Brawl Wi-Fi Guide 3.0 (NEW)

[HTA!]

Back from the grave comes the Wi-Fi guide to best them all. In this new version, I am aiming to make the guide more user friendly and give picture examples when possible. Basically, what we aim to do with this guide is make your Brawls lag free and introduce you to the world of wireless networking.

I- Speed Test

Before we do anything too complex, lets just go ahead and do a speed test for our computers. This speed test will give you basic information on your upload and download speeds as well as MS ping.

http://www.speedtest.net/

What you?re aiming for here is a low MS Ping, around 100 will do, but that's not to say it?s impossible to play otherwise.

Ping is basically how long it takes information to travel between two points. So a Ping measure of 100 means it takes information 100 Milliseconds to travel and be received. 17 and below is considered the best for Brawl, however there isn't too much you can do about a high ping since it is mainly your internet providers fault. For a more detailed Ping report as well as some other vital information lets run a couple more tests...

II- Packets Lost and IP INformation

Go to your start menu and on the right hand side of the menu there should be an option called "Run".

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Now a  box will pop up asking you to type something in. The default is probably CMD, or command. If it is not, change the text to CMD and hit enter.

Now we will want to test our ping again, except this time we will also be checking our package drop rate. This is the percentage of information that for one reason or another does not make it to the location you specified.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Type "ping www.google.com" (without the quotation marks) and watch the information that appears. Your computer is sending information to Google and timing how long its taking for the confirmation to be sent back. Make sure you look at the packages that were lost, hopefully it will be 0%.

III- House Cleaning

Let?s make sure you are able to log into your router. All you have to do is type in your IP address in the address bar of your internet browser and fill in the user name and password. But wait, how do we find this information?. Go back to the command box like when we did the ping test and type in "IPconfig" instead of CMD. This will give you your IP address as well as numerous other numbers that will be needed later.

The password and user name are actually the factory defaults unless you have changed them yourself; so please consult your router's website for that information (usually, the username is Admin and the password is...password :P). Now, first and foremost make sure your router has the latest version of firmware (there is usually a check for new versions upon logging in) and we are ready to begin.

IV- The Basics

The first settings you will need to adjust are your MTU values. For Brawl, 1500 is usually the magic number (Or so says Nintendo) so explore your router for the option to change this. Now we will look into your SPI firewall settings. This firewall inspects the ?packets? or pieces of information that are coming to your computer, or more specifically the Wii for our purposes. Turning this off helps things run a bit smoother because now game information is not being inspected before it continues on to the Wii.

If you are concerned about the safety of your network or are prone to getting viruses off of the internet, do not disable this firewall. I've been running without it for years and have been fine, but just think things through okay? :)

There is also a feature known as UPnP (Universal Plug n? Play) that tells your router to send out signals every so often in an effort to let you connect foreign devices to your network; such as your friends laptop etc. By turning this feature off, or simply lengthening the signal time, you get less traffic on your router. It is unconfirmed if this helps connection, but it can?t hurt and won?t effect any current connections you have.

The last order of business is to make sure your NAT is set to ?open?. NAT is basically who your router is allowing you to connect to. If you've ever played an Xbox 360 with a wireless connection this may be familiar to you. Some routers may not have the option to just change your NAT, but here we will address an important piece of information:

If you are concerned about the safety of your network or are prone to getting viruses off of the internet, do not change the NAT settings on your router unless the rest of the guide did not help. Simply by completing the port-forwarding explained later in the guide you will be opening the NAT specifically for your Wii.

(Note- The NAT ?Open? option also helps with X-box Live connections!)

V- Open the Ports!

This is one of the major issues with Brawl. The packets of information used for the game are so bogged down its nearly impossible for the experience to be cohesive. What we need to do is make it so only the Wii can get packets that are not hindered by our router's security measures. What you will have to do is go into your router settings as we did before and?

Click the Port Forwarding/Triggering tab. If its not an option, search around a bit or visit?

www.portforward.com

This website is your Bible. Use it for more information if you are confused by the guide. All you have to do is find your router and click default guide for a detailed set-up specific to your router.

Alright, now that that?s taken care of, you need to know what all those crazy numbers and such mean. Basically, the starting and ending points tell the router what pathways to open up for information to flow through. For Brawl, you will need 6 different ports. All you have to do is fill in the same number for starting and ending, as that will open up the specific port needed for Brawl.

There are also 2 types of ports, TCP for the game information we need to play and UDP for user to user connection. UDP ports are recommended, but if you are concerned about viruses you can leave the UDP ports out. (although, the risk for UDP ports is relatively small)

TCP (the type of port)
80-80
443-443
28910-28910
29900-29900
29901-29901
29920-29920

UDP (the type of port)
All ports

(Note- Starting will be 1, ending will be the maximum possible port number)

The IP address will have a blank for the last numbers in the chain, such as 111.111.11.**
It is recommended that you use a number 10 above your IP, so in this case it would be something like 111.111.11.10

This is basically specifying where these ports will lead to.

After you have made all the ports, there should be 6 or 7, and set them all to the same IP address your finished with your router!

VI- Wii Want to Brawl

Now you will have to tell the Wii to run through these ports that you just made. Turn on your Wii and?

A)
Go into the settings in the bottom left corner
Go over until you reach internet tab and click it
Click the wireless (or wired) connection you are using
Go into the settings
Pan over to the IP settings, and click ?No? to the Auto Obtain feature
Set the IP address to the same IP as the ports you just created
You Subnet Mask can be found in the IP settings list shown in the beginning of the guide
Default gateway is your original IP (also found in "ipconfig" menu)

B)
(Optional)
Now, pan over to Auto Obtain DNS and click ?No?
Set it to the codes provided here ( www.opendns.com )
This will let your Wii run a little more independently of your computer, lessening traffic. Not needed, but can be helpful.

C)
Pan over to MTU Value
Set it to 1500 or 1400 (I'm running an X-box on this as well, and at 1500 it screws up the NAT)


Hoorah, time to Brawl! Hope you get some use out of this, and feel free to ask any questions you may have about the guide.

All who follow this guide do so at their own risk, although that risk is small, and I am in no way responsible for anything that happens after the use of this guide.

[Ridley]

I have 48 pings.

[Playat]

I have 63 pings. Thats kinda slow is it?

[HTA!]

I have 63 pings. Thats kinda slow is it?

No, its not.
Follow the latency video seeing as you have a LAN Adaptor.

[QingXin]

I'm confused on the Ports section... What numbers are the starting/ending points?

[HTA!]

I'm confused on the Ports section... What numbers are the starting/ending points?

Starting and ending points are the same, in that way only that specific port is opened.
Editing that now. D:

[HTA!]

If you home has a lot of laptops/etc. connecting to your network, leave UPnP on.

[QingXin]

Ahhh, it all makes sense now... Thanks  :)

[Playat]

I have 63 pings. Thats kinda slow is it?

No, its not.
Follow the latency video seeing as you have a LAN Adaptor.

Does it work if you have an USB Wi-Fi connector?

I did a speedtest and I got 281 pings

[HTA!]

I have 63 pings. Thats kinda slow is it?

No, its not.
Follow the latency video seeing as you have a LAN Adaptor.

Does it work if you have an USB Wi-Fi connector?

I did a speedtest and I got 281 pings

That is bad.
The video only helps lag in gameplay if you DO have a Wi-Fi adapter, so otherwise all it does is raise your Browsing speed.

[Playat]

I have 63 pings. Thats kinda slow is it?

No, its not.
Follow the latency video seeing as you have a LAN Adaptor.

Does it work if you have an USB Wi-Fi connector?

I did a speedtest and I got 281 pings

That is bad.
The video only helps lag in gameplay if you DO have a Wi-Fi adapter, so otherwise all it does is raise your Browsing speed.

That kinda suck. Looks like there's no lag-free guide for USB Wi-Fi connector unless I can get a phone line in my room :-\

[HTA!]

I have 63 pings. Thats kinda slow is it?

No, its not.
Follow the latency video seeing as you have a LAN Adaptor.

Does it work if you have an USB Wi-Fi connector?

I did a speedtest and I got 281 pings

That is bad.
The video only helps lag in gameplay if you DO have a Wi-Fi adapter, so otherwise all it does is raise your Browsing speed.

That kinda suck. Looks like there's no lag-free guide for USB Wi-Fi connector unless I can get a phone line in my room :-\

Um... hello?
I said if your using the USB adapter that the video will help a lot...

[QingXin]

What...

My connection was running fine, but now it just went down in the dirt... Help?  :|

[HTA!]

What...

My connection was running fine, but now it just went down in the dirt... Help?  :|

Running fine after or before the port forwarding?
Remember, just because you have good connection doesn't mean that your opponent does.

"The Golden Rule"

Good Connection + Bad Connection = Bad Connection

[QingXin]

What...

My connection was running fine, but now it just went down in the dirt... Help?  :|

Running fine after or before the port forwarding?
Remember, just because you have good connection doesn't mean that your opponent does.

"The Golden Rule"

Good Connection + Bad Connection = Bad Connection

It's been happening with all the matches, and everyone is saying the lag is me... Meh.