Windows Messenger allows you to communicate in real time over the Internet. You can use Windows Messenger to make phone and video calls, share applications, transfer files, and more. But before you get too excited, you should know about problems that may occur when you have a firewall and Network Address Translation (NAT).
Behind the scenes, NAT masks the private IP address of your machine to protect the internal network from the outside world. The packets that contain the IP address don't translate from private to public, so outside users aren't able to find you.
In addition, NAT must be configured to support Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), or you won't be able to use certain features, such as voice, video communication, and file transfer.
Firewalls must also support UPnP. Fortunately, you have two options. You can use a UPnP-enabled firewall device or manually open the following UDP ports on your firewall:
• 5004 - 65535: audio and video communication
• 6891: file transfer
• 6891 - 6900: 10 simultaneous file transfers
• 1503: application and whiteboard sharing
• 3389: remote assistance
If you're using Microsoft's solutions, such as Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) and Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), you're completely safe. ICS and ICF support UPnP and allow you to use all Windows Messenger features.
Source TechRepublic.com
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by alturner  edited by Lanik
last modified: 2005-06-22 00:09:06 |
