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[Sabertooth]

Greetings!

I saw another old thread that visited this subject but doesn't really answer the question. What exactly is the difference between Virtual Server and Port Forwarding besides the obvious one port limitation of the virtual server configuration?

I'm running WebcamXP to stream a camera switcher via a Pinnacle DV/AV capture card. Previously, I had everything working fine through a pretty old Linksys BEFSR41v3. I have configured DynDNS to manage the IP address using their application (not the router). I have also configured the application to use port 8000. In the Linksys I had configured port forwarding for port 8000 TCP/UDP and everything was peachy keen.  Using the exact same port forwarding configuration with the DLink DIR-825 did not work at all. The Virtual Server setup did work but Zonealarm now blocks all incoming traffic for the camera server in spite of being correctly configured as evidenced by it working fine with the Linksys. I can get the Zonealarm to accept the connections if I reduce the Internet zone security level to medium, something I'm not too happy about. So it seems the Port Forwarding is different from the Virtual Server which is somehow different than the Linksys (as far as Zonealarm is concerned).

Edit: 3/23/2009, 11:37EDT - Today, I've been re-testing and, to my complete bafflement, WebcamXP and Zonealarm and even Port Forwarding are all working as expected. I'm really scratching my head now. I'll continue to monitor for a couple days on this one. Looking at the time it takes to reboot/recalibrate the router, perhaps I was too quick to cruise the camera after setting the router? So, for now, nevermind.

Observations and suggestions gratefully accepted.
TIA
Sabertooth

[Sabertooth]

Greetings!

I had some time for testing with a friend this evening. I'm happy to report that all my tests worked whether I used Virtual Server or Port Forwarding. The difference between Virtual Server and Port Forwarding seems less and less. I tested the following apps first with Virtual Server then with Port Forwarding:

Webcam XP HTTP streaming and WebcamXP Windows Media ASF streaming, 8000, 9001
Hamachi VPN, 2 pc's using different ports, 8200, 8400 on the local LAN supporting Ventrillo Voice Messaging client and server with secure tunneling to my friend on the WAN side, 3784 via Hamachi.

Everything worked almost...Ventrillo gave me a headache when my friend was connecting to my Ventrillo server but was quite happy when I connected to his server so I may roll back a server update that my friend didn't apply and see if that's the problem. (Edit: fixed with an adjustment to Zonealarms Trusted Zones.) It doesn't appear to be an issue with the router at any rate.

I am still curious about the difference between Virtual Server and Port Forwarding? In particular, the difference with port forwarding requiring a reboot and virtual server not needing to reboot the router? Might it be possible to change the port forwarding to not need the reboot in a future firmware update? I don't operate these services 24 hours or even on a regular schedule requiring me to open and close the ports as the need arises. It's a bit of a bummer to have to dump the whole network while the router reboots in order to configure the port forwarding. Currently I can manage with the Virtual Server for most things but the change would be nice.

TIA
Sabertooth

[Lycan]

Check out this FAQ.

http://support.dlink.com/faq/view.asp?prod_id=2778&question=WBR-2310_revB%20/%20DIR-615_revC%20/%20DIR-625%20/%20DIR-635%20/%20DIR-655%20/%20DI-604%20/%20DI-624%20/%20DI-634M%20/%20DI-724GU%20/%20DI-724U%20/%20DI-804HV%20/%20DI-808HV%20/%20DI-825VUP%20/%20DI-LB604%20%20/%20DIR-450%20/%20DIR-130%20/%20DIR-330%20/%20DIR-615%20/%20WBR-231

[Sabertooth]

Greetings!

>> Check out this FAQ.

Ah, now I do see the difference with the port redirection pointed out in the FAQ (and the range of ports difference we knew of before). Interesting and actually something I might use at some point. Thanx.

Do you think a reboot will always be necessary to change the Port Forwarding? It seems that, while the two aren't exactly the same, they may not be so different as to forego such a change? Dumping the entire network to open a port seems a bit harsh and most other routers I've used haven't required such.

Thanks for the reply!
Sabertooth

[Lycan]

A reboot is required for the port forwarding because it's a change in the routers firewall rules, whereas a virtual server rule can applied on the fly.