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Update: Fixed! University is now blocking all external connection attempts to my computer

S

soccerballtux

Lifer
I've determined that my university network is blocking all inbound connection attempts to my computer. I'm in the process of talking with them about this, as I want to be able to access my files when I'm at work (this is very important because I have tons and tons of review materials saved from classes that is very useful to me), want to be able to use it to stream my music to my work computer, want to be able to be able to remote desktop connect, want to be able to use bittorrent.

So far they have denied that there is a problem. During the registration process, I have disabled the optional Inbound Service Security. My system shows up in their network as having it disabled.

But everything is still blocked just like I'm using ISS.

The guy today said "you know I just a few weeks ago had that same problem after I installed Service Pack 3, so I solved it by installing Vista".
Right.

Well, I run Vista too, and Linux, and have this problem in all of them. I'm not behind a router, and have all my firewalls configured correctly.

I'm pretty sure this is intentional, and that I'm not going to get what I want here. What are my options? I don't have a choice for on-campus university internets, so is there somebody/institution/whatever that I can file with that would have the tenure and clout to handle this? Apply pressure, etc?

I'm vehemently against this sort of thing and I just might care about it enough to do something about it, if I can get results.
 
The best option is to move of campus to your won apt. and get your own Internet connection.

It their network and if they want to block this kind of traffic it is their prerogative.

BTW, this is the first post of this kind for the academic year that just started.
In the next few weeks there will many more of them as the reality would settles on the student that University many Networks do not support P@P gaming and other important "Academic activities" of this kind. 😉 - :shocked:
 
Portable hard drive/ipod for the win.

Also read over the acceptable use policy to see what kind of traffic they allow. You might need to ask them what protocols and services work on their network for remote access. Also I know some schools are switching to private addresses and nat for student connections, which will not allow you remote access any way.
 
Originally posted by: mcmilljb
Portable hard drive/ipod for the win.
Click to expand...

qft. storage is cheap now. i went from keeping a server at home with a laptop to a better laptop, a larger thumb drive, and an external hard drive.

networking is groovy and all, but its easier to just have your stuff *with* you
 
Originally posted by: mcmilljb
Portable hard drive/ipod for the win.

Also read over the acceptable use policy to see what kind of traffic they allow. You might need to ask them what protocols and services work on their network for remote access. Also I know some schools are switching to private addresses and nat for student connections, which will not allow you remote access any way.
Click to expand...

Hm, they don't have one.

Until now, all traffic was fair game, everything was allowed, etc.

This is also frustrating because
a). WoW uses Bittorrent for patch distribution. That's always faster than whatever server I find capped at 200kbps or whatever
b). Can't run my own UT3 server for games with friends.
c). Lugging harddrive everywhere. My USB -> P/SATA cable is already breaking and I've only taken it with me about 10 times. Besides, what about when I'm at the campus library during school semester and need a document? My backpack is already heavy enough as it is.
 
wah, wah, wah...move off campus and get your own connection if you don't like it. Guess that season is here.

Basically it is THEIR network and you aren't ENTITLED to anything.
 
Originally posted by: soccerballtux
Originally posted by: mcmilljb
Portable hard drive/ipod for the win.

Also read over the acceptable use policy to see what kind of traffic they allow. You might need to ask them what protocols and services work on their network for remote access. Also I know some schools are switching to private addresses and nat for student connections, which will not allow you remote access any way.
Click to expand...

Hm, they don't have one.

Until now, all traffic was fair game, everything was allowed, etc.

This is also frustrating because
a). WoW uses Bittorrent for patch distribution. That's always faster than whatever server I find capped at 200kbps or whatever
b). Can't run my own UT3 server for games with friends.
c). Lugging harddrive everywhere. My USB -> P/SATA cable is already breaking and I've only taken it with me about 10 times.
Click to expand...

A) Well discuss that with them. Most colleges don't outright ban games, but they won't go out of their way to allocate resources for them. They could possibly make an exception for WoW, but I'm sure they'll just tell you to download it straight from Blizzard.
B)Servers are usually banned. Most usually only allow servers on the local lan, but once again they're not going to guarantee resources available for it.
C)I have used 2.5" hd's daily for work. They are small, don't need a power cord, and have some decent capacity for the price. I leave documents on Gmail that I might need to access remotely. There is even an application that allows you to use gmail as a drive on your computer. Consider a rapidshare account if you need to store lots of documents online.

Like Jack said, it's not your network so you might need consider other options. I never liked the rules either because they kept changing them and banning/allowing different services, but they are in charge of the network so they're going to run it the way they want to.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
wah, wah, wah...move off campus and get your own connection if you don't like it. Guess that season is here.

Basically it is THEIR network and you aren't ENTITLED to anything.
Click to expand...

++, would read again. every year these questions get asked.
 
I know the feeling.. I can download porn and music faster than I ever could on my measily DSL connection. Using local browsing I can get songs in mere seconds what even used to take a few minutes. But I can't play about $150 worth of games I purchased, because the ports are blocked.

Sometimes it seems as if school network admins don't have a clue about actually fixing problems :laugh:

Oh, and can't visit any thepiratebay.org, but you can visit isohunt, and you can't visit any .ru sites (which sucks for my russian friend who lives down the hall), if any .ru sites come up in google, or any of the other violations, they shut off your port, and you have to reset the interface several times before it will kick back in for you..
 
If you need all your research papers with you, get a 8gb-16gb flash drive, they are pretty cheap nowadays, and its no bigger than a stick of chapstick
 
Originally posted by: DrGreen2007
If you need all your research papers with you, get a 8gb-16gb flash drive, they are pretty cheap nowadays, and its no bigger than a stick of chapstick
Click to expand...

seriously, i bought a 4 gig just for this. school computers all have Office on them, i use linux/OOo, so i keep portable apps on my flash drive and keep it synced and im always good to go.
 
I'm guessing that would be pretty much against most school's core / constitutional policies of no racial / ethnic / cultural / language discrimination regardless of what their IT policies may be. Not allowing people access to an entire country's worth of internet based cultural / language / personal & private material is basically cyber ethnic cleansing / virtual genocide. Students who have families, friends, business relationships, personal interest, or study related communications needs with those sites have every right to access those sites and shouldn't be categorically denied access to them. It is no more reasonable to do that than prevent people from accessing AOL, MSN, Yahoo, bank of america, CNN, BBC, or any US hosted site. If people are allowed to access USA based sites but not .RU ones then that is just unfair and discriminatory and should be raised with the Dean immediately.

As to whether there's a legitimate interest in blocking certain INDIVIDUAL sites that may host malware / whatever, that's another issue. But a blanket block of millions of sites is WAY over the top.

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
...and you can't visit any .ru sites (which sucks for my russian friend who lives down the hall), if any .ru sites come up in google, or any of the other violations, they shut off your port, and you have to reset the interface several times before it will kick back in for you..
Click to expand...

 
Originally posted by: QuixoticOne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamachi
http://openvpn.net/

Those might help.

or you could run a personal HTTPS / SFTP / SCP + RSYNC / .... or whatever type of server on your home / external computer and see if you can connect to it from inside the school.
Click to expand...

See, that's what I've had going and was how I accessed my documents (SFTP). Connection attempts external to the network my comp is on get intercepted and dropped.

I finally got to talk to some higher ups today. This filtering is not supposed to be happening. I've spoken with friends and their network works fine, they can still tracert and do all the usual (like run servers). So, they're going to get back to me when they've figured it out.

Glad to know our IT admins know what they're doing. They've historically been very open about all this stuff, I didn't think they'd change their policies like this. We can do anything with our connection (including run game servers, servers in general, etc) as long as it's not for profit. Wouldn't make sense to change anyways given the prestige of the school-- they might piss off some high rollers and "filter" themselves out of funding. 😀

Apparently they changed a bunch of hardware and are in the process of moving the campus all to IPv6 addresses, so it's probably some fluke in the routing config where ISS is still enabled for me.
 
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