Topic: Wii Onrine: Router Optimization Tips (aka how to possibly improve Brawl)

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

This is a brief guide that may help some improve their Wii game's online performance (particularly, Super Space Animals Sword People Serious Fighters).  This guide assumes you have full access to your router's settings, you are comfortable navigating and changing your router's settings, and that your Wii connects to the internet directly thru the router.

(If your Wii connection goes thru a firewall and/or another computer before reaching the router, you've overcomplicated things and I can't help you, so get out).

If you have any questions on a particular procedure, feel free to ask below.

Much of this is taken from Nintendo's horribly-navigated help page despair page, but should be easier to read and digest.  Beyond these procedures, the fate of online Brawl rests with Brawl's programming, your ISP's performance, and Nintendo's servers.

~~~~~


==Router Setup==

1)  Assign your Wii a static IP address.  You'll probably need to enter your Wii's MAC Address to make the assignment work.

**If you're unsure where to find the MAC address, have your Wii connect to any WFC or WiiConnect24 service, then go into your router configuration and look at the list of attached devices.  Hopefully you can narrow down which MAC address belongs to your Wii while the rest are other active computers on your network.


2)  Enable "Port Forwarding" for your Wii static IP address.  The forwarded ports should cover the range: 1 to 65534.

**Alternative:  set that IP address as the "DMZ" server, if available.  I prefer using DMZ cuz it was easier to set in my router.


3)  Set the connection type to "UDP", instead of "TCP" or "TCP/UDP".  Wii online games specifically use UDP.


4)  [Wi-Fi Users]  Set the wireless/broadcast channel to something like 1, 2, 10, or 11.  "6" is the factory default for most retail routers; because the channel might be crowded by your neighbors' routers, it should be avoided.

**Wii LAN Adapter users don't have to worry about this.  LAN Adapter users also don't have to worry about mobile phones, bluetooth devices, and other Wi-Fi computers interferring with their Wii's connection (yes, it's true. other wireless activity can cause slight delays or total failure, especially when Brawl's net code sucks in the first place).


==Wii Settings==

1)  "Auto-Obtain IP Address" should be "No".  In the Advanced Settings, enter the (above) Wii-specific IP address, the Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway.

2)  "Auto-Obtain DNS" should be "No".  In the Advanced Settings, enter the Preferred DNS server and the Alternate DNS server.

3)  MTU value should be 1500 in most cases.

**If you don't know your Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, and DNS Servers,
1.  Open up your Windows Run box
2.  Type "cmd" and hit Enter
3.  In this window (the prehistoric black/white "Microsoft DOS" interface), type "ipconfig/all" and hit Enter
4.  The information should be listed


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Here's what my info looks like, as an example:

Wii IP Address:  192.168.1.25  . . . . . . . . . .  (the address I chose, within my network)
Subnet Mask:  255.255.255.0  . . . . . . . . . .  (my network's subnet mask, simply looked it up)
Default Gateway:  192.168.1.1  . . . . . . . . . .  (my router's IP address, within my network)
Preferred DNS Server:  192.168.1.1  . . . . . . . . . .  (my router's IP address, within my network)
Alternate DNS Server:  192.168.1.1  . . . . . . . . . .  (my router's IP address, within my network)
MTU:  1500

[Flames_of_chaos]

**If you don't know your Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, and DNS Servers,
1.  Open up your Windows Run box
2.  Type "cmd" and hit Enter
3.  In the DOS window, type "ipconfig/all" and hit Enter
4.  The information should be listed

If you guys need the OS:X or linux/unix version of this it is

1. Open up terminal
2. Type "ifconfig" if you want to narrow it down to a specific interface type "ifconfig <insert interface name here>" so for example ifconfig en1.
3. Information should be listed here's a quick synopsis of what they mean
inet6 - shows your network address in the internet v6 protocol
inet - current IP address
netmask - subnet mask in hexadecimal format
broadcast - broadcast address
ether - MAC address AKA physical address

 
Also when you set up a DMZ you do have to watch out because a DMZ will have no security at all offered by a firewall or the router, the devices under the DMZ will be purely exposed to the internet with no protection.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

In order words, Wii likes it internet RAW.

[Caliban]

Pro, are you using the WiFi dongle from Nintendo?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I'm using a first-party LAN Adapter... on a 50-ft ethernet cable leading all the way to my router.

(my roomie uses his cell phone and wi-fi laptop frequently)

[Caliban]

Ah ok. Just checking because I was trying to see what I could do with my set-up taking your advice into consideration.

[NovaQ]

OK, so I'm slowly figuring out how to reconfigure things. The only thing I'm stuck on is switching to UDP. I can't even find an option to do so in my router's setup system, and searching the company's support website (which helped me set a static server) is yielding me no useful hits. Any ideas? Is there any chance that the default connection type is TCP/UDP? If it's TCP only, would it be that big of a deal to not switch it to UDP?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

TCP/UDP is better than no UDP at all.  Nintendo states the Wii handles its online gaming using UDP, so let's try to give it what it wants.

[Caterkiller]

Hey Huggles I need saving again. My biggest problems lie with the router set up.

I think with the explination shown here I can find out how to assign my wii that IP address. But still i'm not sure. I thought I did something but it probable wasn't right.

Then I don't know how to do the Port Forwarding.  Or the swithing to UMD.

I just need 1 - 3 Basicly on router set up.

I just don't understand, after I put it into that other mode you told me about it was great. I turned everything off for a week, came back and it was god aweful. Man I miss my smash bros.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

You turned it off?  I guess the router decided to forget.  For the meantime, check your PMs a few weeks back, I sent you a link to a page on the User Manual of your router that details DMZ setup (you need DMZ or Port Forwarding, one of the two; DMZ is easier to enable).

[Caterkiller]

I finally figured out a how to navigate a few things, and the moment I switched to UMD mode(or what ever the heck) along with DMZ, everything went super duper smoothly.

Thanks again man!

[Caterkiller]

Hey Huggles, I had to get a new router or what ever this device is that gets me online, but my Wii can't seem to find an access point, any help?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

What's different about the hardware/service plan, compared to last time?

Did you give your connection a name/ID in the router?  Is your Wii system manually set to look for that ID?  (instead of auto-searching)
Some routers run in a stealth mode or don't broadcast their availability by default.

[Caterkiller]

It was a stealth mode thanks! I went to some fire wall settings, put it down for a moment and badabingbadboom there it was. Again good looking out!

[remshad]

thanks ... now my game enjoyment multiplied ...