HL2 DM help for two pcs

[Stormguy]

After a year or so break, decided to show my gf how to play HL2 DM just for kicks. We have two separate, legal, updated accounts, on two separate pcs.
We cannot log into a regular DM at the same time, only Team DM maps. Yes, same house, so it's the same IP, but again, 2 separate accounts. The one trying to log in second, hangs on the 'connecting to server', then times out.
I find it strange we can play on same map if it's team map, but not regular DM.
I have searched through the forums and the valve/steam help sites for a couple days before posting, in case it was mentioned, but I don't find it anywhere.

Any idea why this happens? or how I can fix it.

Thanks ahead of time for any help.

 

[Jeremyofmany]

Are you behind a router/hardware firewall? If so, are the necessary ports forwarded for both PCs?
I remember when my wife wanted to start downloading torrents with uTorrent and got poor speeds. Turned out I forgot to forward the port for her internal IP which was 192.168.0.101 whereas mine was 192.168.0.100.

 

[Stormguy]

Yeah, all that is off, and besides, we CAN join a Team DM game, with no troubles at all. Just not a regular DM. No idea...I'll check the ports.