ZombieSoul actually just helped me with this in another thread. In your eqemu_config file, at the top, under longname, add in the address tags like you see here. Then insert your external address. That simply worked for me. Not sure if this is your issue or not, but give it a try.
Code:
<server>
<world>
<shortname>servername</shortname>
<longname>longservername</longname>
<address>external_ip</address>
<loginserver>
<host>127.0.0.1</host>
<port>5998</port>
<account></account>
<password></password>
</loginserver>