LowID Headache

[c4po]

Good Evening fellow electronic Mules

I have a new router (& internet connection) and I am at my wits end with the persistent LowID.

The router is a AVM Fritzbox 7530, the operating system is Windows 10 and the client eMule 0.50a.

The PC has a fixed IP. The network is set to "private" and eMule is enabled in the windows firewall. No other firewalls are used and also no VPN. No other PCs are in the network and no other port forwards are configured.

I have tried manually forwarding the TCP & UDP port for eMule.

I have tried UPnP which seems to work (the router shows the same ports as above as automatically forwarded).

But no matter the approach eMule always connects with a lowid and Kad shows "firewalled".

Testing the port via the emule-project.com webpage also shows it as blocked. ("TCP test failed! UDP test will not be performed.")

What am I missing? It's been a while since I've set this kind of stuff up and I don't know what else I can try. I am open to switching to another client if that is promising.

[Night457]

I am interested in what a solution to this would be also. You seem to have covered most everything that I can think of. The only other thing possible is that (maybe) your internet provider does not actually allow port forwarding even if your router claims that it does? You would have to contact them and ask, although you may have to talk to a few different people until you find one that actually has technical knowledge and is not simply a minimum wage employee reading a script from their help monitor.

What happens when you click on "Recheck Firewall" in the Kad tab of eMule? Occasionally I have had to do that step manually.

I have tried manually forwarding the TCP & UDP port for eMule.

By that do you mean that you set those specific ports in your router AND in eMule, not just one of them?
I want to be certain of that.

Please you emule experts, provide some input!

[mimzy]

Sorry about the pessimism, but in the worst case there is no solution to this except maybe using an appropriate VPN service. In order to get a HightID, you need a public IPv4 address and unfortunately this is becoming rare these days, because there are more Internet users than IPv4 addresses available. Some ISPs give no public IPv4 addresses to new customers anymore, but old customers can still have it. If they speak about something like DS-Lite, you have no public IPv4 address. Of course, the future is IPv6, but eMule HighID works with IPv4 only...

Probably you can find some diagnostic tools, but asking the provider might be also a good idea. Maybe you are lucky and there is just a tiny configuration problem...

[c4po]

thank you.

What happens when you click on "Recheck Firewall" in the Kad tab of eMule? Occasionally I have had to do that step manually.

Kad still stays on firewalled after the check finishes.

I have tried manually forwarding the TCP & UDP port for eMule.

By that do you mean that you set those specific ports in your router AND in eMule, not just one of them?
I want to be certain of that.

yes, the ports in emule are set to 6xxx2 and 6xxx5 and I've entered them manually in the router. I've also checked then when I delete the manual rules and switch on UPnP it sets exactly the same two port forwards.

Sorry about the pessimism, but in the worst case there is no solution to this except maybe using an appropriate VPN service. In order to get a HightID, you need a public IPv4 address and unfortunately this is becoming rare these days, because there are more Internet users than IPv4 addresses available. Some ISPs give no public IPv4 addresses to new customers anymore, but old customers can still have it. If they speak about something like DS-Lite, you have no public IPv4 address. Of course, the future is IPv6, but eMule HighID works with IPv4 only...

Probably you can find some diagnostic tools, but asking the provider might be also a good idea. Maybe you are lucky and there is just a tiny configuration problem...

yes, digging a bit deeper it seems that I only have a IPv6-Adress, and no unique IPv4. My router log mentions "IPv4 over DS-Lite" which seems to be NAT and tunneling through IPv6. So it seems I am fucked, unless I manage to get my own IPv4.

[Night457]

Thank god a tech expert!

Of course, the future is IPv6, but eMule HighID works with IPv4 only...

So when more people switch to IPv6, does that mean that eMulers will then have all the IPv4 slots available to themselves?

Or ... just like 2G and 3G service is now shut down entirely in favor of 4G and 5G, will IPv4 disappear entirely? That would mean that all emulers will be LowID and no one will be sharing with each other, so eMule dies. Should FLM start working on a new sharing standard now that eMule is soon to be doomed?

Or will everyone who wants to eMule just have to use port-forwarding VPNs? Or will the complete lack of IPv4 also doom the effectiveness of port forwarding through a VPN service?

My router log mentions "IPv4 over DS-Lite" which seems to be NAT and tunneling through IPv6. So it seems I am fucked, unless I manage to get my own IPv4.

It is not quite THAT bad. Most of the people I see getting files from me are LowID, so there are plenty who still manage to download with LowID. I do not have the technical understanding that mimzy does, but I do know that the ONLY way that *I* have HighID is because I use a VPN that allows port forwarding. As mimzy said,

in the worst case there is no solution to this except maybe using an appropriate VPN service.

Not all VPNs allow port forwarding. I use AirVPN, which is inexpensive and has short-term contracts available for those who just want to try it out. https://airvpn.org/

Now I know that no one will be enthusiastic about a solution that involves spending more money ON TOP OF your internet service, but it has worked for me for about a year now.

The Step-by-Step eMule Setup guide at FLM has a recent section devoted specifically to setting up eMule with a port-forwarding VPN in order to get HighID. Check it out and consider it as an option:

viewtopic.php?p=93814#p93814

[c4po]

A VPN is not an option for me right now, but my provider offers the "Full Stack Option" (= IPv4 Address) as an additional service. They fucked up majorly when installing my internet, so they owe me something and I'll see if I can get that option for free.

Because I've now got bandwith and stable internet to actually seed some stuff, and the HighID would make that much easier.

[Night457]

my provider offers the "Full Stack Option" (= IPv4 Address) as an additional service. They fucked up majorly when installing my internet, so they owe me something and I'll see if I can get that option for free.

That sounds like a very good idea. I am glad you found that the IPv4 option was actually available!

Because I've now got bandwith and stable internet to actually seed some stuff, and the HighID would make that much easier.

I can appreciate THAT! My old phoneline internet was very slow AND very expensive. I consider it an abuse of the language that they dared to call it "broadband". I was, however, able to adjust the router settings to get consistent HighID.

My newer satellite internet as of over a year ago gave me MUCH faster speeds. They are not so fast now, because more people are using the service, I guess. But still nowhere near the crawl speed of the old service.

However, I could not do any adjustments to get HighID, and they were at least helpful enough to indicate the limitations in the tech specs, for those who could understand them. (Some assistance from my brother there.) But since the new service was a fraction of the cost of the old, I could pay for a port-forwarding VPN and STILL be paying less than I had before, so it was worth it.

Good luck with your ISP negotiations!

[mimzy]

So when more people switch to IPv6, does that mean that eMulers will then have all the IPv4 slots available to themselves?

Or ... just like 2G and 3G service is now shut down entirely in favor of 4G and 5G, will IPv4 disappear entirely? That would mean that all emulers will be LowID and no one will be sharing with each other, so eMule dies. Should FLM start working on a new sharing standard now that eMule is soon to be doomed?

I doubt IPv4 will disappear entirely in the next few decades. And nothing really prevents making eMule work with IPv6. If it is not being done, then a) developers think that IPv4 is still widely enough used and they want to avoid interoperability problems or b) developers don't care, because eMule is doomed anyway

[Night457]

b) developers don't care, because eMule is doomed anyway

That would be the one.

Supposedly active development stopped over a decade ago? And minor fixes are implemented by dedicated fans just to keep it going, wheezing and puttering along.