NetMeeting/Speakfreely behind a router

[Goi]

Hi,
I'm having some problems with netmeeting, as well as Speakfreely with my brother. I have an 8 port SMC Barricade router and he has a D-Link 704 router. He has his in a DMZ and he can hear me speaking but I can't hear him. I haven't open any ports, but I'm not sure I know how to do so. I checked out practicallynetworked.com and they have a port list to open for netmeeting that goes like this:

H.323 compliant video player,
netmeeting 2.0, 3.0, Intel Video Phone
(Watch Out! Opens a wide port range!)
(Incoming calls are not possible
due to netmeeting assigning ports dynamically.)
OUT TCP 1720
IN UDP 1024 65534 [use H.323 protocol if available]
OUT UDP 1024 65534 [use H.323 protocol if available]
IN TCP 1024 1502 [use H.323 protocol if available]
OUT TCP 1024 1502 [use H.323 protocol if available]
IN TCP 1504 1730 [use H.323 protocol if available]
OUT TCP 1504 1730 [use H.323 protocol if available]
IN TCP 1732 65534 [use H.323 protocol if available]
OUT TCP 1732 65534 [use H.323 protocol if available]
OUT TCP 1503 1503
OUT TCP 1731 1731
IN TCP 1503 1503
IN TCP 1731 1731

I'm not sure how to set that up with my Barricade. I go to the setup page of my Barricade under my Browser at 192.168.123.254 and under "Special Aps", what do I type in the "Trigger" and "Incoming Ports"? There are so many of the incoming and outgoing ports for both TCP and UDP that I'm not sure if I have to enter all or just a few...? Any help?

Anyway, the relative pages on practicallynetworked.com are thePort List, Opening Ports, and nullHandling Special Applications.

If this helps, he has a legacy ISA SB16 that might be the problem? Also, I just put myself in a DMZ and the Speakfreely echo server works so I think netmeeting should work too. However, its quite troublesome to have to put myself in a DMZ everytime I wanna talk to my bro...any other ideas?

 

[Goi]

bump!

 

[Bglad]

If the Barricade only opens ports from a trigger, it won't work. What that does is when you send out a packet to a certain ip through the trigger port, the Barracade will open up the specified port for return packets from the same ip. Because videoconferencing uses a wide range or ports, triggering won't work.

You need a router where you can permanently open or forward ports.

Caveat: If you forward that many ports to one machine on the network, the other machines won't work properly. May not even be able to surf internet. So the answer is to put the videoconferencing machine on DMZ. Not a secure solution but there is no good home solution to this problem. I run ZoneAlarm permanently on medium protection. Apps seem to have no problem with that. Then I temporarily switch that machine to DMZ when I want to use Netmeeting or run a server. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out a safer solution but can't find one that doesn't cost a fortune.

 

[JustinLerner]

Buy and use VPN routers so no open ports exist, except VPN protocols.

 

[yesman88]

bump

 

[Goi]

Thanks. I already tried DMZ and it works perfectly, except my brother's SB16 causes a problem where he can hear me but I can't hear him. He switched to his Dell laptop and it works. I was looking for a more elegant solution that doesn't involve me putting myself in a DMZ every time I want to talk with him on Netmeeting or Speakfreely. However, if there's no such solution(I'm not sure if my Barricade only supports triggered maps/ports) then I guess DMZ will have to do. At least I don't have to reboot every time I put myself in a DMZ.

Thanks again!

 

[Bglad]

Sounds like your sound problem has nothing to do with the router.

Your only option is a router that allows permanent port range forwarding. Most do now and many are firmware upgradeable. Check with SMC and see if you can upgrade the firmware.

 

[TurtleMan]

Hmm i have SMC router and linksys router, and my sis always uses netmeeting
i do the port trigger in my linksys and it work like a charm :]
DMZ thingy just seem useless for me..

 

[Goi]

Bglad, I'm not sure if the SMC does permanent port forwarding. I've already updated its firmware a few months ago. I'll check if there's a newer firmware, but I don't think the update so often? Also, you were mentioning that opening such a wide range of ports would cause problems with other machines in the network? Would it be wise to do so then?

Turtleman, could you give me the instructions on how to open the ports with the SMC Barricade? Are you currently using the Linksys or the SMC, and do both of them work with Netmeeting?

What do you mean that DMZ is useless to you? Doesn't it work for you?

 

[RockOn123]

Hey I'm currently trying to figure the netmeeting thing out. I have a di-704p with the dmz enabled. the other party can hear me but I can't hear them. Any ideas? I tried the virtual server ports like the netmeeting site suggested, but it doesn't seem to help.

How does that trigger thing work? Any help here would be appreciated.

thanks

 

[Bglad]

Are you running a software firewall? If not and you are on DMZ then this is either a problem unrelated to your connection or a problem on the other end.