Q: Slow down there, Tex! What is this Active and Passive stuff?
A: When it comes to the way in which people on Direct Connect hubs are connected, there are two ways in which they work: Active and Passive. Regardless of the Internet connection type in question, someone can be either Passive or Active.
Q: What are the differences between the two?
A: The differences between the two are as follows:
- Active - People who are in Active mode have properly configured Internet connections and can connect to both Active people and Passive people. Their search results are also far superior than if they were in Passive mode.
- Passive - People who are in Passive mode have a limitation, either due to their Internet connection itself or a misconfiguration, that prevents their connection from working to its fullest potential. Passive users can only connect to and download from Active users. They cannot connect to fellow Passive users, hence why getting into Active mode behooves your standard user by a huge degree.
Q: Well gosh golly and geewillickers! Is there any way to test this?
A: Without monkeying around any with your Connection settings, log on to the GTS DC Hub, or any other Hub you want, and try and download some filelists from people who are in Active mode.
If you scroll over to the right in the userpanel, you will see the TAG column. This displays information about that person's client, such as what version it is, and in this case, whether they are Passive or Active. Look for the string of text that says "M:A" or "M:P". The first stands for "Method:Active" and the second one stands for "Method:Passive". Look for someone with "M:A".
If you can download from them, do not worry. If nothing happens for a while and eventually it says "Connection: timeout", do the following; click File > Settings in DC++, click Connection settings over to the left, and change from Active to Passive mode. Yes, it is not as nice as being in Active mode when it works properly, but it beats the results of being in Active mode when it is not working properly. That is to say, absolutely nothing.
Q: I do not want to be in Passive mode. How do I fix this?
A: Well, for most situations, as in you have a broadband Internet connection at home that uses a router, what you need to do is forward a port to your internal IP address, tell DC++ to use that port number, as well as your external IP address, and you should be set.
Q: ...Huh?
A: Perhaps this award-winning illustration I have made will better convey how the Internet works when your computer is behind a router. Click on it for the full version:
It makes so much more sense now, eh?
The problem with Active mode stems from if you are like PC #1 or #2 over in the corner. See how the router is there before the cable modem? Those two PCs, when online, appear to have the same IP address. However, this comes at a price. When you want to use programs like DC++, you have to configure the router.
- Internal IP address - The IP address your computer has behind the router. Usually looks something like 192.168.1.3 or thereabouts.
- External IP address - The IP address everyone else on the Internet sees. Can be seen by going here. Usually looks completely different than your internal IP address, hence why I am writing this goddamned page in the first place.
Q: So I need to configure my router? If so, how do I do that?
A: Yes, you need to login to your router's configuration utility to make the appropriate changes. As far as how to do that, consult the manual that came with your router. A list of common router manufacturers, at least for the US, includes Linksys, Belkin, and D-Link. Go to their sites and look around for manuals in PDF format if you need to.
Basically what you do is forward a port, such as say 15000, to your PC's internal IP address. Tell DC++ to use your external IP address, as well as the port you just forwarded, and there you go. Once you do that, Connection settings in DC++ should look like this. This is how it looks for me:
