Solution for online issues

[PostalDudeRus]

After many days of running tests and analyzing traffic via my MikroTik router I think I found solutions for online connection issue/bug and find out it why it happens. But first things first.

 

As for 07.04.2020 I gathered a lot of info about online issues and here is how you can play with your friends online without problems. Here is how to figure out what might be wrong with your Internet connection:

 

Problem 1: If you go to online menu or start co-op and your console freezes. That's really bad and you need to port forward every port I listed below. This also might be problem related to your ISP or if you using old router. 
Solution: Always best solution is using NAT 1 type of connection (without router, directly to Internet from PS3). But you can try to use DMZ for test, See if your console using UPnP function. And try to reconfigure your router settings as listed here.

Also, see workarounds section below.

 

Problem 2: You host game, and your partner trying to join you - but he gets error "Unable to connect, search for another game". That means you might have stable connection to EA and RA3 servers, ports needed for stable game are seems to be open (but we can't say for sure for now) and game hosted. But your partner might have issues on his side.

Solution: Ask your partner to use DMZ (or port forward) or NAT 1. For now we can be almost sure it's your partner problems trying to reach your hosted game.

 

Problem 3: You managed to host game, your partner joins you...but can't see your PSN ID in co-op partner small window.

Solution: Good news, you have perfect connection for this game. But bad news..your partner doesn't. Again, ask your partner to use DMZ, port forward or change their connection to NAT 1.

 

As you can see, most of the solution goes to using NAT1, DMZ and Port Forwarding, but BE WARNED some router models (like my old DIR-320) doesn't port forward or doesn't port forward as they MUST to AND sometimes your ISP can be asshole and give you cheapest routers possible to work with OR they might block ports on their site (outside of your router connection) if you do everything possible but game still dosen't work - contact ISP, they will help you (remember, you paying them for it).

 

Now summary workarounds:

GAME FREEZES when you select online game or game kicks you out of game when you start online match in 5-10 minutes:

5 hours ago, HuntingFever said:

The fix I found for the freezing issue, is to make sure you're signed out before starting the game then load the disc and let it auto sign-in to PSN when you click on the MP menu .

This also help if you got kicked out by game. Re-login in PSN being in menus and try playing again.

 

NAT1:

Enable NAT 1 for both (or for Host only) Host and Client (I tested with me as host with NAT 1 and my partner used DMZ, connection was perfect) .

Basically, put ISP internet cable into PS3 and configure network settings. Your ISP may use PPPoE, that's ok, PS3 can authorize with PPPoE.

 

DMZ:

Put console in DMZ on your router settings. But don't forget to make your local PS3 IP static. You can set manual IP in PS3's settings or in your LAN settings on Router (better that way). THIS IS SAFE as long if you put your console in DMZ. This will make an firewall-free zone between Internet and your local firewall and PS3 will accept all incoming traffic "as it is" without additional routing or NAT'ing. (This is not accurate description, but It's simplest explanation I can came up with).

 

Port Forward:

Port forward ports stated on page 19 in RA3 manual. But don't forget to make your local PS3 IP static. You can set manual IP in PS3's settings or in your LAN settings on Router (better that way). I analyzed traffic when you connecting to game and I write here all actual ports game using.
PSN (PS3):

• TCP: 80, 443, 3478, 3479, 3480, 5223, 8080
• UDP: 3478, 3479.

RA3:

• TCP:80, 443, 5223, 8080, 9946, 10000, 18290, 18295
• UDP: 9946, 9570, 3659, 6000, 3478, 3479

Spoiler

Player named Rennikz suggested using this ports too:

 

• TCP Ports: 80, 13505, 18800, 18805
• UDP Ports: 53, 10000, 11000-11030, 18805

 

 

VPN:

NOT TESTED BY ME

VPN I can easly host VPN server (L2TP, mscahpv2) and you can connect to it using your router or PC + PS3. But, I would suggest using router vpn-client function because setting up PC as getaway for PS3 is not easy for average user. But, If you know how to do it but have questions - shoot away in comments I will guide you.

 

So, if you know someone with this game or you want to get this platinum nowadays PLEASE share this thread or PM me. Anything can help. Until its too late and servers went down.

 

Here is PSNProfiles Session link.

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by PostalDudeRus
New info for 07.04

[PostalDudeRus]

I've managed to find more simpler solution, but I still need testing. Anyone willing to help or want to get this platinum done - please reply.

[U4oloG]

Excellent ?

[PostalDudeRus]

Topic updated with new info!

[HuntingFever]

The fix I found for the freezing issue, is to make sure you're signed out before starting the game then load the disc and let it auto sign-in to PSN when you click on the MP menu .

[PostalDudeRus]

1 minute ago, HuntingFever said:

The fix I found for the freezing issue, is to make sure you're signed out before starting the game then load the disc and let it auto sign-in to PSN when you click on the MP menu .

Thanks a lot! I've been told by a player that it also helps if you start game and keeps kicking you out of a game in 5-10 minutes. I will quote you in topic.

[Ferruccio5]

I can confirm NAT1 is the definitive solution for joining online with a coop partner. From what I have experienced this is exacltly the same issue of Battlefield bad company 2 Onslaught dlc. Infact I can always join with my alt/alts because they are on the same network of my main but I never can join with others players. I managed to play coop only when finally I found an host NAT1

[Cpt_v0kA]

But the real question here is, if my connection is NAT 2, how can I change it to NAT 1 without breaking the router in half?

[PostalDudeRus]

3 hours ago, Cpt_v0kA said:

But the real question here is, if my connection is NAT 2, how can I change it to NAT 1 without breaking the router in half?

 

Your options is DMZ or Port Forwarding. NAT1 is connection without router.

[DarthRevan182]

Just to confirm this again NAT1 is really the only way to get this working correctly.

 

Ferruccio and I managed to get everything done in co-op using NAT 1.

[CesarMFM]

On 11/04/2020 at 6:10 PM, Cpt_v0kA said:

But the real question here is, if my connection is NAT 2, how can I change it to NAT 1 without breaking the router in half?

You will have to configure your router to "Bridge Mode", this will allow you to directly authenticate your ISP username and password using the PS3's "PPPoE" option, obtaining the NAT 1 connection.

[PostalDudeRus]

On 03.07.2020 at 2:04 PM, CesarMFM said:

You will have to configure your router to "Bridge Mode", this will allow you to directly authenticate your ISP username and password using the PS3's "PPPoE" option, obtaining the NAT 1 connection.

It will not work if ISP doesn't use PPPoE. And nobody but you will use Internet connection if you do this BUT it will give you NAT1.

[Reinachii-]

I did not port forward, DMZ, nor do I have NAT 1, yet I self boosted no problem. 

 

First i tested my connection on two alts, and I was getting the blank name glitch.

 

When I switched one alt to my main acc, that glitch fixed itself. 

 

The only issue I had after that was failing to connect to EA servers, please make an acc error. Trying to reconnect once or twice fixed that. 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Reinachii-

[Zkhaev]

So you just need 2 accounts total (main and alt) to self boost this?

[Reinachii-]

1 minute ago, Zkhaev said:

So you just need 2 accounts total (main and alt) to self boost this?

And two ps3s/copies of the game.

But don't quote me on it. It wotked for me, apparently not others.

[juniordrfanatic]

So, as i'm testing this out, here a few notes so far.

 

I don't have NAT 1, but i was still able to connect my 2 PS3s in the same match. 

 

But i still ran into some trouble.

 

I started out with not doing anything. Booted the games up, loaded up my main and my alt.

 

Alt got online without the console freezing, but my main froze as soon as i tried to connect online. Rebooted, logged off, launched the game, launched MP and was able to connect.

 

After that, i created a co-op with my main, invited my alt. Although i could see both accounts on my main screen, my alt screen only showed my main, and since i couldn't see my alt, i couldn't checkmark to start the match.

 

So, i switched around, had my alt invite my main. I ran into the same problem, i couldn't see my main on my alt screen but i could see my alt on my main screen.

 

I was able to launch the game but, the problem was my alt screen showed that it was loading whereas my main screen was pitch black.

 

Did some troubleshooting, tried putting my alt on DMZ and ran into the same trouble. 

 

Tried it again this morning, but still, the same problem. 

 

Then i read this:

On 30/08/2020 at 3:41 PM, Reinachii- said:

I did not port forward, DMZ, nor do I have NAT 1, yet I self boosted no problem. 

 

First i tested my connection on two alts, and I was getting the blank name glitch.

 

When I switched one alt to my main acc, that glitch fixed itself. 

 

The only issue I had after that was failing to connect to EA servers, please make an acc error. Trying to reconnect once or twice fixed that. 

 

 

 

Since the alt i was using was registered in a different country (don't know if this affects it or not) i decided to use my girlfriends main account (that's actually the main on my 2nd PS3).

 

I was able to connect to co-op, see both usernames on both screens and start a match. I will update this if i get to the point of earning the co-op trophies.

 

EDIT: Yep, it works. I got 1 co-op trophy so far.

Edited March 12, 2021 by juniordrfanatic

[cr1s]

On 4/4/2020 at 0:04 PM, PostalDudeRus said:

(I tested with me as host with NAT 1 and my partner used DMZ, connection was perfect)

 

Thanks for posting this thread (and that method in particular)! I've recently played the online / co-op with my best friend and that worked perfectly well for us. It was quick to set up, and the game always connected us very quickly with no issues while playing bar a couple of disconnections due to the "out of sync" error. I had a ton of fun playing the co-op again!

[Bionic-Spencer]

I came to giving this a run on this account. Took a few attempts to register with me EA Account, but once done, the online won't work at all. I can't ready up when I join my boosting partners session and when we try an Unranked match with invite, my console gets locked in the loading screens. the only thing that is curious is that when I switch to my old account on the same console, it works absolutely perfect..

Edited March 7, 2021 by Bionic-Spencer

[PhoenixIKN]

Firstly I'd like to thank @PostalDudeRus for laying out everything and thank you to anyone else who helped out with the guide here, my co-op partner and I managed to get the campaign trophies with no hassle.

But I do have a question regarding the versus mode, I know those trophies could be done solo but I'd rather boost them if possible. Even though we managed to join with no issues to the co-op campaign we couldn't find each other for the versus matches.
We tried timing and quick joining at the same time, each one of us tried to create a match/custom match and the other join but still nothing. Are we missing something or are we just unlucky?

[PostalDudeRus]

4 hours ago, PhoenixIKN said:

Firstly I'd like to thank @PostalDudeRus for laying out everything and thank you to anyone else who helped out with the guide here, my co-op partner and I managed to get the campaign trophies with no hassle.

But I do have a question regarding the versus mode, I know those trophies could be done solo but I'd rather boost them if possible. Even though we managed to join with no issues to the co-op campaign we couldn't find each other for the versus matches.
We tried timing and quick joining at the same time, each one of us tried to create a match/custom match and the other join but still nothing. Are we missing something or are we just unlucky?

You are welcome!
I have this guide explaining how to get every non-coop boostable online trophy here.

And yes, if you played coop without problems it's just you being unlucky, I've never had issues with ranked/non-ranked games. Try to do it later or just vs AI those are pretty easy trophies tbh.

 

[luxitu]

 

On 7.4.2020 at 1:28 AM, HuntingFever said:

The fix I found for the freezing issue, is to make sure you're signed out before starting the game then load the disc and let it auto sign-in to PSN when you click on the MP menu .

doesn´t work for me

On 12.4.2020 at 2:56 AM, PostalDudeRus said:

 

Your options is DMZ or Port Forwarding. NAT1 is connection without router.

also doesn´t work for me, it has zero affect to use DMZ/Port forwarding.

I am using FRITZ!Box 7530 and there you can just use for ONE device the EXPOSED HOST what should be the same like DMZ. But means i could just set for the other device the Port Forwarding.
Since we are living now in 2021 means ipv4 will be more and more rare. For me in germany means that, its not possible to use NAT1 because the router already connects via PPPoE and if you want to do it with a second device it will not work because nearly each ISP just allow now single session like mine! a few years ago it was not so. there it was possible to use multiple session. idk if this is in other countries other. So it is for me and my friend not possible to use NAt1 then....

On 18.2.2021 at 7:39 AM, juniordrfanatic said:

I was able to connect to co-op, see both usernames on both screens and start a match. I will update this if i get to the point of earning the co-op trophies.

 

On 30.8.2020 at 4:41 PM, Reinachii- said:

I did not port forward, DMZ, nor do I have NAT 1, yet I self boosted no problem. 

 

First i tested my connection on two alts, and I was getting the blank name glitch.

 

When I switched one alt to my main acc, that glitch fixed itself. 

 

The only issue I had after that was failing to connect to EA servers, please make an acc error. Trying to reconnect once or twice fixed that. 

 

 

if i do that nothing change. i have still the blank when i join the game. it was not possible for me and a friend to play it online, we could connect to EA easily and host/join games but we couldn´t start them. If we use skyrmish and there the fast search option the game will start after 10seconds automatically. if we do that we get both just a loading screen and nothing happen then anymore. we must quit the game via XMB and then the playstation just get a crash and restart.

so i bought the game twice and tried it in the same network via LAN. i could really easily connect to EA and host/join allows each game but still i couldn´t see any names or press the X-button to start it. the person who joins couldn´t see neither the host name nor his own name but the host see always both names! i have also tried in my own network to use DMZ/port forwarding, but it has also no effect!

So i found today another person to try it online. After alot " "Unable to connect, search for another game" errors we could join the game from the other person, still i couldn´t press X-Button but this time i could see the name from the other person. and when he joined my game, he could just see his but not mine,  but he could press X-Button, what means his connection should be working fine. He was just using over WIFI NAT2 normal settings, so i was wondering why he can do it but i am not... he is from other country...but problem was then, we could start the game but either he or me got loading freeze or once my game started but he got instantly disconnected from the game, also not a single solution(except NAT1) from above helped to get it running finally....

 

Currently i have no plan how i should get running it. I invested already alot of hours to try to get that working and any help would be really nice...

 

P.S.: i was already so frustrated that i tried to contact EA itself . But the person who talked with me was just searching the database for 0815 things: finally i got the same infos that i should use DMZ/Port Forwarding, update the playstation, should check if i use ipv4 or ipv6(some products doesn´t work with it correctly), set playstation to factory setting, check if i got internetconnection and so on....

Edited July 30, 2021 by luxitu

[PostalDudeRus]

1 hour ago, luxitu said:

Since we are living now in 2021 means ipv4 will be more and more rare. For me in germany means that, its not possible to use NAT1 because the router already connects via PPPoE and if you want to do it with a second device it will not work because nearly each ISP just allow now single session like mine! a few years ago it was not so. there it was possible to use multiple session. idk if this is in other countries other. So it is for me and my friend not possible to use NAt1 then....

 

You mean your ISP wouldn't allow you to connect w/ PPPoE using your PS3 device? Ask them how you can get to NAT1 connection.

My ISP offering cheap payed service for NAT1 connection, like 5$ per month.

And don't forget about port forwarding, I used MikroTik router and setup firewall correctly for game to reach servers

[luxitu]

5 hours ago, PostalDudeRus said:

You mean your ISP wouldn't allow you to connect w/ PPPoE using your PS3 device?

It allows only one connection through PPPoE and the router already use this connection, so the ps3 would be already a second connection via PPPoE

5 hours ago, PostalDudeRus said:

My ISP offering cheap payed service for NAT1 connection, like 5$ per month.

the internet is from my roommate so this would be not an option....also not sure if i could do something like this

5 hours ago, PostalDudeRus said:

And don't forget about port forwarding, I used MikroTik router and setup firewall correctly for game to reach servers

thats what i have configured in my router, i set all what you wrote in your topic + some extra from a cnc website, if its wrong, something missing, just tell me what i have to do it, to make it correct:

Edited July 30, 2021 by luxitu

[PostalDudeRus]

On 30.07.2021 at 4:45 PM, luxitu said:

It allows only one connection through PPPoE and the router already use this connection, so the ps3 would be already a second connection via PPPoE

I'll check your settings later, but can you disconnect ISP cable from router like for a few hours? Maybe your roommate fine with this?

 

[luxitu]

1 hour ago, PostalDudeRus said:

I'll check your settings later, but can you disconnect ISP cable from router like for a few hours? Maybe your roommate fine with this?

 

I can do that, but not sure what is your plan?^^