Using a VPN Service Provider to get around port forwarding issues?

[damned]

its quite possible it the hotspot. they aggregate many, many connections and sometimes thru multiple gateways. you might get routed via a different gateway every few minutes causing the vpn to drop...

[Gwydion]

its quite possible it the hotspot. they aggregate many, many connections and sometimes thru multiple gateways. you might get routed via a different gateway every few minutes causing the vpn to drop...

Yeah, I think that is it. I also noticed somehow my PureVPN network connection reverted back to "public" in my Kaspersky AV. Might have to check that connection setting each time I connect. I changed it again to "trusted" and then I had GeoQuester connect (from NY) and he got onto my table fine and stayed on for about 5 min before we decided to disconnect. So, I'll keep testing, but I do think it is either the hotspot (signal varying between 2-3 bars as well) or it might have been the Kaspersky setting. It might have disconnected when it saw other traffic on it.

Thanks again for helping me test damned!

[Myrdin Potter]

It also could be not having a dedicated IP address and someone else connecting to the vpn server could have stepped on the port.

The anti-virus/firewall seems like the best bet, though

[Trenloe]

It also could be not having a dedicated IP address and someone else connecting to the vpn server could have stepped on the port.

That's not how it works.

Having a dedicated IP address would give you the same VPN IP address every time.

Without a dedicated IP address you are assigned your own VPN IP address dynamically when you connect to the VPN, and will probably get a different one every time. But it is your IP address while you're connected.

[Myrdin Potter]

Many VPN companies pool IP addresses and have some form of NAT to handle it. PureVPN is the one I use and have recommended it. My experience using it from China was so so without the dedicated IP address and always rocksolid with the dedicated IP option.

[Trenloe]

Depending on the VPN provider you may need to get an additional service - such as NAT firewall or dedicated IP address. I can't remember who, but another forum member was told by PureVPN that they'd need to purchase the NAT firewall option to allow them to get specific ports through the VPN. But, this isn't something I have needed to do, but that forum member got, I believe, the NAT firewall option for free for a month and it worked for them. So, I think PureVPN has different settings on accounts/VPN locations and you might need to play with VPN settings/location selection to get something that works for you.

[Gwydion]

Thanks, all. I'm going to keep testing PureVPN while I'm within my 7 day window (as I got the great deal on the 2-yr purchase). If I have problems with it I will probably just add-on the dedicated ip address to see if that fixes it. I'll keep updating here in the event it will help others.

[Trenloe]

I think that in the end, using a mobile device for your Internet connection will always have the potential for drops - these connections are just not made for hosting servers (which is what the Fantasy Grounds GM application is) and evne under normal operation your IP address on the mobile network can change without warning which causes the VPN to disconnect.

When you reconnect you will more than likely have a different IP address, so the GM has to relaunch FG to register that new IP address with the FG alias server. This is where a dedicated IP address will help - even if you have to reestablish your VPN connection, it should use the same dedicated IP address and so the players might be able to reconnect easily (if it's within the 3 minutes FG retries connections) and the GM shouldn't have to restart their instance of FG.

[Gwydion]

I think that in the end, using a mobile device for your Internet connection will always have the potential for drops - these connections are just not made for hosting servers (which is what the Fantasy Grounds GM application is) and evne under normal operation your IP address on the mobile network can change without warning which causes the VPN to disconnect.

When you reconnect you will more than likely have a different IP address, so the GM has to relaunch FG to register that new IP address with the FG alias server. This is where a dedicated IP address will help - even if you have to reestablish your VPN connection, it should use the same dedicated IP address and so the players might be able to reconnect easily (if it's within the 3 minutes FG retries connections) and the GM shouldn't have to restart their instance of FG.

Yeah, those are great points. Even adding on another $24/yr ($1.99/mo I think for the dedicated ip), that would still be $54/yr which is worth it for me.

[Gwydion]

Many VPN companies pool IP addresses and have some form of NAT to handle it. PureVPN is the one I use and have recommended it. My experience using it from China was so so without the dedicated IP address and always rocksolid with the dedicated IP option.

I'm reaching out to PureVPN now to see if they will let me test the dedicated IP address for a few days. I tried to connect to my wifi at home last night and use PureVPN and I was able to connect but very quickly the bandwidth was choked off to virtually nothing and then I was disconnected. I went through an FAQ on the PureVPN site and it might be my router firewall or a host of other things that I frankly don't want to mess with as I don't know what I'm doing, but I can follow directions reasonably well....

If I can test the dedicated ip option and that works, I'll probably just pay the extra amount. The minute I start messing with my router firewall is the minute I take down my home internet (again) and my wife and kids will probably not tolerate that a second time. Will post back if I get a chance to try the dedicated ip.