Portforwarding the PS3

[bombe32]

Hi,

Now, first off: I am no expert at all.
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I've been told several times now to portforward for my PS3, so I have planned to do it. However there is just one thing I am very confused about.

I wrote down the information from my PS3's internet settings like I should (primary router, subnet mask). But the PRIMARY and SECONDARY DNS ... what should I do with these? If I set up an automatic connection on the PS3 they change everytime. Do I need to enter these when I set it up manually? In other words: should I write down the DNS or should I leave it blank when I enter the information manually?

The last thing I want to do is screw up on this, never tried it before so have done a lot of research, but these are never reaaally explained.

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I hope it's the correct forum, didn't think it belong to the gaming forum, although it's a bit related, it's not about a game itself, but more a general set-up question.

 

[garlik_bread]

Port forwarding will only work if the IP of the PS3 is static anyway (ie you assign the PS3 an IP address manually, rather than leaving it automatic).

The primary DNS should just be the IP address of the router (probably 192.168.1.1), you should be able to leave the secondary one blank.

 

[bombe32]

I know about the IP, don't worry...
But if the DNS should be as you say, then how come it's completely different at the moment? My router is 10.0 something, but DNS is 265. something... the DNS is nothing like any of the other numbers.

 

[garlik_bread]

Depends what setup you have i guess. You could always try out a public DNS like Google DNS on 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

Theres not really much to screw up though.

 

[wfooshee]

The DNS you got from DHCP settings is probably your ISP's DNS server, which was passed to it by your router.

If you want to set the PS3 to a static IP on your LAN, set it to any available address on your network that's outside the router's DHCP block. In other words, if you router assigns address from ~.~.~.100 to ~.~.~.150, then use something like ~.~.~.99.

If your router uses the ENTIRE subnet as its DHCP block (~.~.~.2 to ~.~.~.254) then you'll have to modify that block.

Using your router's LAN IP for DNS is almost always a safe bet. Using your ISP's DNS in a static config risks losing name service if (when) they change their DNS servers.

 

[Casio]

On the other hand, if you do it the other way, and assign the DHCP server on your router your PS3s MAC address, you can statically assign it that way and not worry about the DNS. Then you can set your Port Forwarding rules.

Out of curiosity, what ports / why would you need to forward to the PS3?

 

[bombe32]

This is the reason.

I have had two other threads about the same problem too, and the only suggestions I have gotten is to portforward. So I thought I should try it, as it's the only game I can't get to work online.
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So, for the DNS. What should I put down on the PS3? I am getting a bit confused now. Is it the same as the router, one of the random numbers it creates itself (keep using the one it uses now) or something different?

As soon as I have found out about that I can start portforwarding on the router and see if I get any results

 

[wfooshee]

If you're setting the PS3's address statically, use your router's IP for DNS. The "random" numbers you're seeing are not random, they are the Internet addresses of your provider's own DNS servers, and may change from time to time. Not often, but as they develop their network, they may encounter a need to change them, and when it happens then your PS3 can't find stuff on the web.

Your router is told those addresses when it connects, and it passes them out to its own DHCP clients.

Casio's answer is a good one, but you have to know your PS3's MAC address, which you might not know how to find. In the router under DHCP, you should be able to set "reservations." Basically, you leave your PS3 as DHCP, but the DHCP server will always give it the same IP, which is just as good as static for port forwarding. You know it's always that IP. If you can't find your PS3's MAC, or can't find how to set reservations in the router, then set the PS3 static, use the router's LAN IP as your DNS as well as your gateway.