Limewire & the Linksys Cable/DSL Router

Hi there. I know there has been a thread or two about this before, but I was hoping that someone could give me a step by step description of how to set my system up. No way I'm giving up Limewire because of this new router! I have a cable modem with a dynamic IP address and 3 PCs set up with the Linksys Router model # BEFSR41 and plan on using Limewire on only one of the three machines.

Great piles of thanks to anyone who can help me. Feel free to email me at jeff@ignorantmasses.com if you find that easier.

Take care!
Jeff~

Long Live Limewire & Gnutella!!!

You need to identify the WAN Address (the dynamic IP address from your ISP) and plug it in to LimeWire under "Force IP to..."

LINKSYS
(procedure - initial setup)
1. at your personal computer -- the ONLY one that will be running Limewire! -- run the WINIPCFG program and identify what your in-house IP address is, e.g. 192.168.1.100
2. Log into the Linksys (e.g. http://192.168.1.1 ) as <blank> and with your password
3. click on the Advanced "tab"
4. on the Advanced menu, switch to the 3rd tab, Forwarding
5. for the first setup line, enter 6346 and 6346 as the first/last ports, then enter your in-house IP as the forward-to address.
(optional)
Set the last port as 6699, i.e. set the port range as 6346-6699, so that you can run both Gnutella and Napster!

(procedure - check IP)
Everytime you change your Linksys configuration and/or reset your DSL(?) modem, you're going to be assigned a new WAN IP Address, so this 2nd/3rd procedure will have to be redone periodically.
1. Log in to the Linksys as <blank> and with your password
2. switch to the third tab, Status
3. make sure it says, "Status:Connected"
4. scroll down to the WAN section and record whatever is entered in the first data field, IP Address.

LIMEWIRE
(FYI - this applies to any Gnutella client)
1. go into the options screen
2. switch to the last(?) tab, Advanced(?)
3. enable the option for Force IP Address
4. enter the WAN IP Address you copied from the "check IP" procedure.

P.S. I have had two Linksys routers. The first was the 4-port switch model and it locked-up under heavy usage, e.g. Limewire, until I installed the most recent firmware. Currently, I'm using a new 4-port + Wireless model and, again, it is locking-up every couple of days...
P.P.S. If/when you upgrade the firmware, BE SURE to go into the Advanced settings and enable "Allow Remote Upgrades" first! If you don't -- at least in my experience... -- the upgrade utility will fight with the router and hose the firmware. BUG?! Afterwards, assuming it didn't get trashed, go back in and disable it again (which is the default).

Wow, thanks so much for the detailed and helpful instructions! It worked like a charm, and I'm back to several terabytes of files!

Can I leave this config up all the time, or does it comprimise my security?

Thanks again for the help, I really couldn't have done it without you!

Jeff~
jeff@ignorantmasses.com
www.ignorantmasses.com

Long live freedom of the Internet, Gnutella & Limewire!