How to connect to B.net ?

[Raven Vale]

Hey folks , just decided to come back to diablo after a long long time , my daughters want to play on B.net with me so we can level together .
Now , my memory is'nt what it used to be , when we tried to connect we get the can't connect message , check if you are connected to the net etc . Alt tabbed and found windows had blocked it , we both unblocked but are still getting the same message .
Do we have to manually download some patch or should it auto patch on connection . If it's auto , any idea's why we can't connect ?
I am assuming B.net is still running .

Thanks for any and all answers .

[--Pete]

Hi,

Hey folks , just decided to come back to diablo after a long long time , my daughters want to play on B.net with me so we can level together .
Now , my memory is'nt what it used to be , when we tried to connect we get the can't connect message , check if you are connected to the net etc . Alt tabbed and found windows had blocked it , we both unblocked but are still getting the same message .
Do we have to manually download some patch or should it auto patch on connection . If it's auto , any idea's why we can't connect ?
I am assuming B.net is still running .

Thanks for any and all answers .

I'm not sure just what your problem is. If you can connect one machine to b.net but not multiple machines, then you might find some help here.

If you cannot connect at all, then there are additional problems and we'll need additional information. What you can try is to connect one machine directly to your modem and see if that works. If it does, then put in the router and try with just one machine connected. Keep adding things till it breaks and if you need help, post the details.

Good luck.

B.net is alive and well, and I installed Diablo on this machine about a month ago and had no trouble connecting, so that end of things works as well as ever.

--Pete

[the Langolier]

Hey folks , just decided to come back to diablo after a long long time , my daughters want to play on B.net with me so we can level together .
Now , my memory is'nt what it used to be , when we tried to connect we get the can't connect message , check if you are connected to the net etc . Alt tabbed and found windows had blocked it , we both unblocked but are still getting the same message .
Do we have to manually download some patch or should it auto patch on connection . If it's auto , any idea's why we can't connect ?
I am assuming B.net is still running .

Thanks for any and all answers .

You've got two problems. The first is you are probably running v1.0 (fresh install) and that is such an old patch it doesn't have correct connection settings for b.net (it was before gateways were introduced). First you will have to manually download the proper patches from the battle.net website.

Even if you get on b.net, however, you will not be able to play in the same game as your daughter. Two computers sharing the same internet connection can't join the same game over b.net*. You will have to choose the IPX option in the multiplayer menu. Of course, you may have to install this protocol on windows XP. If you are using Vista you can forget about that as Vista no longer supports IPX. The final option is direct cable connect. This means disconnecting from the internet and plugging your internet cable directly from one computer into the other through their ethernet cards. This is sure to work but it can be a bit of a hassle if all your cables are neatly stowed behind office furniture. Oh yeah and this method probably means no more than 2 player games.

*Technically they can using a method described in a thread by [vL]Kp which involves setting up port forwarding rules on your router as well as editing the registry on each computer. Edit: found the link for you.

[Raven Vale]

You've got two problems. The first is you are probably running v1.0 (fresh install) and that is such an old patch it doesn't have correct connection settings for b.net (it was before gateways were introduced). First you will have to manually download the proper patches from the battle.net website.

Even if you get on b.net, however, you will not be able to play in the same game as your daughter. Two computers sharing the same internet connection can't join the same game over b.net*. You will have to choose the IPX option in the multiplayer menu. Of course, you may have to install this protocol on windows XP. If you are using Vista you can forget about that as Vista no longer supports IPX. The final option is direct cable connect. This means disconnecting from the internet and plugging your internet cable directly from one computer into the other through their ethernet cards. This is sure to work but it can be a bit of a hassle if all your cables are neatly stowed behind office furniture. Oh yeah and this method probably means no more than 2 player games.

*Technically they can using a method described in a thread by [vL]Kp which involves setting up port forwarding rules on your router as well as editing the registry on each computer. Edit: found the link for you.

Ahh thanks a lot , managed to dl and patch it , connected instantly , but the cant use same ip has put us off a bit . Also my daughters use Vista and we share a wireless network , no way could I get a cable from one comp to the other .
I cannot understand why they could'nt let 2 IP's share a game , must be plenty of people with more than one comp that would like to play together on B.net .

Thanks for the help folks , appreciate it .

Oh and the registry bit , well , that went straight over my head , but cheers :)

[--Pete]

Hi,

I cannot understand why they could'nt let 2 IP's share a game , must be plenty of people with more than one comp that would like to play together on B.net .

You're thinking 2008. Try to remember 1997 when very few households had more than one computer and broadband was even rarer. So, yeah, they could have done it better, but multi-player online was pretty new then, and they made some poor decisions. Like a dancing bear, it's not that the bear dances well, it's that the bear dances at all that is amazing.:)

--Pete

[[vL]Kp]

Nothing in the Blizzard code specifically tries to prevent multiple users behind a NAT device from playing in one game. It's just that they don't do all that much to make things smooth. I routinely run multiple users behind a single IP address and it works perfectly. No lag, no restrictions on who can host, etc. I suggest you try the instructions in my post linked above. If you can't get it to work, post in this thread with the specific NAT device you're using and someone may be able to help you.

As a side note, recent Starcraft patches added support for LAN play over UDP. I think I once tried replacing the Diablo standard.snp with the Starcraft standard.snp, and it allowed for Diablo to play over UDP on a LAN. This is useful since it allows LAN play on Vista. Of course, this requires having a legitimate copy of Starcraft so that you can get its standard.snp.

[Raven Vale]

Kp' date='Jul 19 2008, 03:38 AM' post='150974']
Nothing in the Blizzard code specifically tries to prevent multiple users behind a NAT device from playing in one game. It's just that they don't do all that much to make things smooth. I routinely run multiple users behind a single IP address and it works perfectly. No lag, no restrictions on who can host, etc. I suggest you try the instructions in my post linked above. If you can't get it to work, post in this thread with the specific NAT device you're using and someone may be able to help you.

As a side note, recent Starcraft patches added support for LAN play over UDP. I think I once tried replacing the Diablo standard.snp with the Starcraft standard.snp, and it allowed for Diablo to play over UDP on a LAN. This is useful since it allows LAN play on Vista. Of course, this requires having a legitimate copy of Starcraft so that you can get its standard.snp.

I have to say I'm not tech minded when it comes to computers I'm afraid , even "NAT" is beyond me :/

I'm wondering about this starcraft thing you are talking about , I am on XP and my daughter is on Vista , if I bought starcraft , could you guide me through what to do or would it be over complicated for the likes of us who never knew what computers were as a child:)

[--Pete]

Hi,

I'm wondering about this starcraft thing you are talking about , I am on XP and my daughter is on Vista , if I bought starcraft , could you guide me through what to do

From what [vL]Kp said (and he knows infinitely more about these matters than do I), it seems that what you need to do is install StarCraft and update it (either by downloading and running a patch or logging onto b.net). Then copy the standard.snp file from the StarCraft directory to the Diablo directory. That should do it.

. . . or would it be over complicated for the likes of us who never knew what computers were as a child:)

No such thing;) I'm sixty-two and coping with the damned things quite well. :w00t:

--Pete

[[vL]Kp]

I have to say I'm not tech minded when it comes to computers I'm afraid , even "NAT" is beyond me :/

I'm wondering about this starcraft thing you are talking about , I am on XP and my daughter is on Vista , if I bought starcraft , could you guide me through what to do or would it be over complicated for the likes of us who never knew what computers were as a child:)

Wikipedia has a good article on NAT. I recommend reading it. My posts may be clearer once you know what it is. You still haven't told us what you're using to gate your access to the Internet. Please provide that information so we can check about the most economical solution. The device we want to know about is either your cable/DSL modem, or is situated between the modem and your computers. We need to know the brand and model information, since features can vary widely among models. If you have a link to an online version of the manual, that'd be helpful too.

Hi,
From what [vL]Kp said (and he knows infinitely more about these matters than do I), it seems that what you need to do is install StarCraft and update it (either by downloading and running a patch or logging onto b.net). Then copy the standard.snp file from the StarCraft directory to the Diablo directory. That should do it.

Exactly. The NAT solution is free, assuming the relevant device supports it. If not, what Pete describes is what I intended. Many folks here have multiple Blizzard games, so I thought you might already have a copy lying around. If you want to go that route, let me know and I'll retest it before you go out and buy a copy of Starcraft.