MS Messenger Voice through ADSL NAT Router?

Hi there -

Just planning a move to ADSL, and trying to figure it all out. The
kids like using MS Messenger for text chatting, and I know this service
will also carry Voice & Video when the bandwidth is sufficient. That
would be great, and I'd like to enable it on their computer upstairs (we
have a small network linking several PC's, via an ISDN Router at
present)

But a bit of Googling suggests that these services can't function
through a NAT router, unless it's UPnP-compatible. I'm not actually
sure what UPnP does (I've always disabled it in Windows because of the
security issues), and I suppose that there are different versions of
'compatible' too - including 'not very' & 'it says so on the box but it
doesn't work'.... )

Can anyone recommend from experience a particular make or type of ADSL
Router which successfully carries UPnP & MS Messenger over UK ADSL?
Or maybe a web-site with some info? I don't want to buy NetGear kit
and then find it's notoriously incompatible, for example..

Thanks in advance -

"Steve Walker" <spam-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:c5u4o9$5ot8t$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Just planning a move to ADSL, and trying to figure it all out. The
> kids like using MS Messenger for text chatting, and I know this service
> will also carry Voice & Video when the bandwidth is sufficient. That
> would be great, and I'd like to enable it on their computer upstairs (we
> have a small network linking several PC's, via an ISDN Router at
> present)
>
> But a bit of Googling suggests that these services can't function
> through a NAT router, unless it's UPnP-compatible. I'm not actually
> sure what UPnP does (I've always disabled it in Windows because of the
> security issues), and I suppose that there are different versions of
> 'compatible' too - including 'not very' & 'it says so on the box but it
> doesn't work'.... )

MSN Messenger 6 and Yahoo Messenger should both work fine with a NAT router,
without UPnP in operation

I believe it was only really the older versions of MSN/Windows Messenger
which needed UPnP to be enabled, for the voice/video to work

Regards
Sunil

Sunil Sood wrote:
> "Steve Walker" <spam-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:c5u4o9$5ot8t$(E-Mail Removed)...

>> But a bit of Googling suggests that these services can't function
>> through a NAT router, unless it's UPnP-compatible.
>
> MSN Messenger 6 and Yahoo Messenger should both work fine with a NAT
> router, without UPnP in operation
> I believe it was only really the older versions of MSN/Windows
> Messenger which needed UPnP to be enabled, for the voice/video to work


Thanks Sunil -

Are you aware of a configuration/type/make which definitely is effective
with voice messages please?

It would be great to buy a 'known-good' ADSL Modem/Router and sidestep
all this confusion, because the Messenger FAQ site still refers to this
as a live problem affecting *newer* versions.....

starts >----------------------------

Audio

To ensure we deliver the best audio technology for computer-to-computer
or computer-to-phone communications from MSN Messenger, we have made
technical enhancements. This means you will only be able to use
Messenger version 4.5 or higher for these features if:

- You are not behind a firewall or
- You are behind a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) firewall or
- You are using a UPnP-enabled Network Address Translation (NAT) device

----------------------------<ends
http://messenger.msn.com/Help/Issues.aspx

> > But a bit of Googling suggests that these services can't function
> > through a NAT router, unless it's UPnP-compatible. I'm not actually
> > sure what UPnP does (I've always disabled it in Windows because of the
> > security issues), and I suppose that there are different versions of
> > 'compatible' too - including 'not very' & 'it says so on the box but it
> > doesn't work'.... )
>
> MSN Messenger 6 and Yahoo Messenger should both work fine with a NAT
router,
> without UPnP in operation

AFAIK messenger will work but its webcam functions won't. This group had a
thread running a few months back http://tinyurl.com/2agtx

There is a FAQ here
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...rt/upnp01.mspx

My Draytek Vigor has uPnP but I can't test messenger webcam / voice for you
as I don't yet have ADSL.

Steven.

Steve Walker wrote:

> Hi there -
>
> Just planning a move to ADSL, and trying to figure it all out. The
> kids like using MS Messenger for text chatting, and I know this service
> will also carry Voice & Video when the bandwidth is sufficient. That
> would be great, and I'd like to enable it on their computer upstairs (we
> have a small network linking several PC's, via an ISDN Router at
> present)
>
> But a bit of Googling suggests that these services can't function
> through a NAT router, unless it's UPnP-compatible. I'm not actually
> sure what UPnP does (I've always disabled it in Windows because of the
> security issues), and I suppose that there are different versions of
> 'compatible' too - including 'not very' & 'it says so on the box but it
> doesn't work'.... )
>
> Can anyone recommend from experience a particular make or type of ADSL
> Router which successfully carries UPnP & MS Messenger over UK ADSL?
> Or maybe a web-site with some info? I don't want to buy NetGear kit
> and then find it's notoriously incompatible, for example..
>
I think that the UPnP (not 100% sure) manages the connections in this case
so that the return path from the remote Messenger client doesn't get lost
when it hits your NAT.

I'm fairly sure it is possible to make this work without UPnP but I've not
had my broadband long and haven't had the time to try this yet.

I use a Draytek Vigor 2600G router which has UPnP support (not tried yet).
It also has proper VPN support (most routers only support VPN passthrough).
It is on the expensive side though.

--
Julian Knight, http://www.knightnet.org.uk/
Sheffield, United Kingdom
Security, Directory, Messaging, Network & PC Consultant
Instant Messaging:Jabber=(E-Mail Removed), Yahoo!=knighjm

Steven Campbell wrote:

> AFAIK messenger will work but its webcam functions won't. This group
> had a thread running a few months back http://tinyurl.com/2agtx

Interesting - I liked the 3yr tea-break partway through it.... )

> There is a FAQ here
>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...rt/upnp01.mspx

Thanks, that's also helpful.

Steve,

You need a program called ENAT for messenger from here
http://www.easyfp.com/msn-messenger-...alk/index.html , It works for me.

Mike




"Steve Walker" <spam-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> Just planning a move to ADSL, and trying to figure it all out. The
> kids like using MS Messenger for text chatting, and I know this service
> will also carry Voice & Video when the bandwidth is sufficient. That
> would be great, and I'd like to enable it on their computer upstairs (we
> have a small network linking several PC's, via an ISDN Router at
> present)
>
> But a bit of Googling suggests that these services can't function
> through a NAT router, unless it's UPnP-compatible. I'm not actually
> sure what UPnP does (I've always disabled it in Windows because of the
> security issues), and I suppose that there are different versions of
> 'compatible' too - including 'not very' & 'it says so on the box but it
> doesn't work'.... )
>
> Can anyone recommend from experience a particular make or type of ADSL
> Router which successfully carries UPnP & MS Messenger over UK ADSL?
> Or maybe a web-site with some info? I don't want to buy NetGear kit
> and then find it's notoriously incompatible, for example..

Julian Knight wrote:

> I use a Draytek Vigor 2600G router which has UPnP support (not tried
> yet). It also has proper VPN support (most routers only support VPN
> passthrough). It is on the expensive side though.

Thanks Julian - at £150'ish it's still probably cheaper than buying a
non-functional model and then having to replace it..... )

Billy Goat Gruff wrote:
> Steve,
>
> You need a program called ENAT for messenger from here
> http://www.easyfp.com/msn-messenger-...alk/index.html , It works
> for me.

Thanks Mike - that certainly promises a solution, but at $40 I'll try to
get a Router which doesn't need it first.... )

"Steve Walker" <spam-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:c5u9ll$55sao$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Steven Campbell wrote:
>
> > AFAIK messenger will work but its webcam functions won't. This group
> > had a thread running a few months back http://tinyurl.com/2agtx
>
> Interesting - I liked the 3yr tea-break partway through it.... )
>

LOL I never even noticed that.

I had a look at Google groups for upnp on this group and there are loads of
entries.
http://tinyurl.com/2n8m2 The second entry down "What is upnp used for" has a
few routers listed that have upnp.

Steven.