# Gaming: UPnP or Port Forwarding



## EastCoasthandle (Nov 10, 2009)

This is a question I like to discuss because I honestly don't know.  Which is better UpnP or Port Forward when trying to play games online?  If you use UPnP doesn't it present a security risk as it doesn't require authentication meaning that someone can open ports remotely if they breached the modem?


----------



## Mussels (Nov 10, 2009)

port forwarding locks it to the one IP address, so if you use multiple PC's or have IP addresses that change, they wont work.

UPNP is designed so that it forwards and unforwards as-needed, preventing that issue.


That said, UPNP doesnt always work well, so port forwards are the more reliable option.


----------



## WarEagleAU (Nov 10, 2009)

+1 to what Mussells said.


----------



## [Ion] (Nov 10, 2009)

I have my router set up so that my desktop always has the same address (in my case, 192.168.1.122).  I then set it up so that it forwards traffic to my desktop.  No issues here, easy to set up (I already had Tomato ), and seems secure.


----------



## RejZoR (Nov 10, 2009)

Mussels said:


> port forwarding locks it to the one IP address, so if you use multiple PC's or have IP addresses that change, they wont work.
> 
> UPNP is designed so that it forwards and unforwards as-needed, preventing that issue.
> 
> ...



This applies mostly to broken crap routers. If you have a decent linux based router, UPnP is pure poetry. I've replaced 3 Linksys routers till i bought WRT54GL and flashed it with Tomato.
I live peacefully ever since. UPnP works like a charm on 3 systems (2 laptops and 1 PC) that are behind hardware firewall.


----------



## Mussels (Nov 10, 2009)

upnp works well for me in most situations, but i find others (utorrent, some games) that it doesnt - or its erratic.

EG with utorrent (on many routers and smoothwalls) i've found the program gets the port, but 'releases' it randomly, causing erratic speed issues.


----------



## RejZoR (Nov 10, 2009)

I've had terrible problems with WRV200 router from Linksys. Using UPnP was impossible. I've changed two WRT54G models and both were randomly hanging, even on low network usage.
WRT54GL with Tomato works fine regardless of the load. I can run 3 eMule's on 3 systems at the same time or eMule+uTorrent and it never hangs. In fact i haven't rebooted it for months.


----------

