HL2 with linksys wireless router

[goose36]

Hey guys,

I have a linksys wireless router and I can't play any steam games online. I routed all the ports that are on their support page and still no luck. When I go to the main steam window, I could browse the servers but when I go to a game and look to play online, It doesn't find anything. I can't figure it out because like I said, I forwarded all the ports. Also, I don't have any problems with other games such as FEAR, BF2, CoD2, Madden, Quake, etc...

Does anyone have any clue about my issue? Thanks.

 

[torque79]

have you checked your server filter settings? I doubt this is the problem, but maybe they're set so restrictive you have no servers listed? perhaps you have your maximum ping set too low, and your ping is not great because you are using wireless?

you could try setting your pc temporarily to be a DMZ, so that it will accept all incoming ports etc. obviously you don't want to leave that permanent, but it will eliminate port forwarding as the problem source.

a friend of mine also had this issue before and we never figured out the problem unfortunately. with him just a few servers would show up though, not 0 of them.

 

[llama_man]

Do you have any other firewall / antivirus software running?

It's possible that at some point the process fires up an application that you haven't added to your "allowable" list.
Although in those cases, my computer tends to switch back to Windows desktop, or the AV window is still there when I quit out of the game.

 

[goose36]

All my server settings are the same as they were when I was wired. Also I have AVG Anti-virus + firewall. I have no problems when I plug my rj45 to it. Only when I unplug is when the issue arrives. I went over all my router forwarding and all is good to go. The part that I don't understand is that I could pull up all the servers in the main games steam window on the bottom of the windows, but in the game i get nothing. I looked for options in the game but none exist. It has me stumped. I heard of others having this issue with no resolution. I posted in the steam forumz but no one has an answer. If you come across anything, I would appreciate it. (I MISS MY Day of Defeat Source!!!! :x )

 

[torque79]

oh I see, I misunderstood. if the steam server browser is working fine (sounds like it is), then one of the latest patches must have damaged/disabled the in-game server browser. really not a big deal, since the steam server search engine is more robust and can search multiple different games if you wanted to.

it's weird the in-game server browser works when you're wired, it could be that they're badly designed for a high ping internet connection (wireless). If the steam browser works I would not lose sleep over it.

 

[goose36]

yeah but the problem is that even though I could pull up the server list in the main windows, when I go to join a game in progress it will not let me play online. I just freezes as it tries to attempt to connect. It's driving me nuts. Getting tired of AI. Anyway, thanks. Keep me in mind if you guys have any suggestions.

 

[torque79]

the only thing I can think of is disabling your virus scanner software. If you're running wireless B (not G), it could be bottlenecking there enough to cause problems. If you're on wireless G, maybe the source software is not well written to be forgiving for slight lag/ping delay from wireless sources.

you could also try temporarily disabling any wireless encryption/security to see if there is improvement.

unfortunately I have no means of testing HL2 in a wireless environment so I cannot know if it's specific to your machine or a general problem.

 

[goose36]

Thanks, i'll give it a try since nothing else seems to be working. What a pain in the a$$

 

[Wolfy]

What router are you using as well? I've a wireless linksys modem/router and have no issues with playing DoD:S online and I haven't had to forward ports or anything. I would suggest that if you can get as far as seeing available games the issue is not with your router.

 

[goose36]

I have the Linksys with Speedboost. No sure of the model (I'm @ work). @ this point, I'm going to back up my games and try re-installing steam to see what happens. I'm leaning to that @ this point because I have no other problems with any games except steam. Anyway, I'll try it and see what happens. Thanks Guys

 

[Morton]

How are LinkSys WLAN routers for multiplayer and Internet gaming? It seems my D-Link DI-514 is starting to falter too much after nearly three years of use and it might be time to get a new router in the near future. Since D-Link doesn't manufacture DI-514 anymore and many people have complained that the new DI-524 is worse than the DI-514, I'm really not sure which router in 40-80$ category I should get. I've read different comments at Newegg.com and it seems LinkSys WRT54GL is a nice alternative, while WRT54G and WRT54GS are not significantly better than DI-524.

 

[torque79]

I'd suggest reviewing the Router comparison charts on tomshardware. choose your criteria for what you intend to do with the router, look at the product comparisons, and choose one.

 

[Morton]

The router comparison chart is awfully vague. By the way, my DI-514 somehow mysteriously came back to life again from what seemed to be a complete death. I hope it'll last because many people have complained that WLAN routers manufactured since 2005 are genearlly worse than the ones produced in 2003-2005.