Minilogin Questions

[Fulcrum]

From what I've been reading on the forums, Minilogin seems to be good for a small to medium number of people to connect to an EQemulator across a lan and/or internet connection but I have a few questions.

1) Are there any limitations on the number of connections that minilogin can handle at once? (From what I've read this shouldn't be a problem for my own needs, but I was curious about how robust it is.)

2) Are there any known security risks inherent in using this program to connect computers over a lan AND via the internet that I should be aware of before install/setup? (Reply to this question via private message please if it's serious but managable through network setup. )

3) I've read through several different threads and the wiki about the setup... and some say 'You must set the IP for each person' in the minilogin. Is this a one-time setup so that they can connect for the first time and create their account, or do I need to acquire some code to automagically update the IP in the database each time that they connect?

Thanks for the assistance in advance.

[blackdragonsdg]

Minilogin is great but it has one major limitation which is ip based authentication instead of username and password. I know that doesn't sound so bad but it kills any hope of traditioinal multi boxing. Of course you can always use bots.

First question....as far as I know the number of actual connections is only limited by your computer.

Your second question is a bit open ended....Anything sent over the internet comes with security risks but a properly set up computer and network will mitigate most of them.

Third question...hrmm...When I setup my minilogin I had to add the account information manually including the ip address but after the initial setup it is smooth sailing. The last used ip address is stored in the database so unless you have a constantly changing ip it should be a one time thing.

[Fulcrum]

Fantastic, thanks for the heads up!

I know that the computers on my lan will remain at the same IP's, but those connecting remotely will probably have IPs that shift every couple days or each time their modem reboots.

... and if it'd make traditional multiboxing an issue, would it also take additional setup for a couple to connect remotely and play together from the same home?

I don't mean to sound ignorant about Minilogin and such, but the 'How To' threads are plentiful compared to the number of 'What it does' and 'How it works' threads.

(On a side note, the only two options I've seen are to use the Eqemulogin and connect to the public login server, and Minilogin for a more private server. Is there another option out there to consider?)

[Shayne]

Originally Posted by Fulcrum

Fantastic, thanks for the heads up!

I know that the computers on my lan will remain at the same IP's, but those connecting remotely will probably have IPs that shift every couple days or each time their modem reboots.

... and if it'd make traditional multiboxing an issue, would it also take additional setup for a couple to connect remotely and play together from the same home?

I don't mean to sound ignorant about Minilogin and such, but the 'How To' threads are plentiful compared to the number of 'What it does' and 'How it works' threads.

(On a side note, the only two options I've seen are to use the Eqemulogin and connect to the public login server, and Minilogin for a more private server. Is there another option out there to consider?)

no questions about it, the open source EQEmuLoginServer is 10 times better then minilogin. It can be gotten from here

I think this guide may give you more info on the topic

[blackdragonsdg]

Originally Posted by Fulcrum

would it also take additional setup for a couple to connect remotely and play together from the same home?

If two people from the same remote ip address try to log in at the same time one of them will always get kicked out when the second tries to connect.

Playing over a lan setup will involve a router in most cases and all routers use DHCP by default which assigns connected computers an ip address. Those ip addresses will always be different. The one thing you might want to do is to set the router to lease the ip address forever instead of changing them out periodically. You could also assign the ip addresses yourself so that they are static on your internal network.

There is a private login available which may be a good alternative if you have multiple people trying to use the same ip address.

[Fulcrum]

Allrighty, thanks for the help, folks. Gives me plenty to think about as I work the server machine over with the code-hammer.


*Disclaimer: the 'code-hammer' is an actual hammer with the words 'Windows OS' crudely written in black permanent marker along it's sides.