Fix for Broken Connection [merged]

[Knuckles Fiddleflinger]

As it seems there are lots of people having this problem, and after much searching I have yet to see a valid fix on the internet, I wanted to share my findings. My sister is an avid TT player, who recently got me started playing TT. After she had problems, she asked me to look into the broken internet connection. I am a member of Geek Squad, so I have access to many different types of routers, and this has worked for each. (I give this advice despite the nasty comments TT support has said about Geek Squad to both me and my sister) as I want everyone else to be able to play.

The dropped connection issues I have seen are relating to packet loss, as so many other people have said. This is not due to wireless, as I play on 4 or 5 different wireless networks a day; it is simply a port forwarding/triggering issue.

You do not want to port forward, as it would only work with one PC, however, if you enable port triggering in your router for ports 6112 and 6667, this has solved the issue on every router I have worked with, at multiple locations. The range for the trigger and the forward should be set the same. A guide that might help can be located here. http://www.portforward.com/help/porttriggering.htm

If you are uncomfortable doing this yourself, you can always call in a professional and give them this information. I work for Geek Squad and have been on several calls to repair TT, so this is just a suggestion. Please let me know if this works for you, as it has all other machines. If not, I'll see what I can come up with.

Knuckles Fiddleflinger
aka Special Agent Merritt
Precinct 1204

[::Quick::]

No offense but the Geek squad is known for its terrible support. I have heard horror stories about it. I have heard of 2 cases on TTC alone of the Geek Squad Giving bad advice. A person that could not install Toontown on their computer was offered to re-build their entire system by the Geek Squad.

You never said what the Internet Problem is, you just said its broken so how does the end user know if this is the right solution but port forwarding posses a MAJOR SECUIRTY RISK and leaves your system vulnerable to hackers, I would not recommend it. Probably 3 quaters of the people viewing thread has no idea what the link to that article means, I barely understood that.

[Knuckles Fiddleflinger]

I have no issue with people thinking bad of Geek Squad, however, part of being professional, especially in Tech Support, is not bad-mouthing another company. This is a major loss of business in all aspects, for companies all over. I have my own personal opinions on a lot of companies, but I would never talk bad about another company, as it is not professional. This post was actually originally used in addition to another, but I was asked to create a new post here.

I also did not recommend a straight set of port forwarding, instead, port triggering. This is only a temporary forward, once traffic has been received. This is more secure than using only port forwarding as it’s not always on, and more effective, as it will forward to the PC currently using the ports. This was also tested on setups using multiple PC's for multiple accounts at the same time. Furthermore, I am posting in the hopes of helping other ToonTown users, not for my own, or Company gain. I am not happy that my company would be talked bad about, but, hoped to shed some light as this fix has worked for many. If you wish to discuss this more in-depth, please contact me privately.

I will go into more detail though.

The scenario where this problem and workaround would occur would be similar to the following:

ToonTown works find directly connected to your modem. After connecting a router between the modem and the PC, you notice error messages stating your Internet Connection Has Been Broken. This may happen using only one PC, or more than one. My experience is the problem is more likely to replicate using multiple PCs, or at least it makes the disconnect happen more frequently. The disconnect also happens whether connected directly to the router via a cable, or using wireless. If you find yourself in this type of setup, then it may be helpful to turn on port triggering for the two ports (6112 and 6667) that ToonTown uses (aside from Port 80).

Once again, I do not want anything from this, only to help others. I have recently got into ToonTown and love the game play. I just wish to help others play. I do apologize if I seem bitter about the way people down talk a brand, but I am a very loyal employee, and I did not feel out of line. Again, if there is something I can assist with, please let me know.

Knuckles Fiddleflinger

[Professor Spiffy]

Thanks for the advice, Knuckles. I've been all over the Internet trying to find this answer, even traded my new router in to make sure it wasn't the problem. I found your solution, tried it, and it worked great!


There are several threads on this forum where people haven't heard this yet. Let's let 'em know!

- Prof. Spiffy
---------------------------------------------
"Woo Hoo!" cried Prof. Spiffy Rufflesocks as he went to do uninterrupted battle with the VP once again...

[Lady Gwen]

What is the target address and I dont see Disney under the list. I am so clueless. And how and what is a Triggering Port number. I am using NETgear and they are asking for all this information. And what is a service user. I typed something from another site and its telling me its being used my another user.??? This did not help me at all infact no my hubby cant use his laptop.

[Knuckles Fiddleflinger]

Originally Posted by Lady Gwen

What is the target address and I dont see Disney under the list. I am so clueless. And how and what is a Triggering Port number. I am using NETgear and they are asking for all this information. And what is a service user. I typed something from another site and its telling me its being used my another user.??? This did not help me at all infact no my hubby cant use his laptop.

The link I provided gives a good walkthrough for the Netgear router. Check out this direct link for Netgear: http://www.portforward.com/english/r...v3/default.htm The ports to use for Toontown are 6112 and 6667. Both ports use protocols TCP and UDP.

You will make two services, one for each port. The Service Name is only something to help you remeber what you made the entry for (the service name does not matter to anyone but you). The user should be any. The triggering port, starting port, and ending port are all the same (either 6112 or 6667, depending on which you are setting up at the moment. Finally, leave the connection type as TCP/UDP.

This guide will walk you through step by step. If you need further help, please let me know.

To other users, you can check this link http://www.portforward.com/english/r...outerindex.htm for other router brands/models.

Knuckles Fiddleflinger

[::Quick::]

Heres a better solution to port forwarding! Ones that is much more safer!

UPDATE: Seems some people have had improvments on Toontown after using this method though it was on a router. My suggestions were aimed at DSL and Cable users but it may work on a router though I can't guarantee it will.


To PING:

1. Start
2. Run
3. Type CMD
4. At the blank DOS screen, type

IPCONFIG

and then press enter
5. Write down the string of numbers EXACTLY (Including the dots) for the Default Gateway.
6. Type ping followed by whatever number you wrote down –t. Should look something like this:

ping 12.345.67.890 –t

but your numbers will DEFINATLY be different. Don't forget the -t at the end, it is very important.

7. Minimize the DOS window and open Toontown.

[ninniepoo]

hello,
Is this only for wireless router's? I have a router w/e cable & haven't been able to play with out lagging/freezing up/getting stuck...but I also had these problems before the router. I have tried everything that disney & dell suggested but still having problems...I have a newer/better graphic card coming in on Friday...hope that works

[lost_packet]

Heres a better solution to port forwarding! Ones that is much more safer!
This will only work for Cable and DSL users, not for Wireless users.


To PING:

1. Start
2. Run
3. Type CMD
4. At the blank DOS screen, type


Code:
IPCONFIG
and then press enter
5. Write down the string of numbers EXACTLY (Including the dots) for the Default Gateway.
6. Type ping followed by whatever number you wrote down –t. Should look something like this:


Code:
ping 12.345.67.890 –t

You have no idea what you are doing.
1. This has NOTHING to do with port forwarding and will do nothing but ping you own IP. why would anyone want to do that as all it does is cause your PC to work hard at doing nothing.
2. it will work with any IP, it has nothing to do with cable, dsl or wireless
3. All port forwarding does is connect ports from a private ip (the one your router gives you) to an outside port when using NAT.

port forwarding is not something evil that allows you to get hacked. The original poster is very correct in what he said. I would use port triggering over forwarding, but if I needed to use port forwarding I would and not worry one bit. If you want to see what port you already have open run the command netstat -an from a DOS window.

On to the explanation of what is really going on....

-t means 'time' which means when you ping an IP it will do it as many times as you specify.
Example
ping 10.100.100.101 -t15 will cause it to ping the IP you listed 15 times

The only thing you should be trying to do is see if toontown is dropping packets by pinging the TT IP and setting a number of times. I would not let it do it continously since you will manually have to read the lines instead of getting a report at the end stating how many packets were dropped.

[Lady Gwen]

i just changed my port triggering and it now works! PHEW! TT here I come. Thanks for those who helped. I didn't do QUICK Ping thing. I didn't need to ping just needed to get TT back working. I would follow Knuckles solution.

[::Quick::]

Pinging your own IP will cause it to at least keep it alive, I tried it on a previous forum back in 2003 which is now closed and it certainly worked and kept their connection alive for much longer when they were playing Toontown.

[Knuckles Fiddleflinger]

Originally Posted by ninniepoo

Is this only for wireless router's?

This fix is not related to having a wired or wireless medium; it addresses the issue of getting kicked off of ToonTown when playing through a router. To test to see if this fix will help you, you should connect directly to your modem (not through the router) and see if the broken connection error continues. If the connection is fine through the modem only, but drops through the router, then this would be a solution to try.

Originally Posted by ninniepoo

I have a router w/e cable & haven't been able to play with out lagging/freezing up/getting stuck...but I also had these problems before the router. I have tried everything that disney & dell suggested but still having problems...I have a newer/better graphic card coming in on Friday...hope that works

Based on this, I would be likely to say it will not help you, as your problem does not fit the broken connection issues addressed by this fix. Hopefully the graphics card will help you. There are other posts on this forum about performance issues that may be helpfull if the graphics card does not help.

If your gameplay has not improved after the graphics card install, feel free to contact me for further guidance.

Knuckles Fiddleflinger

[ninniepoo]

Well I did do the suggestion from Quick earlier today in this link...it does seem to help a lot, but still some lagging/freezing...not sure if it is from "pinging" my router or from toontown being down for maintance so long couple of days ago...after reading all the links about it being down so long, figured that I wasn't out anything if it didn't work...
On the flip side of this my extra ram & new graphic's card came today, so will have them in before weekend over...
Wish me luck!
I miss playing toontown.

[Knuckles Fiddleflinger]

Glad that it seemed to help you. I like anything that makes Toontown work. I work on computers all day, so once I'm home, I stay as far from repair as possible, with the execption of these forums. I love to play Toon Town, so I don't mind helping others play it too. Let me know how it works out, the extra ram and graphics card never hurt.


Knuckles Fiddlefligner

[Pepper]

Thank you! Thank you! I did this today; it took me a few hours to read up on my router and re-print the manuals, which re-inforced the information you linked me to, but I have been able to play Toontown for over 20 minutes at a time and tonight, for the first time in over a year, I am going to play!!! I hope I am able to play for hours and I will re-post later to let you know. At first, I was a bit lost, but after reading the same information several times, it began to sink in and I, of course, messed up a few times but I believe this has solved the problem. Now why couldn't Toontown Support suggest this? You would think they would want to keep me as a customer, since I had 4 accounts. I hope Monday I can re-instate the three I just cancelled yesterday so that we can all play again. You are a genius. Thanks again.

Okay...that was yesterday and last night, I was able to play for almost two hours and NO BROKEN CONNECTION! I appreciate your help. (You should get a kick-back from Toontown for this). : )

Okay...now it's Monday, I reinstated all three accounts and we have played for hours and NO ONE was logged off. Excellent.