Problem to get into multicrew or same instance while playing on the same LAN

[Requiem Mortis]

For others that may not be aware.

With regards to setting up Port Forwarding and using a different port for each client, see....

How do I set up port forwarding?

Port forwarding is commonly used to resolve problems encountered when connecting to the Frontier Servers, or to other players. It is especially important to enable port forwarding if UPnP is disabl...

customersupport.frontier.co.uk

Quote
"You will need to forward a UDP port. We usually suggest port 5100 but you can use 5101, 5102, 5111, or 5200, using the in-game options.

Tell Elite Dangerous which ports to use:
1) Head to the main menu in-game. If you are currently logged in, please return to the main menu by selecting Save and Exit from the Escape menu.
2) Open Options.
3) Go to Network.
4) Set Port Forwarding to On.
5) Set Mapped Port Number to the number you chose on your router in Step 1.

Elite Dangerous will now use port forwarding instead of UPnP."

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

I actually followed a different set of instructions, and in our test, did not set up port forwarding correctly on the router - i did it for TCP, not UDP. I will have to try that, too. Thanks!

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

Sooo, we just figured it out. (Edit: No, we didn't, see one post further below.)

Short version: Windows Firewall was blocking the direct connection between both computers. Switched it off on both computers. This solved both issues.

If you don't want to switch it off, what you'd need (according to my Wireshark sniff), would be to allow UDP for ports > 54000 between local hosts AND otwards the game servers if you use the standard UPnP configuration, or of course, the UDP ports you selected in ED's network settings of each client (they should be different if on the same network) if you chose Port Forwarding.

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

And... the problem is back, in both ways. Apparenty, it was just a coincidence that instancing worked fine after we disabled the Windows firewalls. Since then, we had two attempts to instance and two to multicew (one me joining her crew, one she joining mine). All four were unsuccessful, with the same errors as before. We made sure Windows firewall is still disabled on both machines, so that is NOT, I repeat, NOT the issue.

This does not just concern combat instances, by the way, but starports as well (5th test right now). HOWEVER, when I tested there, at some point (when I left the starport and re-docked later), she could see me, but I could not see her. She docked off and on again, and suddenly I could see a ship of the same type as hers at not quite the position of her wing signal, but with a generic paint scheme (so not hers). I follows the ship out, selected it as my target, and saw that it was a ship of the same name as my wife's, but with no CMDR (or even NPC) name as the owner, and no faction or squadron ID.

We restarted our clients, and could now see each other just fine - at least in the starport instance (that is, near the starport, we were both docked off when restarting the client).

It seems we'll have to create support tickets for this.

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

In a further test, after restarting our clients, we ended up in one of those weird asymmetrical situations: Now I could see her, but she couldn't see me. I even could shoot away one shield ring, and she, despite having actually lost that shield ring, STILL COULD NOT SEE ME!

Ticket is opened, I'll post any updates I get from them here.

 

[Enkelas]

i have done some research and it seems this issue is being spoken since a lot. i have seen post in reddit from even 6 years ago.
some post said that they solved the issue with the upd port forwarding manually. other involved also editing AppConfig.xml file from game and doing the port fw.

i know it is sometimes very frustating not been able to play together.
let us know what supports says

 

[GroG79]

So are you both on a fixed connection? Access points or wireless extenders are not always capable of routing internally. Also make sure your DNS servers are set on both computers to your router. This will allow the computers to find each other. If you use a external DNS you can not resolve IPs internally. (unless wired.. Cause broadcast; which is not available on most wireless networks)

 

[Esteban]

very interested to hear the solution - hope you get one soon!

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

So are you both on a fixed connection? Access points or wireless extenders are not always capable of routing internally.

Our computers are sitting about 20 cm away from each other and about 4 m from the wifi router. Other network connections between both machines (such as SSH) work fine.

Also make sure your DNS servers are set on both computers to your router. This will allow the computers to find each other. If you use a external DNS you can not resolve IPs internally. (unless wired.. Cause broadcast; which is not available on most wireless networks)

Both machines use DHCP for IP address and DNS server allocation.

 

[GroG79]

So is your dns server internal or external like the (evil) google dns?

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

So is your dns server internal or external like the (evil) google dns?

It is, which I would have thought to be pretty common, a service running on the router.

ED doesn't use DNS for client-to-client communication anyway, for obvious reasons.

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

Monday evening, and the ticket is still "open" and apparently not seen by anyone. Pressing thumbs...

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

Does anyone have any experience on how long it usually takes for them to look at a support ticket?

I mean, especially the fact that one can be invisible to some other player and still damage them.... that's a bug that seriously needs to be fixed, no?

 

[Ettanin]

Disable UPnP and choose two different ports (1 machine for port 5100, the other 5102 for example). Refer to the network settings.
Then manually forward these ports in your router to the respective machines.

Some routers have a faulty UPnP implementation.

 

[LKx]

Have you ever tried to set one machine on a smartphone hotspot just to check if it works or there are some other issues (like issues on hosting the session inside your LAN, in that case i'd expect some tries to work and some others not)?

 

[Bravo17]

I know this doesn't really help you, but I have used multi-crew with one steam and one epic client without an issue, so it is possible. I didn't even have to fiddle with any of the ED network settings or anything like that either. I guess that I was just lucky with my setup, but it shows that it is possible and that there are factors at play other than the way ED is programmed.

I use a wired connection to an Asus AC3100 router which is connected to the Xfinity gateway/router/modem.

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

Disable UPnP and choose two different ports (1 machine for port 5100, the other 5102 for example). Refer to the network settings.
Then manually forward these ports in your router to the respective machines.

Some routers have a faulty UPnP implementation.

We tried that (both earlier and just now again, to be sure), no effect at all.

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

Have you ever tried to set one machine on a smartphone hotspot just to check if it works or there are some other issues (like issues on hosting the session inside your LAN, in that case i'd expect some tries to work and some others not)?

No, we haven't tried that. Might be worth it, thanks for the suggestion.

EDIT: Indeed, the problem persists when going via a mobile connection for one of the two! So it is not network-related at all! I would not have expected that!

 

[Sophokles Logimo]

I know this doesn't really help you, but I have used multi-crew with one steam and one epic client without an issue, so it is possible. I didn't even have to fiddle with any of the ED network settings or anything like that either. I guess that I was just lucky with my setup, but it shows that it is possible and that there are factors at play other than the way ED is programmed.

I use a wired connection to an Asus AC3100 router which is connected to the Xfinity gateway/router/modem.

On rare occasions, it does work for us, too, but about 9 out of 10 times (ballpark figure), it does not.

 

[LKx]

No, we haven't tried that. Might be worth it, thanks for the suggestion.

EDIT: Indeed, the problem persists when going via a mobile connection for one of the two! So it is not network-related at all! I would not have expected that!

Next try, hotspot both machines to remove the LAN variable!