EarthNet Configuration Requirements

EarthNet Configuration Options

Automatic

Download and run (as admin) the relevant following PowerShell script;
1. Earth2150: EarthNet Configurator
2. Earth2160: EarthNet Configurator

Manual

Follow the steps below to configure:

Windows Firewall (Ports)
Windows Firewall (Profiles)
DNS

EarthNet Ports

Earth 21xx requires the following game ports to be open ~~and forwarded~~*, if they are not then you will not be able to connect to or host multiplayer games.

To Join Games: TCP/UDP 2300-2400
To Host Games: TCP/UDP 47624
Voice Comms: UDP 6073

EarthNet Windows Firewall Rules

To open these ports in Windows Firewall run the following commands in PowerShell (run as admin):

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "DirectPlay_Earth21xx_TCP" -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 47624,2300-2400
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "DirectPlay_Earth21xx_UDP" -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 47624,6073,2300-2400

Usually it's not required if you didn't ignore initial Windows Firewall dialogs when you start multiplayer session at very first time:

Typical Windows Firewall dialogs, one for the game itself and second for system's DirectPlay helper

But if you did, this should help. If you are using 3rd party complex security solution (NOD32, Avast, Kaspersky, etc), please consult corresponding documentation.

Known Issues

Windows Firewall Profile being Public

If you are struggling to host or even join, it could be the Windows Firewall Profile is set to Public and although it should allow traffic with the above rules implemented, it doesn't. To fix, change the network connection profile to "Private:

Run PowerShell (run as admin) the following commands

powershell -c "Get-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet*" | Set-NetConnectionProfile -NetworkCategory Private"
powershell -c "Get-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceAlias "OpenVPN*" | Set-NetConnectionProfile -NetworkCategory Private"

Confirm interfaces are now set tpo Private with the Get-NetConnectionProfile command;

result;

$ Get-NetConnectionProfile

Name                     : Network
InterfaceAlias           : Ethernet or Wi-fi
NetworkCategory          : Private

Name                     : Network 2
InterfaceAlias           : OpenVPN Data Channel Offload
NetworkCategory          : Private

Finally Disable upnp service (PowerShell - run as admin) **

Stop-Service -Name upnphost
Set-Service -Name upnphost -StartupType Disabled

DNS unable to resolve EarthNet address

Verify that your machine can successfully resolve and ping the EarthNet address. Run the following command in command prompt (cmd):

ping vpnnetserver.insideearth.info

If you are getting Ping request could not find host vpnnetserver.insideearth.info. Please check the name and try again., then your DNS server cannot translate the name into the IP address. You can fix in either way:

setting your preferred DNS server to some reliable one, like Google's 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4
manually changing the EarthNet server address to 10.21.0.1 (by adding new EN server in-game)
adding "10.21.0.1 vpnnetserver.insideearth.info" into your hosts file

Troubleshooting Commands

View network connection profiles

Get-NetConnectionProfile

View OpenVPN VPN Profiles & configuration

type %userprofile%\OpenVPN\config\IE-VPN\IE-VPN.ovpn

View active firewall rules for Earth 21xx / Direct Play

Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Direct*' | where {$_.enabled -eq ‘true’ -AND $_.direction -eq ‘inbound’}
Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Earth*' | where {$_.enabled -eq ‘true’ -AND $_.direction -eq ‘inbound’}

View registry addresses listed under EarthNet

Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Topware\TheMoonProject\BaseGame\Network\EarthNet" -Name AddressIP
Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Reality Pump\LostSouls\BaseGame\Network\EarthNet" -Name AddressIP
Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\TopWare\Earth 2150\BaseGame\Network\EarthNet" -Name AddressIP
Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Reality Pump\Earth2160\Network" -Name EarthNet_ServersAddresses

Misc

* if you are using EarthNet with OpenVPN, you don't need to forward any ports on your router, you just have to make sure that your local firewall is configured properly.

* You can use the following guides if you're unsure how to forward ports on your router to your PC: PortForward

** While disabling UPnP can solve problems with EN, it may create them on other hand with GameRanger if you previously was able to host games. If you're planning to use this software further and you're able to host games with it, please consider make manual port forward for 16000/UDP if you didn't already.