uTorrent, Internet Sharing and Port Forwarding: Horrid Trifecta

Every good question has a couple of miles of back story, so here it comes:

I bought a Windows PC recently, and one of the first programs I downloaded was uTorrent. I have an iBook G4 running 10.4.8, but I have no wireless router, so I thought I would use internet sharing to get my new laptop off the ground. Everything connects great, internet sharing is wonderful on the web, but then I use uTorrent and notice that I'm uploading at nearly 3 times the speed I'm downloading, even when I only have 12kb of a file. I then notice the small icon at the bottom of the application that looks like a warning flag that my computer is confused, and I figure out that the problem is my new laptop has no ears, or rather, no listening port through which uTorrent can increase the speed of my DOWNloads. Further searching reveals that the traffic on the appropriate port is not getting through, hence I try to figure out how to manipulate internet sharing into forwarding the appropriate port range. I found Brickhouse, or as it is now known, Flying Buttress, but the program is remarkably confusing (to be perfectly honest, I'm not that bright). I cannot get FB to forward the port, no matter how hard I tried (every time I clicked Start IP Sharing, the it wouldn't work). So I can't use FB. I thought I would be clever and create a network on my Windows PC and share it with my iBook, but apparently my iBook refuses to share the Windows internet.

So now I am stuck trying to figure out how to get this Windows PC to receive traffic on TCP/UDP ports 10000-65535 through my Mac. To be honest, I really thought that the Mac would easily be able to forward the ports (is this in store for Leopard?), and I was a little disappointed the whole thing was so frustrating, but then I tried to setup an ad-hoc network on the Windows PC and realized that my Mac is still FAR easier to use, despite is insufficiencies.

So, long story short, I need help forwarding ports through internet sharing. If you can help me use FB, that's great, but to be honest, I would like a cleaner solution if possible. So my question is: How do I get my Mac to share port traffic with Windows if it is running internet sharing?

iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Other Computer: Windows XP, other specs available on request

Posted on Feb 10, 2007 9:13 AM

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4 replies

Feb 10, 2007 10:54 PM in response to BDAqua

I was hoping more for a permanent solution that doesn't cost $100. Did I mention I'm in China? That program seems great and all, but I have the same technical difficulties I've had with FB. I can get the thing running and still have an internet connection on my machine, however, the port mapping or port forwarding or whatever you wish to call it doesn't actually work. These programs make it very difficult to understand what's going on; I checked the IP Address on my windows machine and used it as the actual address for the port I wanted to forward, I applied the settings and absolutely nothing changed on the windows machine. I went to portforward.com to check if the port was forwarded properly and still no response. This will sound stupid, but when I hook up the windows machine to the router through ethernet, it works perfectly, no forwarding required, so it is essentially my mac that is blocking or absorbing the intended traffic, but if I hook up the windows machine to the router, I have no internet for my Mac (I'm not sure if that's a problem with my Mac or with ICS). Can you explain to me how to use this program to forward ONE port, and ONLY forward one port (or a range of ports would be even better) without all of its inane firewalling that blocks all the internet traffic? Or am I just hopeless on this issue?

Feb 11, 2007 12:11 AM in response to gaelfx

Well, Internet Sharing through the Mac isn't going to do it... no Port control... can't say if the other way around... Windows® sharing it's connection would or woul not have the same drawback, as I refuse to use my 2 remaing PCs to Browse, get eMail, or even have access to the Internet more than once a year!

Sorry, since I didn't go for the $100 either, and only used the APP years ago in OS9, I can't really answer your question(s) on it other than at that time it Shared connections rather easily!

Sorry, wish I could be of more help.

A Router rather than Internet Sharing seems your best solution.

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uTorrent, Internet Sharing and Port Forwarding: Horrid Trifecta

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