Problems with Online Game access.(UPnP issues?)
Hello all.
I am currently seeing an issue where certain games that my kids play do not work. This even occurs with no rules applied to a device. The problem goes away when I set the device to unmonitored. I believe it may have something to do with UPnP. One specific game we've been using to test is Roblox. (Although it occurs with most, if not all, online games) The Roblox website loads and works just fine, the client pops up and begins to load when I attempt to access one of their games. However, it never finishes loading the game and stalls at the loading screen. I made an attempt at diagnosing the issue with wireshark and from what I can tell Roblox is attempting to establish a new session using a different port. I then see continued retransmissions using this new port. Hence why I believe it is likely something occurring (or not occurring) with UPnP. I believe this process is pretty standard for online games.
My reason for purchasing this device was to provide a way to secure my children's internet access for basic content filtering, and for scheduled access control. My intent is to restrict access to certain things(i.e games, videos,etc) during "off" hours and allow access at other times. So what I'm trying to accomplish here is ensure that these games do work, but I'd still like to maintain content filtering and access control. So I can't just set these devices to unmonitored.
I'm using a Firewalla Blue Plus in Simple Mode. My Gateway Router is a Netgear Nighthawk AX12 RAX120. In front of it is my modem (Netgear Nighthawk CM1200). I have various devices connected through wireless, and wired connections. All of the devices I've tested are on wireless. I'd be surprised if that made a difference, but I'm perfectly willing to test on wired if something thinks it'll matter.(It's kind of a pain to make that happen, otherwise I'd have tried already.)
My understanding is that this device is primarily developed as a security device and I also understand that UPnP has some pretty significant security flaws. So it's possible I just don't have the right tool for the job I want done here. I really like the firewall though and this is the only problem I've had so far, so I'm hoping I can make it work.
Maybe I'll just keep it anyways. My kids waste too much time on games anyways :-)
Thanks All!
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If the problem is UPnP, then it is highly likely not related to Firewalla. Firewalla Blue in simple mode will never touch anything related to UPnP.
Have you tried this? in the same place that you turned off device monitoring, can you turn on monitoring, then turn on emergency access mode? See if this works.
Also a few things to turn off
DNS over HTTPS
Adblock
Family mode
After you turn these off, you need to turn the wifi off and on the machine that you are controlling to refresh the DNS cache.
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Thanks for the input. DNS over HTTP and Adblock were already off. I turned off Family mode and that did not change anything. I turned on Emergency mode and at first all internet traffic stopped working(and yes I did flush DNS) I couldn't even ping a public IP. I turned it off and on a few times flushing DNS each time, and eventually traffic started flowing with Emergency mode on. However I still have the same problem as I did before.
If I understand correctly, the Firewalla works by utilizing IP spoofing. Doesn't this mean that it is impersonating the Gateway? If so, doesn't that mean that it is touching all network traffic regardless of protocol used? I'm definitely not an expert in this stuff, so please correct me if I'm wrong.
Is it possible that Firewalla is not forwarding on the request to open the necessary inbound port to the router? My router has a screen that shows open UPnP ports and when we try accessing the games it shows no ports open.
Thanks.
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Your router may not be compatible with Firewalla Simple mode. This is the ARP spoofing mode. Our list says this one works with experimental simple mode, so try this, tap on the monitoring button->[change mode] to experimental simple mode. (https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009401874)
And here is how arp spoof works https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004292514-How-does-Firewalla-Intercept-Traffic
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I experience exactly the same problem. My kid complaints the Roblox game failed to load/start.
I have tried the followings:
1. Simple Mode:
Monitoring ON : Unable to load/start game
Monitoring OFF: Able to load/start game (But what's point to use Firewalla?)
2. DHCP Mode:Monitoring ON : Unable to load/start game
Monitoring OFF : Unable to load/start game
P.S. I'm using Netgear Orbi + Blue Plus
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@Isaac, which orbi units are you using? As far as I know, the orbi wifi 6 units will need to use DHCP mode.
In your example, if you go with DHCP mode, if you see loading problem, the issue is highly (usually 100%) related to a rule. You will have to try this quick debugging https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360050255274
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