firewall??

[PERL]

Hi,

I have a question about msn.
I cannot connect to people anymore for talking.
So I went to the msn site and I read the FAQ.
And it had my problem they said it is because a
firewall. But they didn't say where I could fix it.
Could some one tell me what a firewall is?
And how can I remove it. Because I want to talk to
people in msn. Please help me.

Thank you

 

[mikesgroovin]

We would need a little information about your setup and how you connect to the internet. Do you have any software running like Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall? Are you using dial-up, DSL or Cable?
Firewalls attempt to limit incoming traffic to your computer(s). They can exist in a piece of hardware such as a cable/DSL modem or a home gateway/router. They also exist in software forms such as Norton Personal Firewall or ZoneAlarm.

 

[PERL]

Hi,

I have ADSL and Norton Internet Security is running.
Is that the problem??

thank you

 

[mikesgroovin]

Certainly could be. Just try one thing at a time.
First, disable Norton Internet Sec. and try loading MSN IM.

 

[Justin95zlt]

You are going to have to allow the program to access the internet... If you have a hardware firewall like a Linksys router or something of the sort you will have to allow the ports needed for chatting to pass through. I do not know these right off hand...

 

[figo2476]

Hi:
I am wondering why we need to turn off all the fire walls in order to talk via
MSN. Any reason for that?

Gary

 

[mikesgroovin]

Software firewalls are a little more tough than a hw firewall or NAT system. Most software firewalls out of the box play a proxy role and ban traffic from going out as well. In reality, for MSN messenger, you would just need to allow traffic to communicate on both private and public port 1863.....enough said. However, I've found with internet secuity software trends tend to take security to the next step and block traffic on multiple layers rather than just the ones they claim. In theory, you should only have to allow certain ports to be open though.
While troubleshooting this problem....it would be a lot easier to eliminate a possible brick wall from the situation temporarily than pull your hair out.
At home, work and all over, I use trillian. I have accounts with MSN, AIM, and Yahoo. I have never port forwarded any ports or disabled any firewall. It's always worked just fine for me. Some hardware pieces come equipt with common protocol definitions that allow certain traffic that meets a certain structure criteria on certain ports....hence why I may have had no problems in the past. With other people.....It becomes a troubleshooting nightmare.


-Mike