Netmeeting over Eircom Broadband...

Keyzer

Hi All,
Does anyone have any idea of how to get MS Netmeeting working over Eircom with another Eircom Broadband user? I contacted Eircom Support but they were completely useless, told me that I need to setup "pinholes" in the configuration settings, however they didn't know what "pinholes" or port numbers needed to be activated.

Alternatively, does anyone know of any software which will allow me to remotely control another machine over the net similar to Netmeeting?

Would appreciate solid answers please (5 years IT support experience so I have done the basic stuff to try solving the problem already).

Keyzer......

Furp

A great little free programme we use in work is Real VNC, its small and quick and once both PCs have it set up and can remotely use the other pcs desktop like you where there. just like the remote desktop application in Netmeeting. I have been using this for the past couple of years in a large network and we have never had any problems with it.
http://www.realvnc.com/

Keyzer

Thanks,
But the real issue is over Eircom Broadband.
When i do an ipconfig when connected over Eircom Broadband i get ip address of 192.168.1.1 and so does the other person (using Eircom BB too).
So I can't initiate a call with them because we are both using this "same" ip address which is obviously impossible but Eircom have their network setup that way for some stupid reason.
Possible way around it is to ask for a static ip address but I really don't want to contact Eircom again (muppets).

Any ideas?........

Chalk

http://www.netopia.com/en-us/support/technotes/hardware/CQG_025.html

no matter what you use youll need to forward the ports for it
other wise the router will block the traffic
thats a guide for the cayman router eirocm send out
you should be able to find the correct ports in the program settings or else google

Keyzer

BTW - nice quote from Red October but shouldn't it be -

"Ryan, shome thingsh in here don't react well to bulletsh."

Chalk

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/Q158/6/23.asp&NoWebContent=1

found that aswell

Keyzer

Did the pinholes thing and that didn't help.
Below is information on the ports and protocol that Netmeeting uses.
So Assuming I set this up correctly on both machines, how do I find the ip address of the other person I am trying to connect to? ipconfig shows that we both have 192.168.1.1 - which is impossible as we know, so I assume Eircom are using some kind of ip masking system and everyone is give a generic ip address, but some where there has to be a unique ip address for each us.

So question is - How do I find that ip address?

============================================

NetMeeting uses the following Internet Protocol (IP) ports: Port Purpose

---

389 Internet Locator Server [Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)]
522 User Location Server (TCP)
1503 T.120 (TCP)
1720 H.323 call setup (TCP)
1731 Audio call control (TCP)
Dynamic H.323 call control (TCP)
Dynamic H.323 streaming [Realtime Transport Protocol (RTP) over User Datagram Protocol (UDP)]

Chalk

192.168.1.1 is a network ip given by your router
go into your router and look at what it says under local wan ip address

Keyzer

Thought as much, so I will try this out and see what happens i.e pinholes and wan ip address.

Hopefully it works this time, although I have tried this before.
Will let you know...

btw - <snip>

java

Keyzer wrote:

Thanks,
But the real issue is over Eircom Broadband.
When i do an ipconfig when connected over Eircom Broadband i get ip address of 192.168.1.1 and so does the other person (using Eircom BB too).
So I can't initiate a call with them because we are both using this "same" ip address which is obviously impossible but Eircom have their network setup that way for some stupid reason.
Possible way around it is to ask for a static ip address but I really don't want to contact Eircom again (muppets).

Any ideas?........

You could do with learning a bit about ip addressing, particularly the difference between public and private ip addresses. www.whatismyip.com will show you what your real ip is. Eircom aren't the muppets in this instance.

Keyzer

Java,
No need for your condascending tone, Eircom are muppets on all accounts, if you knew the battles I have had with them in the past (i.e BB pricing, BB availablity etc.) you would understand.
I have worked in IT support for 5 years, so I not some dumb noob, and all the suggested solutions to the problem have been tried already, and it still doesn't work.
If you don't have anything constructive to add then don't add anything....

btw - I'm holding back the expletives....

Chalk

ok then nothings worked
get yourslef tiight or real vnc
furp linked to real earlier
and tight is at http://www.tightvnc.com/
try one of these and see if that helps
tight uses 6900 by default i think buts is easy to set up and change the port

seamus

OK.

Get the Eircom IP of both machines, courtesy of the link java posted. It will probably be 159.134.x.x

I assume you're both using routers of some description. So in both your routers' setup, you need to set up port forwarding for all the ports that Netmeeting uses that you mentioned above.

Basically what port forward does is - a machine connects to port w on machine x. Machine x has been told that all connections on port w are to be redirected to port z on machine y. So it does that. Sin é.

So for one example, in your case, say your external ip is 159.134.20.10. In the router's setup, all connections to that IP on port 389, should be forwarded to 192.168.1.1 on port 389.

You can probably set up ranges, to avoid having to add in each port forward manually, but it leaves your machine wide open to attack.

If either of you have a firewall on your machine, you'll need to reconfigure it to allow connections from eachother's IP address to each port.

As someone said, get a version of VNC. It doesn't use as many ports as NetMeeting (Afaik).

Ripwave

Keyzer wrote:

When i do an ipconfig when connected over Eircom Broadband i get ip address of 192.168.1.1 and so does the other person (using Eircom BB too).
So I can't initiate a call with them because we are both using this "same" ip address which is obviously impossible but Eircom have their network setup that way for some stupid reason.
Possible way around it is to ask for a static ip address but I really don't want to contact Eircom again (muppets).

Mr Pot, I'd like to introduce you to Mr Kettle.

The FAQ for the Netopia router that eircom provides, has a number of entries that might help you gain a better understanding of how your LAN works, and why it works that way, and also explains "pinholes".

You can find your "real" IP address here

Keyzer

This is for Ripwave and Java....

1. I don't have a LAN, its a friends machine in Leixlip.
2. I configured the pinholes as described on the Eircom netopia FAQ site for all the protocols Netmeeting uses, on both machines, and used the WAN ip address in the netopia configuration setup - IT STILL DOESN'T WORK...
3. Having used this WAN ip address in the first place it seems I was using the correct ip address in the first place so my assumptions were correct, therefore proving I am not a dunce and actually know what I am doing.

Please don't post a reply unless you have anything remotely helpful or suggestive in solving this problem. There is no point giving me a website that tells me my ip address, I know it already, and someone already posted it earlier, Java I believe.

In summary - Read the posts, let your mind digest them and then post something constructive.

P.S - If either of you work for Eircom or have some soft spot for them then thats fine, I am entitled to my opinion and my opinion is that Eircom are rubbish, its not a personal attack only my opinion.

jd

Keyzer wrote:

This is for Ripwave and Java....


1. I don't have a LAN, its a friends machine in Leixlip.

as far as the netopia is concerned you do, as it is allocating the private ip address to you.

Keyzer wrote:

2. I configured the pinholes as described on the Eircom netopia FAQ site for all the protocols Netmeeting uses, on both machines, and used the WAN ip address in the netopia configuration setup - IT STILL DOESN'T WORK...

did you try googling?
http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/cayman/all


Q: Can I use my 3220H for Videoconferencing, MSN Messenger, etc? (#6077) (back)
A: The problem with all Audio/Video streaming applications is they use dynamic ports. The only thing you may be able to do is run a single NetMeeting session outbound (Cayman can be configured for NetMeeting). This would mean that only the PC behind the router could go out, not the other way around. Also the receiving computer would have to be configured as a NetMeeting server for this to work. It is really important that you understand that this is *one-way only* outbound only, one session only.

This isn't a very desirable solution. Because of the inbound/outbound nature of your desired app, plus the wide range of dynamic ports being used, it is difficult to make this work with any NAT-based router solution, IF you're using standard Dynamic IP addressing.

SOLUTIONS - The alternatives remain temporarily putting the Cayman in bridged mode, turning off NAT and making it function similar to a modem, OR setting up dedicated Static IP to your PC from your ISP. -- Since you want to use this for a one-time only application, maybe bridged mode is the way to go (change back the configuration afterward).

"
To be frank though, you can't expect any dsl support line to support <INSERT RANDOM APPLICATION NAME> . Their job is to support the dsl connection.

Ripwave

Keyzer wrote:

This is for Ripwave and Java....

1. I don't have a LAN, its a friends machine in Leixlip.

Yes, we understand that you're utterly clueless, and that's why you're asking for help.

2. I configured the pinholes as described on the Eircom netopia FAQ site for all the protocols Netmeeting uses, on both machines, and used the WAN ip address in the netopia configuration setup - IT STILL DOESN'T WORK...

Why doesn't that surprise anyone?

3. Having used this WAN ip address in the first place it seems I was using the correct ip address in the first place so my assumptions were correct, therefore proving I am not a dunce and actually know what I am doing.

Okay, so you do actually know what you are doing, and were just testing us when you commented on the impossibility of two machines using 192.168.1.1 - very tricky of you!

Please don't post a reply unless you have anything remotely helpful or suggestive in solving this problem. There is no point giving me a website that tells me my ip address, I know it already, and someone already posted it earlier, Java I believe.

If you assume that the sun shines out your own arsehole, then you're bound to get burned occassionally. You're objecting to "editorial comments" that were made in response to your own "editorial comments" proclaiming your own experience, and attempting to blame your lack of progress on someone else.

In summary - Read the posts, let your mind digest them and then post something constructive.

I take it then that we shouldn't be expecting a "thank you" for taking the time to help you figure out what YOUR problem is?

P.S - If either of you work for Eircom or have some soft spot for them then thats fine, I am entitled to my opinion and my opinion is that Eircom are rubbish, its not a personal attack only my opinion.

Funnily enough, it's my opinion that you're a bit of a plonker - not a personal attack, you understand, just my opinion.

After all that, have you read any of the FAQs I pointed to you that explained what Network Address translation is, and why it is used? Or does someone with five years of IT support experience not need to know that sort of stuff?

Moriarty

It's my personal opinion that the next person to make a personal attack gets a weeks ban.

But that's just my personal opinion, obviously.

Keyzer

Ripwave, I feel I owe you an apology.

It was utterly disgraceful of me to make a mistake on the LAN point - I assumed the person who posted that point thought
that I was using a home lan and trying to connect to another machine on that LAN, how dare I?
You on the other hand must be perfect and incapable of making mistakes.

Lets get a few things straight -

Your replies to my comments below.

Quote:
Please don't post a reply unless you have anything remotely helpful or suggestive in solving this problem.
There is no point giving me a website that tells me my ip address, I know it already, and someone already posted it earlier, Java I believe.

If you assume that the sun shines out your own arsehole, then you're bound to get burned occassionally.
You're objecting to "editorial comments" that were made in response to your own "editorial comments" proclaiming
your own experience, and attempting to blame your lack of progress on someone else.

Quote:
In summary - Read the posts, let your mind digest them and then post something constructive.

I take it then that we shouldn't be expecting a "thank you" for taking the time to help you figure out what YOUR problem is?

I thanked the first group of people who replied with suggested solutions to my question - If I missed anyone then apologies, thank you all.

The above quoted comments were placed because I find it pretty pointless in you giving me 2 URLs that were already given by a different person.
I, my friend, don't think the sun shines out of my arse, my rejections to "editorial comments", as you call them, were because people were replying
with the same things posted by someone else earlier and you and Java were replying in condascending and patronising tones which were not appreciated.

My lack of progress wasn't blamed on anyone else, maybe I expect too much from Eircom, its correct that they shouldn't have to support every
application out there, but I have a history (which I mentioned in an earlier post) of bad service and poor support from Eircom.

I think your comments on me being a plonker and completely clueless let you down completely, and thats putting it mildly.
I'm not going to start a slagging match, I think its quite pointless really. But if thats the course you like to take, slagging people
off, then maybe we could meet up sometime and I can show you what my opinion of you is - the offer is open.

BTW - If anyone thought I was being cocky saying I have 5 years experience in IT support, apologies, I didn't mean it to be so.

BTW - The Netopia FAQ for NAT is not great, In my opinion, try www.webopedia.com, but aul Ripwave knows everything anyway.

andrew163

:eek:

er, anyways.... i dont know if you go the problem fixed or not, but another possible solution might be to look for a setting called DMZ or demilitarised zone within the netopia's setup thingy. That will forward all incoming traffic to the computer. You'll need to set the DMZ IP address to the computer's LAN address (the one that looks like 192.168.x.x).

I'm not even sure if the netopia has support for this but every other router/modem/NAT device I've tried has had it, and it worked.

Just a suggestion...

parsi

Another solution might be to go borrow a few combo router/adsl modem jobbies which may have more "tweakable" firewall and port-forwarding settings - eg the Linksys WAG54g that I have allows single-port forwarding as well as port-range forwarding which may cover dynamic ports a bit better (assuming netmeeting uses dynamic port numbering within a specfic range). I only used a netopia for a few days whilst waiting for my wag so I didn't go through it very much..

That said maybe the VNC options listed above may also be useful - they would certainly be slimmer apps if nothing else.

Regarding eircoms apparent muppetry I have to say that in all honesty I believe their broadband support line is really only there to help you get connected to the internet-thingy - once you can browse to www.eircon.net they are happy. By the same token I have had unsatisfactory experiences with their corporate support.