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To what IP address is this program attempting to connect?

Ichinisan

Ichinisan

Lifer
Using Windows XP Pro SP2 Beta, Windows Messenger is unable to send files unless I physically bypass my router. I believe that Windows Messenger is telling the other client to attempt a download from my local IP address instead of my public Internet IP address...even when I have have enabled DMZ. To maintain a connection with Microsoft's server, the program should be smart enough to know/use the real IP address. I'll need to find out if it's really trying to do this so that I can report the problem to Microsoft. If anyone wants to test this, I can PM my passport ID so that you can add me to your contact list.
 
the program should be smart enough to know/use the real IP address.
Click to expand...

Sadly that just isn't true for many programs, mainly because it's not terribly easy to find out what the 'real' IP address is and it probably wouldn't matter anyway because in most cases the firewall wouldn't know to listen on whatever port for the incoming connection and having everyone using Messenger put themselves in the 'DMZ' isn't really a solution.
 
Originally posted by: Nothinman
the program should be smart enough to know/use the real IP address.
Click to expand...

Sadly that just isn't true for many programs, mainly because it's not terribly easy to find out what the 'real' IP address is
Click to expand...

Wrong. The central server *must* already know the true outside IP address of each client in order to relay messages between them. The server also reports file-transfer information between clients as a message before the clients attempt to establish a direct file-transfer. The central server for an online application like Windows Messenger *should* report the true IP address to the client. The server only knows a client by it's true IP address. It's just a careless oversight by the programmers. Should the client even bother to upload the local IP information to the central server? The only reason I can think of is for transfers within a LAN, in which case an IM program wouldn't be optimal. With this purpose in mind, the clients could still attempt both a local connection and a WAN connection, then close the WAN session if the local IP session begins without error (automatically, and transparent to the user).

For future reference, an IM program *should* behave like this for file transfers:

Client Log-in
-Server now knows true IP address
Client Attempts to send a file to another client.
-Sending Client contacts Server, provides file information and ID of the intended recipient (why include Local IP with this information?!?)
Server sends information (including the true IP of the sender) to the receiving Client
Receiving Client Accepts File
Receiving Client begins download

See?

It worked fine in Windows Messenger and WinXP Pro SP1. SP2 somehow made this careless change. I'm sure Microsoft will fix this error if more than one technically-inclined user complains about it.

Originally posted by: Nothinman
...and it probably wouldn't matter anyway because in most cases the firewall wouldn't know to listen on whatever port for the incoming connection and having everyone using Messenger put themselves in the 'DMZ' isn't really a solution.
Click to expand...
Only the sender has to enable DMZ or configure port-forwarding. However, neither will work with this version of Windows Messenger.

It would be nice if I could configure Windows to lie to *specific* applications about my network information. Alas, Windows does not even allow me to associate an instance of an app with a specific network connection (two Internet connections with two unique outside IP's are useless with Windows).
 
Only the sender has to enable DMZ or configure port-forwarding. However, neither will work with this version of Windows Messenger.
Click to expand...

Which makes it half as usefull since you can only transfer files one way.

It would be nice if I could configure Windows to lie to *specific* applications about my network information
Click to expand...

And that would probably not help at all because if the apps aren't smart enough to query an external source for the address they're probably not smart enough to handle being given the wrong address and would do something like calling bind with the address you supplied which would fail since the address isn't local.
 
This has been a common problem for netmeeting for some time now.

The local IP address of the client is actually contained in the application layer messages. Some firewalls/nat gateways are smart enough to change this to the outside address.

maybe call your NAT gateway vendor?
 
Originally posted by: Nothinman
Only the sender has to enable DMZ or configure port-forwarding. However, neither will work with this version of Windows Messenger.
Click to expand...

Which makes it half as usefull since you can only transfer files one way.
Click to expand...

I believe that Port-Forwarding and DMZ only affect sending of files. Receiving should work without having to configure your firewall (because your computer initiates the connection, and the other computer is the server).
 
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