Hosting a game - Port Forwarding

A short guide to enable you to host open games of HoMM 3.

Introduction

Port forwarding allows remote computers (internet based players) to connect to a specific computer (yours) within a private local-area network (LAN). In the case of HoMM3 what this means is that without port forwarding online players won't be able to join your game. HoMM3 isn't the only game with this problem though. There are many games that require port forwarding and knowing how to do it will vastly enhance your online gaming options.. at least when it comes to games that aren't big enough to afford, or just weren't designed to have their own dedicated game servers.

Step 1 - Getting your IP address & Gateway

If you're on windows xp/vista/7/8/10 press the "win" key (see below) and "R" at the same time.

type "cmd" and click ok.

type "ipconfig" and press enter

Now you should be looking at something vaguely analogous to what's above. What you need is to find your IPv4 address and your Default Gateway. You'll need both of those addresses to configure your router.

For convenience from this point on I'll refer to your IPv4 address as your "ip", and your Default Gateway as just your gateway.

Step 2 - Accessing your router

Open chrome/firefox/whatever and type your gateway into the address bar. Press enter.

Your should now be in your router, or at least at a login screen. If you're not then you either used the wrong address or mistyped it.

If you're at a login screen check the bottom of your router for the login details. If they aren't there then sites like http://www.routerpasswords.com, http://portforward.com/default_username_password, or google are your best friends. If you still can't get in even with the default password then someone took basic security precautions and changed the default password. Get them to help you.

Step 3 - Forwarding some ports

This part of the guide is gonna suck. Sorry. Every router manufacturer uses a different interface and even different models from the same manufacturer can be entirely dissimilar. All I can give you are some basic instructions and you'll either have to figure it out (which isn't too bad on some routers), or start googling (fortunately there are websites devoted to showing you how to port forward on a miramid of devices)

Now you'll need to forward port 8766, 27015, and 27016 on both the UDP and TCP protocols. You'll need to forward these to the ip address you got earlier.

Step 4 - if it still doesn't work

You either did something wrong, or you have an overzealous antivirus/firewall. In the case of the latter look for some settings to unblock HoMM3. Most av aren't so bad so this is unlikely, however there are some that can cause trouble.

Step 5 - It was working, but now it's not

Sounds like your router doesn't remember its clients addresses. The right fix for this is to make it remember. There is usually a setting to reserve DHCP leases, or add a static ip (both are the same thing). Unfortunately since routers are so different from each other you are on your own here. However if you can't figure out how to do it on the router there is a less correct way of doing this on your computer (on laptops this is especially bad since it can cause you to not be able to access the internet when you use other people's networks).

First, repeat step 1. You'll need to know your default gateway.

On windows vista/7/8/10 press the "win" key the type "view network connections" then press enter

Open the one that doesn't have a red x on it. If you have multiple like that use the one that you think is your internet connection.

Click "Properties"

Find "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" and double click it.

Copy everything you see above except for default gateway, and ip address. You should use your own gateway, and the first 3 groups from your ip (eg 192.168.0). The 4th group can be any number from 2 to 255. Most routers prefer to start at low numbers and count up, so choosing a high number can save you from potential headache in the future.

Click all the "ok" buttons or whatever's needed to close everything.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 with your new ip address.

[HAQs]

You are a legend dude. thank you for this stuff

[Agar]

@gorian_v your router might have it's own "website" so to speak, depending on the manufacturer it could be tplinklogin dot net or other address like that, you need to google your exact router model to find out how to access it

[gorian_v]

Hello. My gateway is 192.168.100.1
I type it in the address bar and it tells me that the server is taking too long to respond. I am sure I have not mistyped the address, I checked multiple times. Help?

[siki]

i want to playyyy

[Milk and Honey]

How can i achieve some sort of matchmaking/linking up with other solo player online and playing games?

[Conniption]

I was having problems connecting with a friend just manually typing our ip's in and searching for host. But what's really awesome is that you can invite through steam friends! This worked wonderfully and we didn't have any problems. No disconnects or anything. Just right click and invite to game when you are the host in a online game lobby

[Keen]

Nice guide, I just dont get why did they have to make it complicated like this, why no lobby, like in AoE2 for example.

Thanks for the guide.