MSN's Audio Port - Any Ideas?

[TOOL]

Hi all,

I'm trying to get my microphone to work with MSN 6 and it's just not working. My ISP (who we bought our router from) has suggested to find out what port the audio feature MSN uses. I would then need to configure the router to send the audio to my computer. Does anyone have any ideas about any of this?

Thankyou.

:)

[asphaltcowboy]

um.. well you could just DMZ your PC for a while... :)

I think I found the info a while ago, I'll see what I can dig up (but yes, DMZ is the easy answer ;))

[TOOL]

What's DMZ? :h:

[asphaltcowboy]

DeMilitarised Zone - afaik it basically unblocks ALL the ports that your router blocks. So.. it's just as though the router didn't exist (with regards to blocking hack attempts etc). Strictly speaking, your PC is fairly open (well.. just as open as if you just had a net conn with no router). My router firewall blocks MSN file transfers - I turned on DMZ just now to send a file to kit and then switched it back off afterwards.

Should be in your router settings somewhere (perhaps under NAT settings)

[lava]

sending naughty pictures back and forth? tsk tsk...

[Illuminae]

i have an idea, and it just might work!

kill MSN. use trillian. mep.

[asphaltcowboy]

I'm fairly sure most chat programs work with file transfers via the same port.. so (in theory at least, red) that wouldn't actually help our friend here :sure:

[Illuminae]

lol, yeah, but, i just had to ;)

[asphaltcowboy]

@-->-->-- :love:

^^is that right? did I do it right?

[Illuminae]

@ ~~~}~~~}~~~~~~~

its ok though, yours is better cuz its from the heart

[asphaltcowboy]

oof! *bows head in shame* :*(

[Illuminae]

see above edit ^^^^

[asphaltcowboy]

oh my.. I think I'm love! :love:

[TOOL]

Originally posted by asphaltcowboy
DeMilitarised Zone - afaik it basically unblocks ALL the ports that your router blocks. So.. it's just as though the router didn't exist (with regards to blocking hack attempts etc). Strictly speaking, your PC is fairly open (well.. just as open as if you just had a net conn with no router). My router firewall blocks MSN file transfers - I turned on DMZ just now to send a file to kit and then switched it back off afterwards.

Should be in your router settings somewhere (perhaps under NAT settings)
Alrighty... so is it your router that blocks the file transfers or your firewall? File transfers are ok for me. In my firewall settings I've put MSN as a trusted program. So why would file transfer work yet the audio doesn't? I think I might try this port forwarding thing my ISP suggested. Turning on the DMZ probably isn't a good idea if you are planning on using the mike for an hour or so right?

Toolness
:alien:

[asphaltcowboy]

yeah, port-forwarding is definitely safer than DMZ, but it all depends on if you can find the ports that MSN uses... :)

[TOOL]

Well the only way I know how to find out what port it uses is to email the MSN help team! Hey asphalt could you please explain what you would do if you were to try port-forwarding? I know nothing about it.

[gr8jay]

MSN always gives you trouble with webcams and Microphones. Try the voice port 6901.. its the voice communication port.
If it doesnt work there will be something about it somwhere over the net:) There r a whole lot others with same problem I had the same problem, I stopped using it and now use yahoo messenger instead... it rocks ;)
cheers

[TOOL]

Alright, sweet now I have something a possible port number to try. You wouldn't happen to know how to do this port forwarding would you?

[gr8jay]

Will this help??
http://www.homenethelp.com/web/explain/port-forwarding-dmz.asp
There r some related questions too , u may find answers to ur question there. But again I say, u might enjoy yahoo, its got better Codec if I am right. I mean their quality seems better to me than MSNs I have used it only once after that It never did work(MSN) so I didnt bother to try on it.

[asphaltcowboy]

Originally posted by TOOL
Alright, sweet now I have something a possible port number to try. You wouldn't happen to know how to do this port forwarding would you? depends on your router/software - have you got access to all these settings?

[TOOL]

Access as in I have permission to play with the settings or do you mean something else?

[asphaltcowboy]

Yeah, access to the router/firewall/port-forwarding settings :)

[TOOL]

Yep, I have access to them (I think :h: ) No idea where to find the settings except for ZoneAlarm.

EDIT : Have now found the router settings.

[asphaltcowboy]

There should be some option to turn on port-forwarding and specify what ports you want to forward..

[TOOL]

Ok I'm looking under NAT settings... Is that the right place? Under NAT, it has these submenus:

Address mapping
Virtual Server
Special Applications

[asphaltcowboy]

ack! aww man.. um.. Is there a help file? :beam:

[TOOL]

Ok I'll take that as a no! Help file... don't think so. I've got the manual and I don't think it's mentioned in there. Is port forwarding called anything else?

There's port triggering? haha ahhh I don't know sh!t

[asphaltcowboy]

Hmmm.. for my router, port-forwarding related options are under NAT. I guess it looks like that's different for ZoneAlarm, unless Address Mapping is how they refer to it - check in there :)

[TOOL]

Hold on. We may be talking about different things here. Are you saying I should be looking in ZoneAlarm? Because so far I've been looking in the router's settings.

[asphaltcowboy]

ooooh. ok. lol - well.. I guess in theory it could be in either.. personally, I dont have a software firewall installed so.. *shrugs* I set up my port forwarding via my router settings - check in Address Mapping

[TOOL]

Address mapping is all about IP addresses, no sign of any port numbers required :-\

DMZ
If you have a local client PC that cannot run an Internet application properly from behind the NAT firewall, then you can open the client up to unrestricted two-way Internet access by defining a Virtual DMZ Host.

Multiple PCs can be exposed to the Internet for two-way communications e.g. Internet gaming, video conferencing, or VPN connections. To use the DMZ, you must set a static IP address for that PC.

That may be the answer?

[asphaltcowboy]

Yes, DMZ (as mentioned earlier) is a perfectly acceptable way to enable ports - though as I said, it will probably open up all your ports. My router settings have DMZ and Port forwarding separate, your DMZ settings might include specifying which ports you open.

[TOOL]

Argh this is so frustrating! It doesn't specify which ports in the DMZ. I think I might give up here. Thanks for your time and effort. I'll have to email the ISP and see if they can help me out.