• Of course, you must install Rainbow Six Vegas 2 through Steam as stated in the guide's overall title.
  
  I don't know if the guide is necessary for non-Steam versions nor if it works for Rainbow Six Vegas 1.
  
  
• Install GameRanger from https://www.gameranger.com/ Follow the website's instructions and the Installer's instructions when installing.
  The website might be labelled by your web browser or anti-virus as unsafe or possibly dangerous. This is the official website for the software so you can disregard the warnings.

We must set the GameRanger program(NOT the shortcut) to always "Run as Administrator" in the Compatibility settings of the program's Properties. Also, we should make sure GameRanger is detecting the correct game installation location.

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1. First, to run the program as administrator, an easy way to do this is to right-click on the GameRanger desktop shortcut and select the option saying "Open File Location."
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2. This will open the location where the actual GameRanger program is. Once there, right-click on GameRanger > select Properties.
   
   
   
   
   

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3. Go to the Compatibility tab > click the check box for "Run this program as administrator" > then click Apply on the bottom to save the changes.

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1. Launch GameRanger and either create a new account or sign into an existing account if you haven't done so already.

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2. After creating/signing into an account, from the main GameRanger screen click on Edit on top of the app window > select Options on the bottom of the list.
   
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3. From the Options screen, in the Games tab, scroll down till you find Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (it's in alphabetical order). The game name should be in bold black letters which means it's detecting the game. Just make sure on the lower right it shows the correct install location of the game which should be correct since it's detecting a game install at all, but it's always good to double-check.
   
   The install path/location shown in this image is a common location for the game to be installed.
   
   

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4. If there isn't an install path/location shown or it's somehow incorrect then click on Browse as shown in the picture and select the game's program file(R6Vegas2_Game.exe) wherever it is located on your PC. If you don't know where it's located then find the game in your Steam library list of installed games > right-click the game > click Properties > click local files > then there should be an option to view the game's install folder if not already viewing it. The folder that is opened is the game's install location.
   
   There may be an option that says Manage when you right-click the game in your Steam library which should show an option to view the local files/install folder.

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• If you're using only the default security software that comes with Windows(Windows Defender) or whichever Operating System you're using, then once GameRanger was launched as Administrator in the previous steps you should of already been prompted to allow it access to your network which would of given it the necessary permissions, but if you're using a 3rd party anti-virus(for example - AVG) or any other security software that may block it, you may then need to add GameRanger as an exception to it's firewall so it allows it through. If you denied it permission to use your network when the prompt appeared then re-launching GameRanger should cause it to reappear.
  
  There's a chance the software already gave network permissions to GameRanger but if not then you'll have to lookup how to add it to the firewall exceptions since I can't help you in that case.
  
  

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• An alternate and easier method in my opinion would be to temporarily disable the 3rd party software's firewall and launch GameRanger so it's prompted by the default security software to allow it permissions to use your network.
  
  If you did the alternate method then keep it disabled until done with the guide or when the guide says to re-enable it.

I've had a few times where Vegas 2 installed but was missing a few files and I needed Steam to verify the game's integrity so it would download the missing files. To do this is simple...

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1. Find the game in your Steam library and right-click it.
   
2. Select the Manage option or Properties option if Manage doesn't appear.
   
3. Select the Verify option or if in the Properties section select Local then Verify.
   
4. Once Steam finishes verifying, it'll download any missing files if applicable.

To set the game to always Run as Administrator, repeat the same method we used for GameRanger.

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Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Steam Version) doesn't seem to automatically request access to your network. So in order to get it to request access, do the following...

1. Go to the game's install folder using Steam as we did in previous sections of this guide.
   
2. Double-click on the folder called Binaries.
   
3. Double-click on the file "RainbowSixVegas2_SADS.exe"
   
   This should prompt a request for network access from Vegas 2. If it does not then try running it as administrator.

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Now to use UPnP in-game to perform port forwarding, simply do the following...

1. Launch the game through Steam.
   
2. Once at the main menu click on the Extras option.
   
3. Go to Multiplayer settings and click UPnP.

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This will automatically port forward the game for your router. I've seen cases where this wasn't needed but better to do it just in case. When it's done performing the port forwarding process it may show an error message saying your router doesn't support it. My router supports UPnP and my game still said this yet it still forwarded the ports.

**If you used the Alternate method to allow GameRanger and Vegas 2 network access then now would be the time to re-enable the 3rd party firewall since all the steps regarding the network are done.**

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If all these steps didn't get it working then try troubleshooting using a mix of these suggestions...

• Go through the guide once more and see if anything was missed/misunderstood.
  
  
• Turning off UPnP (if it didn't give you the error and actually switched on) in the in-game settings.
  
  
• Go to your router's port forward settings and add the "DirectX" programs port forwarding option. I can't help you with that personally since I did it many years ago and it's different between internet providers and routers. If you know how to view which ports are opened on your router then you should see ports forwarded from the UPnP step earlier if it worked properly.
  
  
• I don't know if this guide works with the retail versions and Ubisoft Connect version of the game. I have heard from other players there's sometimes issues between them due to a small difference in the files which made players needing the same version to connect to each other. I can't confirm if this is true or not.

OR

Refer to my original guide in the Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Discussions section. It may be clearer to understand. I merely tried to copy my old guide into the Steam Guide section here so there's a higher chance players will see it if they need help regarding Vegas 2 and GameRanger.
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/15120/discussions/0/3118172724634267129/