2nd PC Connection - Firewall Rules Protocols

[JazzFunk]

Hi Peter,

I have always run JoinFS on a second PC which has worked fine for XP, P3D and 2020. I have just built myself a new PC and it no longer connects. I know that it is a firewall issue on the new PC but for the life of me I can't remeber which ports/protocols I allowed to let the remote version of JoinFS connect.

Would you be able to let me know what port(s) and protocol (TCP/UDP) that JoinFS is using. Thank you.

Kind Regards,


Ted.

[Peter]

Hi Ted,

If you have two computers using JoinFS behind the same router you need to do the following as an example.

1. Configure computer 'A' to have a static IP address, 192.168.0.100.
2. Configure computer 'B' to have a static IP address, 192.168.0.101.
3. Configure the router to port forward 6112, UDP-only to 192.168.0.100.
3. Configure the router to port forward 6113, UDP-only to 192.168.0.101.
3. Configure JoinFS on computer 'B' to 'Choose my own port', 6113.

That should do it.

Peter

[JazzFunk]

Hi Peter,

Thank you. I tried that but still no good. I have even applied the following rule to turn off the firewall for any traffic to and from the JoinFS PC on the FlightSim PC.

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Firewall Off IP 172.16.0.9 Inbound" dir=in action=allow protocol=ANY remoteip=172.16.0.9

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Firewall Off IP 172.16.0.9 Outbound" dir=out action=allow protocol=ANY remoteip=172.16.0.9

The only way it works is if I disable the firewall totally on the Private network in Windows firewall on the FlightSim PC - 172.16.0.5

My hardware firewall router is only blocking external traffic and internally it allows all, so the FlightSim PC Windows firewall is still blocking something!

Any more thoughts?

Kind Regards,


Ted.

[Peter]

I'm not sure, sadly. Basically, The JoinFS client talks to other JoinFS clients using a single UDP port. This port defaults to 6112 unless you specify a different one in the settings. Your network needs to be configured to allow this port to make connections, both internally, if you have multiple machines, and externally if you are connecting to other people/hubs on the internet.

Are there any Windows logs you can examine to see if something is getting blocked somewhere?

Peter

[ATC Roo]

Just to add my 50pence worth...

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Firewall Off IP 172.16.0.9 Inbound" dir=in action=allow protocol=ANY remoteip=172.16.0.9

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Firewall Off IP 172.16.0.9 Outbound" dir=out action=allow protocol=ANY remoteip=172.16.0.9

Is the remote IP correct in those rules?

I would imagine that the remoteip would need to be set to ANY or *

Those rules say to me that any traffic coming from 172.16.0.9 is allowed to go to 172.16.0.9

I maybe wrong though.

[JazzFunk]

@Peter - Yes I turned on logging and the only reieve I got from the JoinFS PC was using ports 51888 and 5355 going to 224.0.0.252

@ATC Roo - my FlightSim PC is 172.16.0.5 and that is where the rule is set. Basically all packets / protocols sent or receieved from 172.16.0.9 which is my JoinFS PC.

The easy work around is for me to turn off my firewall whilst I connect the JoinFS PC and then turn it back on again once the connection is made. Once conneted it remains connected even with the firewall back on.

I could also run JoinFS on the FlightSim PC directly. If I find an answer, I will post it back here.

Thank you for your help.

Kind Regards,


Ted.

[Peter]

Yes, please let us know if you find the cause of the problem. Most Windows default firewalls will simply ask when you first run JoinFS to which you can respond to allow through the firewall. That's normally the only course of action needed.

I think the 51888 and 5355 ports are the initial calls to obtain the hub list seed addresses and to obtain the external IP address. Everything else will be through the UDP port 6112.

Peter

[ATC Roo]

@ATC Roo - my FlightSim PC is 172.16.0.5 and that is where the rule is set. Basically all packets / protocols sent or receieved from 172.16.0.9 which is my JoinFS PC.

Ah that makes sense now.
For some reason I thought you were adding those rules to PC 172.16.0.9.

Have you tried the below?

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name= "Open Port 6112" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=6112

[JazzFunk]

By doing what I did, it opens up all ports using any protocol.

@ Peter - As an update, I am hearing that same problem is occuring with others in my FlighSim group so maybe it is a JoinFS issue after all. Have you added any new communications protocols / ports? BTW - 1.6.12 works.

[ianhammond]

Hi Peter,

with regards to the above I can also confirm the same issue with 1.7.3. What I also found while playing around is making our hub try and connect to XP makes the whole thing unresponsive and the hub cant be connected to and disappears off the list! a brief look at task manager saw the program using quite a bit of CPU resources on my admittedly tired server PC!

I'm sure you'll work some wizardry!

Thanks,

Ian

[Peter]

By doing what I did, it opens up all ports using any protocol.

@ Peter - As an update, I am hearing that same problem is occuring with others in my FlighSim group so maybe it is a JoinFS issue after all. Have you added any new communications protocols / ports? BTW - 1.6.12 works.

There are no major network changes since 1.6.12. Is it only affecting people with X-Plane?

Peter

[Peter]

with regards to the above I can also confirm the same issue with 1.7.3. What I also found while playing around is making our hub try and connect to XP makes the whole thing unresponsive and the hub cant be connected to and disappears off the list! a brief look at task manager saw the program using quite a bit of CPU resources on my admittedly tired server PC!

Sounds a bit odd.

Can you check to see if CPU thing happens with 1.6.12? To downgrade, it's best to uninstall JoinFS before installing the older one.

Also, are you seeing any messages in the monitor window?

Peter

[JazzFunk]

Hi Peter,

I can confirm that the issue only occurs with XP. 1.7.3 and works without issue from second PC with P3D and 2020.

The interesting thing is that if I disable my firewall and make the connection to XP, then re-enable the firewall the connection persists. So it is the intial connection that is the problem.

Anyway, at least we know now that it is only related to XP connectivity. Hope this helps in your investigation. As always, thank you for you brilliant product and your excellent support.

Kind Regards,


Ted.

[ianhammond]

Hi Peter,

As above, this issue is only when trying to connect to xplane. After playing around a little I decided to leave it at 1.7.3 for now. Your updates seem to come thick and fast so the little workaround will work just fine for now!

Thanks for your efforts

Ian

[JazzFunk]

Hi Peter,

Just wondered if you have had time to give any more thought to this issue?

I wondered if perhaps it had something to with the chnage you made when you fixed X-Plane connection from frequently dropping while in the X-Plane menus?

As previously mentioned, it connects installantly if I am using P3Dv5 or MS2020.

Kind Regards,


Ted.

[Peter]

Did you install the X-Plane plugin from the JoinFS Settings?

There shouldn't be any firewall issues connecting to ports on your own machine under the same system

Peter

[JazzFunk]

Hi Peter,

Sorry for the delay in replying. Yes I did install the plugin. As I say, P3D and 2020 work without issue, only XP has the issue. You will also not that I am not alone with this issue, as Ian has reported the same problem in this post with XP but not P3D or 2020.

I even made the JoinFS port the same number as my SimConnect port, as I know SimConnect is working from the 2nd PC but it still fails.

Kind Regards,


Ted.

[Peter]

I even made the JoinFS port the same number as my SimConnect port, as I know SimConnect is working from the 2nd PC but it still fails.

Not sure what you mean here. I wouldn't use the same port for JoinFS and SimConnect. Only one application can access a port at once.

Peter

[Peter]

Do you want to connect on Discord as it might be quicker to resolve the issue?

Peter

[JazzFunk]

Hi Peter,

That is very kind of you. I don't use Discord but I am sure that I can set it up. I will let you know when I have done that and at some convenient time, perhaps we can have a chat.

Good luck with your radio broadcast

Kind Regards,


Ted.