hello I am using debian squeeze(testing) AMD64 with kernel 2.6.30 with atheros 5k wireless driver with a linksys WRT54GS wireless router...
I need to forward 3 ports- one for ktorrent, one for ssh, and one for nfs, and it is not working...I got to my router's page on iceweasel- got to applications and gaming, and I type in my ip and the port(s) i want forwarded, click save settings, and it looks like my settings are saved. However, when I use an open port checker to check if my ports are forwarded, it turns out none of them are. I know it is not a software issue because I have tried this on multiple computers with different OS's which with other routers have been successful in forwarding ports and none of them return that the port is forwarded. This is really becoming irksome because I have friends who really on me for the nfs server and for ssh and neither of them are successful due to this port forwarding problem. Also, switching routers is not a viable option.
Thank you in advance!

Do you realize that you have to do "port forward" for both devices: for your router and Debian (if firewall is active)?

Actually in Linux, if firewall is active, you have to manually ALLOW incoming connection from outside world to the desirable port, otherwise packets will come in only if your computer initiates connection.

how do i do this?

heres the output of iptables -S

Your firewall accept all incoming traffic (which is not goon idea). So there shouldn't be problems for packets to get in.

Check this page about port forward for your router: http://portforward.com/english/route...GS/default.htm
Tell us please you WAN IP and LAN IP.

thats the tutorial i used the first time i forwarded a port on a different comp some years ago...I looked at it again when forwarding didnt work and followed its instructions and it didnt worked...
as for LAN IP's i've been using i tried with a dynamically assigned 192.168.1.104 and a static 192.168.1.50

excuse my asking, but why do u need my WAN IP? i mean, now u know my firewall accepts all and u no the ports i am trying to forward

I meant IP address of your router, witch it gets from ISP.
When you open page http://portforward.com/, that IP address will be "Your
external IP is XXXXXXXXXXX"

65.1.166.211 - again i do not know why u need it and it will probably change in a half day or so...

this might be of help- I am using a 2wire something which connects to bellsouth internet which connects to the linksys wireless router do i need to forward teh ports on the 2wire?

adsl bellsouth.net - everything is good, I can ping that address.

Yes, of course. In your ADSL router tou have to "forward ports" and in your wireless router you have to forward ports.

But as well have to remember that IPs in your LAN (which is everything after ADSL) have to be STATIC.
So you can forward, foe example -
(WAN) port 30000 - 30010 to (LAN) 192.168.1.20 ports 30000 - 30010 = ADSL router

(LAN) 192.168.1.20 ports 30000 - 30010 to (your comp. IP) 192.168.2.10 ports 30000 - 30010 (Wireless router)

Something like this.

Assuming your IP address has not changed yet and you have not modified any service to use nonstandard ports I tried connecting to your ssh server using telnet and only received a connection refused message. So here are a few items to verify:
Is the server using a static IP address?
In the router's configuration page did you select the correct port(s) for both start and end?
In the router's configuration page are you using the correct IP address for your server?
In the router's configuration page did you select enable for each line?
Is ssh running on your server? Can you access it from other computers on your network?

Edit. As already posted the 2wire router must be configured to forward ports. How are the two routers configured/wired?

thank you so much i forwarded the ports on 2wire now its working perfectly also on a somewhat tangental vein im setting up a dyndns hostname and every 1/2 - 2 days my router ip changes and dyndns doesn't keep up with that even though i have a static ip on my computer...is there any way to fix that?

nevermind i think i fixed it...anyways thank you again for your help--nimnull i thanked you with the button too

What device i.e. server or router is running the update client?
Not sure how often the client polls for an address change but it should be configurable. dyndns updates the WAN IP address assigned by your ISP and not your local private LAN.

This should be perfectly explained in the manual attached to your ADSL modem.
If you don't have it, download it, and on dyndns web site as well should be good help and explanation.

You are welcome.