I've put a few games through open ports and a few apps too.
Simple question... is it safe to "allow all" on software firewall to leave those ports
open at all times? Can they be compromised by leaving specific ports open 24/7?
If I didn't, it'd mean I'd have to allow each time I play a game online which if you're a gamer
will know is a pain in the arse!

Note: those games/apps do require ports to be forwarded.

Thanks

Tam...

If you forward them through your router, they're either fowarded all of the time, or only when something (say a game) is listening on that port.

If you open them through a software firewall for a specific program, they're usually only open when that program is running.

Ah yea sorry forgot to say the ports have been forwarded through the router.
Ok so they will be only open when the game/app's activated? I disabled the
router firewall as well.

Also, on another note. I have two sets of ports open, on TCP and UDP.
One of the UDP's is not receiving for some bizarre reason?

Example:

TCP 12345 12345 TCP
UDP 54321 54321 UDP
TCP 67890 67890 TCP
UDP 09876 09876 UDP

The bold 09876 UDP is not receiving packets? All ports are entered correctly!
Any ideas?

It's ok, I got it. For the now anyways. It was the software firewall.

Nope it's back to closed again ffs!

Tam you can always use UPnP if you like. Sometimes it gets the job done and it's easier.

Meats_Of_Evil said:

What's P&P? You have a link please? I have SimplePort Forwarding, but that's more
hassle than it's worth lol

Why? If you're going to do that, you might as well forward all ports to your computer!



Not sure the leading zero is necessary, but I doubt it will hurt anything.

UDP isn't usually used for 'real' data. It's used in things like DNS or "Bob is typing a message" notifications. There's no real error-checking to speak of, or delivery notification. Packets are just kind of sent and then forgotten about (you hope they arrive).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Datagram_Protocol
UDP uses a simple transmission model without implicit hand-shaking dialogues for guaranteeing reliability, ordering, or data integrity. Thus, UDP provides an unreliable service and datagrams may arrive out of order, appear duplicated, or go missing without notice.

In short, your port may actually already be open. What are you using to test if it's open?

He already corrected it, but UPnP could be an option too, but only if the app/game you want to use supports it, and you have it enabled on your router. Basically, the app tells your router "forward this port to me" and the router complies. Some implementations will tell the router to drop packets on the port again when the program closes, and some will leave it forwarded (for next time).

I'm using PFPortchecker to check the ports are forwarded.
I don't get what you mean about the Router firewall being blocked?

Btw, the ports listed on here, are not the ports I am using. It was an example.
I didn't want to broadcast the particular ports in case they could be compromised.