i need help with my connection problems on windows 98. most help manuals are for windows xp and unfortunately i have windows 98. i have tried going to control panel, but there is no windows security tab. is it a firewall problem or a something else? any help would be greatly appreciated! THANKS!!

win 98 does not come with a firewall. But you may have your own 3rd party firewall such as avast or norton, etc.

But the problem might be with your modem/router. See this thread about tests you can do, enable UPnP on your connection device or manually port forward it if it doesn't have UPnP ability. Connection problems? Check here first! (click on link). With the exception of dial up, most modems & routers have internal NAT firewalls. And this is probably what LW has detected.

I tried putting 6346 number in the listening on port dialog box and in the manual port forward dialog box but there was still no connection. what is wrong?

If your device doesn't support UPnP & you want to manually port forward, then you'll need to find your model here & follow the instructions: http://portforward.com/routers.htm

What brand & model of device are you using to connect?

Whats the differnce between each of these models?

Microsoft

MN-100
MN-500
MN-700
MN-820

also could i just use a random higher random port number to get my LW to connect?

The instructions look very similar. But did you check the different sections to see if there's a Universal Plug & Play (UPnP) option? If not, then you "should" manually port forward.

As far as choosing ports, the default is 6346, but if you want to go for a safe port, look at one between (49152 - 65535). But as I said, you're still going to get the firewall issue "unless" you manually port forward or enable UPnP.