Question about hosting game servers from home

[MXWK 28]

Hey guys! How's everyone doing today?

I recently installed Windows Server 2022 Standard operating system on my old laptop in hopes of turning it into a VPS to host more game servers (currently Halo PC game servers). It is connected to LAN and my internet speed at home is fast. I can access it through Remote Desktop & FTP. The problem is that the game server disconnects from time to time for some reason. It manifests as everyone on the server losing connection. This never used to happen in the VPSs I purchase. I also noticed that the ping does not show all the time in the server list. In the Halo PC server list, when I click on the server, the ping shows, but if I click it 3 to 4 times consecutively, one of the times, the ping will not show.

In my laptop VPS, all the required ports are forwarded through the router, and DMZ is enabled on the laptop. I have also allowed the required ports through Windows Defender Firewall and I have also enabled UPnP while troubleshooting and it did not fix the issue.

My question is: Is there a specific setting/software in windows that allows "persistent connections" that do not disconnect no matter what? I am hosting the same game server (the same files) from my VPS that I purchased online, and I never experienced this issue. The VPS I purchased online is a $6 VPS so I have more resources in my laptop VPS. I can host more game servers in the laptop VPS as I have more CPU cores and Memory.

I did search online for an answer but did not find anything useful. What is the difference between actual VPSs that you purchase online and my laptop that has Windows Server Standard 2022?

Maybe it's the Bandwidth/Internet speed? The VPS I purchased online has 2.00 TB Bandwidth and my home internet speed is: Download speed is 6.80 Mbps and Upload speed is 15.10 Mbps

 

Is my home internet speed not good enough for hosting dedicated game servers? And if yes, Is there a way around that? I'd like to hear your opinions on this, thanks!

[Sunstriker7 760]

The fact that people can connect at all and they can play fine for a while shows that your your network settings are likely configured correctly.

 

Is this laptop using wifi? If so, stop it. Wire it up. Doing so will likely solve this issue. If you still have issues with an ethernet cord I would start by troubleshooting the physical connection between your laptop and your router/modem, then the physical connection between your ISP and your router/modem, then take a hard look at your modem/router itself. They do go bad and from my experience it usually starts with connection issues or crashes.

 

There are several actual network experts here that will likely add their advice as well.

Edited April 16, 2022 by Sunstriker7

[iTails 3618]

What I would normally ask people in this situation:

1. When did this start?
2. When was the last time it happened?
3. Does it happen in intervals or is it random?
4. Does it happen when something on the server itself happens? (ie, server crash?)
5. What are the laptop specs? Are you using an SSD or spinning disk? 
6. Is Server 2022 running bare metal or a VM? If a VM, what hypervisor are you running it on, also Type 1 or Type 2? 
7. Did this start occurring from a fresh installation or after an update?
8. Wired or Wireless? What are your NIC devices? (ie, Intel Gigabit Ethernet, etc)
9. What make/model of Modem/Router/combo/etc?
10. Are you using NAT? Are you using a proxy? 
11. What are Firewall settings and Port Forward settings? 
12. AV/Endpoint Protection products running? If so, do you have exceptions in place to not scan the server directories and executables? 
13. Last but not least, does Event Viewer > System/Application logs show anything for this? 

[MXWK 28]

1 hour ago, Solaris said:

What I would normally ask people in this situation:

1. When did this start?
2. When was the last time it happened?
3. Does it happen in intervals or is it random?
4. Does it happen when something on the server itself happens? (ie, server crash?)
5. What are the laptop specs? Are you using an SSD or spinning disk? 
6. Is Server 2022 running bare metal or a VM? If a VM, what hypervisor are you running it on, also Type 1 or Type 2? 
7. Did this start occurring from a fresh installation or after an update?
8. Wired or Wireless? What are your NIC devices? (ie, Intel Gigabit Ethernet, etc)
9. What make/model of Modem/Router/combo/etc?
10. Are you using NAT? Are you using a proxy? 
11. What are Firewall settings and Port Forward settings? 
12. AV/Endpoint Protection products running? If so, do you have exceptions in place to not scan the server directories and executables? 
13. Last but not least, does Event Viewer > System/Application logs show anything for this? 

 

Hey, thanks for your help. I'll answer each question to the best of my knowledge.

 

1. Actually this started around 3 days ago, I had installed Windows Server Datacenter 2022 and I had some issues with it that I couldn't fix, I couldn't enable UPnP due to some missing dependencies, once I realized that I cannot troubleshoot anymore, I decided to reinstall the operating system, but this time Windows Server Standard 2022, the issue was there from the time I was using Datacenter and it still persists after installing the Standard version of Windows Server.

 

2. I was testing earlier today with multiple Multiclients in the server when the console stopped updating and I lost connection, the console did not crash, it just stopped updating and the Multiclients started quitting one after another.

 

3. It's random.

 

4. I don't think so, usually when my server crashes, the console crashes too and it closes. In this situation, the console just stops updating. It does not crash. 

 

5. The laptop is Lenovo ideapad 500-15ISK

 

Processor    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6500U CPU @ 2.50GHz   2.60 GHz
Installed RAM    8.00 GB (7.86 GB usable)
System type    64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
 

The laptop came with an  HDD.

 

6. I think it's bare metal. Here are some of the results of the "systeminfo" command:

 

System Manufacturer:       LENOVO
System Model:              80NT

 

7. Fresh installation.

 

8. I am using Wired but I can also use Wifi. I have both adapters on the laptop. Here are some more results from the "systeminfo" command:

 

Network Card(s):           2 NIC(s) Installed.
                           [01]: Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
                                 Connection Name: Ethernet
                                 DHCP Enabled:    No
                                 IP address(es)
                                 [01]: ///////////////////////////
                                 [02]: ///////////////////////////
                           [02]: Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
                                 Connection Name: Wi-Fi
                                 Status:          Media disconnected

 

9. The Modem is Etisalat, not sure how to access its model. The router is also Etisalat, got this information from the Router status page:

Hardware Type

Etisalat-S3

Hardware Version

v1

 

10. I think I am using NAT, I just googled my IP address from my PC and my laptop, both are showing the same IP address of the DMZ I have setup a while ago. Even though I only configured the DMZ to be in my laptop. In my router settings page this option is there "Enable IGMP Proxy on wired LAN port." and its turned on.

 

11. Firewall settings: There are many firewall settings that were configured automatically in my laptop when I installed the windows server OS. Should I mention those?

 

I have allowed the following ports in my windows defender firewall for different reasons:

 

Inbound:

PORT 5985 TCP/UDP

PORT 80 TCP

PORT 2310/2312 TCP/UDP

PORT 2302/2303 UDP

PORT 21/22 TCP

 

same for outbound.

 

Portforward settings for my laptop are: 

UDP

2302

2302-2303

IPoE_DHCP

 

TCP

80

80

IPoE_DHCP

 

UDP

2310

2310-2312

IPoE_DHCP

 

12. I have not installed any antivirus software, but windows defender's real-time protection is on in my laptop, I have not added the server files as exclusions, will add them now and will let you know if that fixes the issue.

 

13. I went to Event Viewer ==> Windows logs ==> Application/System there are many events logged there, I searched for "halo" in both logs, and I found nothing.

 

Here is a short video showing how the ping disappears when I click on the server multiple times: 

 

 

[iTails 3618]

Quote

I don't think so, usually when my server crashes, the console crashes too and it closes. In this situation, the console just stops updating. It does not crash. 

Any error messages or does the console just halt, as in no commands can be run? 

[Zatarita 428]

Can you throw a performance monitor on network traffic and then check system logs around the time the network drops?

 

I'm curious if maybe there are ddos protections that are set too low

 

[iTails 3618]

4 hours ago, Zatarita said:

Can you throw a performance monitor on network traffic and then check system logs around the time the network drops?

 

I'm curious if maybe there are ddos protections that are set too low

That was going to be my other suggestion. Probably rate limiting or max concurrent connections set on an untrusted port. 

[MXWK 28]

Hey guys, thanks for your help! Actually, after a lot of trials, I stopped working on that a while back. Got busy with other stuff...

 

On 4/17/2022 at 8:04 PM, iTails said:

Any error messages or does the console just halt, as in no commands can be run? 

 

If I remember right, it just freezes. No commands can be run until I type "reload" or close it and open it again.

 

On 4/17/2022 at 11:46 PM, Zatarita said:

Can you throw a performance monitor on network traffic and then check system logs around the time the network drops?

 

I'm curious if maybe there are ddos protections that are set too low

 

 

I'm not sure how to do that... 

 

I didn't know there was DDoS protection on my laptop, that's probably it. It may not be recommended, but how do you disable all DDoS protection on a laptop?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by MXWK
better response

[AntiMomentum 75]

Your internet speeds are certainly enough to host a halo server, even multiple servers so that's not the issue. Surprised you get more upload than download that's rare for a home connection.

"What is the difference between actual VPSs that you purchase online and my laptop that has Windows Server Standard 2022?"

It may not be the laptop. It could be your ISP's firewall (or dynamic network if they use that).

But

You mentioned the halo server dropping some pings from yourself. When you clicked on your server multiple times you were also on the same home network correct? If so I'd check and see if there are any driver updates fo'r the network interface card on the laptop from the NIC's manufacturer's website. I'd also run a packet capture tool like Wireshark on at least the laptop, for instance when clicking on the halo server multiple times if you see the laptop doesn't even send a packet out for one of the clicks, it's definitely a software issue on the laptop itself. With the small exception of a lose cable inside it. And it's likely the driver for the NIC but it could be some other software issue. Perhaps an old windows firewall bug or something else if you haven't updated it.

Pretty sure like regular windows OSes the server versions will try to install generic net drivers if it can't find the correct manufacturer driver in its own lists.

Edited June 29, 2022 by AntiMomentum