NAT router, I just can't grasp it

[phoenixx31]

Hi,
I have read almost evey link/forum/site on NAT routers, and I just can't seem to grasp exactly HOW I'm suposed to fix the fact that no one can upload from me. I used to have dial up, and though it was slow, people could at least upload.....now I have Direcway, and it seems no one/few can access my files. I LOVE the whole concept of P2P, and want to share.............I am continually adding files to be shared.
Maybe someone would be prepared to contact me on Yahoo ( ID is in my profile), and "talk" me through the steps?
Thanks for your patience .....I admire and appreciate all those who give their time to these forums.

[murasame]

Do you get failed upload attempts? If you do then it's the router/firewalls.
Have you tried this: http://portforward.com/ ?

[phoenixx31]

Hi, and thanks for your fast reply........i went to the site you listed, it was great, and helped a lot! I haven't managed to actually do what i want to yet, but that's mainly because i just found out my linksys hub/router ( never sure what the difference is there), now has only 2 working ports....and i've been trying to find out which new hub/router will suit me best........we have 5 pc's, and want them all to be able to go online ( though they will never be online all at the same time)...is there any particular hub/router that will make it easier to fix the whole "NAT router" thingy?
( the more i learn, the more i find out how much i still don't know! grrrrr)
thanks again for your help murasame :-)

[Lord of the Rings]

I believe Linksys routers should understand UPnP technology. So your Tools>Options>Advanced>Firewalls should be set to UPnP without the need for port forwarding. (Perhaps you could try a different listening port for each computer. Just a thought.)

However, if there is a problem & forwarding a port seems the only solutions then there's 3 steps you need to follow:

1. Set up a Static IP. Setting up a Static IP for Linksys

2. Forward a port (Port 6346) Forward a port on a Linksys

3. Force IP within LW: Force IP instructions & sample image & 2 posts after that.

* Note you can only forward one port per app per computer. If you were to run LW on the other computers then you'd need to use another port no. for each (eg: port 6344, 6342, etc.)

* It is extremely important that you MUST have a static ip for port forwarding to work. Otherwise it won't work the next time you log on.