# VPN for LAN/Internet Gaming



## FordGT90Concept (Nov 29, 2010)

I was trying to get Empire Earth to work over Internet but it appears the master servers are down for the count.  The only way to play the game now is via LAN which I confirmed did work; however, it would be nice to play with a friend over the Internet so he doesn't have to come over here and I think VPN can do that.  Unfortunately, I don't know much more about VPN than what it stands for...

Anyone got suggestsions for VPN software to achieve what am I trying to achieve (LAN over Internet)?  I'd prefer free because it probably won't get used more than once a month.

Thanks in advance for suggestions.


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## Easy Rhino (Nov 29, 2010)

FordGT90Concept said:


> I was trying to get Empire Earth to work over Internet but it appears the master servers are down for the count.  The only way to play the game now is via LAN which I confirmed did work; however, it would be nice to play with a friend over the Internet so he doesn't have to come over here and I think VPN can do that.  Unfortunately, I don't know much more about VPN than what it stands for...
> 
> Anyone got suggestsions for VPN software to achieve what am I trying to achieve (LAN over Internet)?  I'd prefer free because it probably won't get used more than once a month.
> 
> Thanks in advance for suggestions.



have you considered using hamachi? i think you can use it for what you need.


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## copenhagen69 (Nov 29, 2010)

Easy Rhino said:


> have you considered using hamachi? i think you can use it for what you need.



best software out there ... used it for years with CnC games


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## FordGT90Concept (Nov 29, 2010)

Any reason to get the "managed" version?  It will just be one game with two players so it shouldn't be that complex.  It would be nice to run the VPN software on my server and both client computers connect through it though.


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## Virus-j (Nov 29, 2010)

I play with my Friends Using This Alot : http://www.gameranger.com/


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## FordGT90Concept (Nov 29, 2010)

That sounds like GameSpy; not what I'm looking for.


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## ocgmj (Nov 29, 2010)

maybe try: http://openvpn.net/


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## FordGT90Concept (Nov 30, 2010)

I was looking at OpenVPN and basically got really confused...

Hamachi and OpenVPN appear to be the main (free) technologies out there.  Hamachi is P2P and easier to set up.  OpenVPN is server/client and takes more work.  If I really want to have my server handle everything, OpenVPN is the better route to take.  At the same time, Hamachi would have better performance being P2P.

I really don't think performance would be a big problem with OpenVPN because the client computer is plugged in to the same gigabit switch as the server.  That leaves my primary concern being the difficulty of setting up and connecting.  My server already has Ventrilo hosted and configured.


Empire Earth requires 3 ports (33334-33336) to be forwarded.  Does that play in to it at all?


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## slyfox2151 (Nov 30, 2010)

since its technicaly over lan via a VPN, ports would not be an issue as long as Hamachie can connect fully.



all you do is install it, make it your default lan connection and your done!. its as simple as that.


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## FordGT90Concept (Nov 30, 2010)

It doesn't interfer with normal LAN activity by doing that?  Or do you have to set it to default whenever you intend to the run the game?


Edit: I can select what Network Adapter to use in Empire Earth.  So is it as simple as installing Hamachi on both computers running EE and changing the adapter to Hamachi's virtual adapter?


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## FordGT90Concept (Nov 30, 2010)

Hamachi is working great!


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## FordGT90Concept (Dec 1, 2010)

Well, Hamachi is a failure.  It turns out that EE requires all LAN players be within the same subnet 255.255.255.0.  Hamachi assigns IPs according to 255.0.0.0 subnet.  That obviously won't do (crashes when I attempt to start hosting the game).

Edit: OpenVPN was a failure too being way too complicated...


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## Mussels (Dec 1, 2010)

try tunngle, its like hamachi


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## FordGT90Concept (Dec 1, 2010)

Does that allow to set ip addresses?


Edit: Tried GameRanger--EE AoC CTD'd.


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## JrRacinFan (Dec 1, 2010)

Try out TeamViewer 5 it has the option to run VPN.


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## FordGT90Concept (Dec 1, 2010)

Tungle worked!    We played for about 30 minutes.  I was very surprised that it did work.  It doesn't look like the VPNing sort and English isn't its native language. XD


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