.

To set up a DMZ for your gaming system, you should first assign your gaming system a static IP address. Normally the Cable Modem/Router handles assigning IP addresses to the different devices on your network using DHCP. However DHCP does not guarantee that your device will always get assigned the same IP address. The DMZ needs to know the IP address of your gaming system to work, if the IP address changes the DMZ will not work. Because your IP address could change over time you need to assign a static IP on your gaming system. To setup a static IP address on your gaming system, please refer to your gaming system’s documentation. If you no longer have the documentation that came with your gaming system it usually can be found online.

When assigning a static IP address to your gaming system you should select an address that is outside the IP addresses assigned by the Cable Modem/Router’s DHCP server. By default the DHCP Server assigns addresses from 192.168.0.10 to 192.168.0.255. We recommend using 192.168.0.5 as the static IP address for your gaming system.

To set up a DMZ for your gaming system:

1. Follow the instructions for your gaming system to assign a static IP address. We recommend using 192.168.0.5.
2. Next access the Cable Modem/Routers configuration menu by launching a Web browser on a computer that is directly connected to one of the router’s LAN ports.
3. In the browser address bar, type http://192.168.0.1 and press the Enter key.
4. In the Login screen, enter:
   Default username: admin
   Default password: admin
   Both the username and password are case sensitive. The default username and password are printed on the back label (next to the yellow LAN ports) of your unit.
5. Click the Login button to access the Cable Modem/Router. The Status page appears.
6. Click Advanced in the menu bar.
7. Then click the DMZ Host submenu. The DMZ Host page appears:
   
8. Enter the last byte of the LAN IP address of the static IP address you assigned to your gaming system. For example if you assigned 192.168.0.5 enter 5.
9. Click Apply.

Your gaming system should now work with all your online games.

Port Triggering

Port Triggering works by sensing when your game sends data out through a specific port. The outgoing data signals the router to allow the incoming game traffic to be passed through the firewall on the correct port. Since the ports are only open when you are gaming, port triggering is a very secure method for online gaming.

To set up port triggering you need to know what ports your game is using and whether they use TCP, UDP or both on those ports. Typically this should be included with your gaming software. If it is not included, try entering the name of your gaming software followed by “ports used”.

Some games use the same ports for both incoming and outgoing traffic, while other games use different ports for incoming and outgoing traffic.

Example: World of Warcraft

Below is an example of setting up the popular game World of Warcraft for port triggering. Looking online, we find that World of Warcraft uses the following ports: 1119-1120, 3724, 4000, 6112-6114, and 6881-6999. We can also find out that these ports are all TCP. In this case the same ports are used for both incoming and outgoing traffic, so we would use the same ports as both the triggering port and the target port as shown below.

To set up port triggering for World of Warcraft:

1. Launch a Web browser.
2. In the browser address bar, type http://192.168.0.1 and press the Enter key.
3. In the Login screen, enter:
   Default username: admin
   Default password: admin
   Both the username and password are case sensitive. The default username and password are printed on the back label (next to the yellow LAN ports) of your unit.
4. Click the Login button to access the Cable Modem/Router. The Status page appears.
5. Click Advanced in the menu bar.
6. Then click the Port Triggers submenu. The Port Triggers page appears. Click Create button to create rules.
   
7. We will need to setup 5 triggers for World of Warcraft. The first rule would cover ports 1119-1120. Enter 1119 in the Trigger Start Port field and 1120 in the Trigger End Port field. Since these ports are used to send data both directions enter 1119 in the Target Start Port and 1120 in the Target End Port.
8. Select TCP in the Protocol drop down menu since these ports use TCP.
9. Enter a name for this rule, for example WOW1. Click Enable then click Apply. Your new rule will appear in the table.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 for the next rule. In this case only one port is used, 3724. Enter 3724 in the Trigger Start/End Port and Target Start/End Port fields.
11. Repeat steps 7-9 for the remaining ports that need to be opened. When you are complete the table should look like this:
    
    If your online game does not work and you are sure that you entered the correct ports on the port triggering page, check to see if you have a firewall running on your computer that is preventing you from playing your online game. This firewall may be either the built-in Windows firewall or may be part of a third party security package you are using on your computer. You will need to allow access through these firewalls to be able to play your online game.