The Actiontec modem includes a built-in router, and requires a bit of setup before you can host an Internet game using it.
While this is not supported by TDS Technical Support, this guide should provide you with enough information to setup your Actiontec to allow you to host your game. If you do need more information, please check the Actiontec user's manual, available at http://www.tds.net/actiontec704 or http://www.tds.net/Actiontec1520 depending on the version you have. You can find the version number on the bottom of the modem.
A router connects 2 separate networks to each other. The Actiontec Router connects your home network (LAN, or Local Area Network) to the Internet (WAN, or Wide Area Network). If you only have one computer connected to your Actiontec, it's still considered to be "on the LAN side" of the router. Since the Actiontec Router is the only real device on the Internet, you need to tell the Actiontec to forward certain ports from the Internet to a specific computer on your home network. Ports are different "channels" that your computer can use to communicate on the Internet. Games usually require 2 or 3 different ports to work properly.
Step 1 - Determine what ports and what kind of ports your game needs (this information is needed for a 1520 modem, but may not be needed when using a 701 / 704 / 724 modem). This information can be found either in the users' manual for your game, the read-me files included with the game, or on the game's support website. Consult these sources to determine what ports you'll need. Most games require a separate incoming and outgoing port. An example would be that a game uses ports 1337 and 1412 to send and receive data on the game.
Additionally, it would be a good idea to determine what kind of traffic will be going over these ports. The 2 main types are TCP and UDP. Again, for our example, the game would use port 1337 TCP and 1412 UDP.
Step 2 - Setup a static LAN IP on your computer.
An IP address is the way data is routed on a network. It's like a street address.
This is not required, but it will make your life easier in the long run. A static IP is an IP address that doesn't change. By default, the Actiontec will assign an IP address dynamically to your computer. This is fine normally, but if you ever add another computer to your setup, there's a chance that the computers could switch IPs, and your setup for the game would have to be changed each time. If you setup a static IP for your computer now, you'll avoid troubles in the long run.
The Actiontec will allow you to just assign a static IP without any further setup on the Actiontec itself. The default range of IPs you can use is from 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254. If you've changed the IP range for your Actiontec, you will need to use a different set of IPs. It's recommended that you assign a high numbered IP, so it won't cause problems with dynamic addresses in the future. For example, it would be good to pick an IP address between 192.168.0.100 and 192.168.0.254 as a static IP.
Now that you've picked your static IP, you'll need the following settings:
IP address: 192.168.0.200 (this is whatever number you picked, this is just an example)
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway IP: 192.168.0.1
DNS: 192.168.0.1 (you only need one DNS server, you can leave the second one blank)
The way to set this up on your computer varies from version to version of Windows and Mac. You'll need to check your Windows or Mac help files for full information on exactly how to set this up.
Step 3 - Forward ports from the Actiontec to your computer.
There are 2 ways to do this with the Actiontec, port forwarding is a lot safer way to set this up, and is the only way we'll cover here. If you need more information about DMZ hosting, please consult the Actiontec users' manual.
You have a list of the ports you need for your game. You have a static IP address set up on your computer. You're almost set, you just have to tell the Actiontec about these requirements now.
For an Actiontec 701 / 1520 modem, or a 704 modem with firmware version 3.130.1.0.6.1 or lower:
1. Open your web browser, and go to the webpage http://192.168.0.1/.
2. Click on "Set Up / Configuration".
3. Click on "Advanced Setup" on the left.
4. Click on "Begin Advanced Setup".
5. Click on "Application Level Gateway" on the left if you have the Actiontec 704 or "Port Forwarding" on the left if you have the Actiontec 1520.
6. Follow the provided instructions
For an Actiontec 724, or 704 modem with firmware version 3.130.4.0.7 or higher:
1. Open your web browser, and go to the webpage http://192.168.0.1/.
2. Click on "Security"
3. Click on Port Forwarding
4. Follow the instructions as listed on this page.
For an Actiontec 724, or 704 modem with firmware version 3.130.4.0.7 or higher:
1. Open your web browser, and go to the webpage http://192.168.0.1/.
2. Log in with the username (generally Admin) and password (generally password unless you've logged in before).
3. Click on "Firewall Settings"
4. Click on "Port Forwarding" on the left side.
5. Follow the options as provided
