Problems hosting Alien Swarm server

[hat]

As the title suggests, I tried setting up my own dedicated Alien Swarm server, but I can't get anyone to connect to it. Full details here, post #9. Basically I've done everything by the book and it still fails. Wat do?

 

[qubit]

I'm unable to view the other forum from work, so excuse me if I've gone down the wrong path here.

Basically, have you opened up the required ports on your firewalls? (both hardware and software) Believe me, forgetting this one is easy to do... lol

 

[streetfighter 2]

Make sure the server is running and try http://canyouseeme.org/ with the server port. If it fails then your router/firewall/ISP/God is blocking the port.

If you pass that then no one is joining the server because they don't like you.

Also, when you added your IP with "-ip" switch did you use your internal or external IP? I'd try both. Then swap for "+ip" if it doesn't work. I have no idea what the difference is...

In my experience some routers just hate srcds. I had to swap my Linksys for a D-Link even though both ran the exact same configuration. God only knows...

 

[hat]

Quote from the steam forums:

Got server set up and running, friend can't connect. The server is on the DMZ, so ports are open. The server also has no firewall running. Windows firewall is disabled. sv_region is 255, sv_allow_lobby_connect_only is 0, sv_lan is 0, sv_steamgroup_exclusive is 0... but he gets the server not responding error. I am able to get in just fine though. Wat do?

I tried an old school trick from the Quake days: adding -ip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (replace x with my IP) and it didn't work. Tried specifically configuring port 27015 for the server, even though it's already on the DMZ, still doesn't work. I also noticed that the option to invite to game option has disappeared from the list in the drop-down menu next to someone's name in the chat (although I can still invite people using the invite players button at the bottom, but it just gives a server not responding error on the other end).

I run a Quake server (original Quake 1) server, and people can connect to it all day.

I used my internet IP for the -ip switch, not the network IP.

 

[hat]

Updated router firmware in a last ditch effort. People still say the server isn't responding. Also, I had someone tell me the IP showed up as 192.168.1.252 in the server status. sv_lan is set to 0 but it looks like it's running as a lan server anyway... does the same thing when sv_lan is 1.

 

[hat]

Figured out what the problem was. When I was sending invites, Steam thought I wanted them to join the server through the network, so it had them connect to the network IP of the server... not good.