Allow someone to join a local LAN via a public ip?

Question

We are doing a small PC Lan at an apartment, but a couple of the persons playing want to play from home. Is there any easy way to do this, that would not require all the players to install anything extra?

(I know hamachi exists but don't want to have everyone have to install anything extra.)

Answer 1

Setup a server for the game, such as a Quake 3 server. Then configure Network Address Translation (DNAT) on your router.

Answer 2

If you just want to give access to the game, then use Warner's solution, but if you want to make it act as if they're on your network, you'll want to set up a VPN.

Answer 3

Configuring a VPN would be a good idea, but if you do not want externals to install anything, the solutions may become tricky on your side

• find out which ports are opened on your firewall/router (WAN -> LAN), and configure a IP tunnel. Then your friends should initiate the connection from their home, to your IP address / tunnel port

• like Warner said, configure NAT / DNAT, open a port that is forwarded to your local machine (on a port that your game understands!) then your friends again have to initiate the connection from home

Mentioning other solutions less likely to apply ...

• if they live next door, a long network cable...
• if they live not that far, use a wireless router