UPnP capable?

[Shadoza]

We are running a hot spot currently with FirstSpot Some customers want to play games online with their service. Is there a way for the server(FirstSpot) to use UPnP so that those people can play the games?

[alan]

The current FirstSpot should allow client PC to play game with no problems. One thing is that you might need real IP, in that case you just need to turn off NAT within FirstSpot.
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[Shadoza]

We would love to give out real IPs but the gentleman I spoke with on the phone said that we would have to manually configure all of the routing. That is something that I am not familiar with. What would manually configuring the routing tables take to do? I would love to give all of the users their own IPs so that way it is easier to track any abuse and also not jeopordize the whole system when the phone company wants to shut down an IP (the only one running the whole firstspot network.)

Shawn

[alan]

Well, you need to setup a "return route" in the next-hop router. It is not difficult to do, but you do need someone with networking skill to figure it out correctly.
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[Shadoza]

We have numerous next hops. It is a wireless system that uses mesh topology. I can see a minimum of 7 hops before it reaches the customer, and those hops use a mesh topology so the route it takes will not always be the same. Or the user may go through 10 different APs in a single day.

Does this pose a problem?

[alan]

I am not 100% sure. The key is that you need to inform your router where the return packets go.

The other alternatively is to take advantage of our "ProxyARP" feature. There is no need to setup return route in this case. Refer to chapter 3 of firstspot_guide.pdf for details.
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[Shadoza]

Please correct me if I am wrong.

So if in the routing tables we set up for the server to send packets to the first device, and that device to send packets back to the server, everything else can do it's own thing like it already is and it should be okay?

[alan]

Consider a simple case first:

Client PC -> FirstSpot -> Router (set the return route here) -> Internet

If the client PC has IP like 10.20.7.x, you need to inform the router that the "return" traffic needs to go to FirstSpot. Note that for forward traffic, it is determined by "default gateway". Using the above example, the return route will be like:

10.20.7.0, 255.255.255.0, 192.168.0.4

(this mean all the return traffic goes to 10.20.7.x will be forwarded to 192.168.0.4 - assuming this is the public IP of FirstSpot).

As you can see, if you turned on NAT within FirstSpot (default setting), there is no need to set the return route in the router as all client traffic will be looked like 192.168.0.4 from the router point of view. In that case the router will know where to send the return traffic to (since it belongs to the same subnet, it will just use ARP).
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[Shadoza]

Oh i see, i am talking about after the server towards the client IPs. So if the server is right behind the internet source thats the only routing i need to do?

That something that I know someone can do here.

[alan]

It is the router right after FirstSpot that you need to set the return route. It is not exactly related to your Internet connection. And if that router has NAT turned on, that is the only place that you need to change. Otherwise, it is more complicated and you need to have a network specialist to take a look at the network carefully...
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[Shadoza]

do you mean the router between first spot and the T1s?

or

Do you mean routers between first spot and the clients?

[alan]

I mean the first router immediately after FirstSpot, see * below:

Client -> FirstSpot -> router * -> more routers -> Internet
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[Shadoza]

Our network is set up like below.

Internet --> Cisco 7200 Router --> FirstSpot --> Wireless Mesh Network with about 35 - 40 APs when finished. The wireless mesh network acts pretty much as an ethernet connection and a bunch of switches. I think it does all of its own routing with the IPs that first spot assigns to the clients. If we make it to where first spot assigns real IPs does that change anything between the First Spot server and the clients? Or does it just change the relationship between the First Spot and the 1 Cisco 7200 router that it gets fed from. The T1s plug directly into the 7200 Router.

[alan]

You should only need to add return route in your Cisco router. My guess is that it is the only thing you need to do.
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[Shadoza]

Great!! That is something that I think we can handle!

You have been most excellent help, Alan. Have a great day.