Port/Firewall question for ALL experts

I have a small business server set up. 4 comps. Using Microsoft Small Business 2003. All 4 computers are setup and can access the internet. No problems there. My main problem I am having is with my computer. My computer is setup as a equity trading machine. 2 software packages that I use, one for live quotes and one for direct trading, CANNOT get thru the firewall to get to the internet. All the ports, given to me from the tech support at each place, have been opened.

I have one network cable plugged directly into the cable modem, and the other one going to a Netgear FS 524 switch. All network cables for the other machines are plugged into the Netgear switch.

I have tried to access the programs from the other computers and I get the same message that the network couldn't be reached, so I know its not my computer specific.

If the ports are open on the server, why can't the software get thru the firewall? Are there ports on the Netgear switch that I need to open somehow?

Any help would be greeeeaaatly appreciated.

ps. I'm not a server technician, nor do I play one on tv. Please speak in laymens terms if you can help.

I guess that if its not working, then not enough ports can be open on the firewall. Your computer is connected directly to the modem, so you need to make sure in the firewall on your computer that all the ports needed are forwarded to your individual computer.

I suggest that you disable the firewall and check that the program works. Then, look at this site: http://www.winnetmag.com/Article/Ar...9955/39955.html (I presume you are running XP). While you are connected to your program and when everything is working, try to determine what ports are actually being used, using the method describe in the link. Then, make sure that all of these ports are open and forwarded to your computer.

If you enable the firewall and it still doesn't work, visit www.grc.com and click on Shields Up. Go for the advanced test (all ports) and hopefully it should detect that the ports needed are open. If it sees the ports as closed, then you have misconfigured your firewall somehow.

HTH,

Edwin

I dont know what software you are trying to use but if one of them is a vpn client then you may have issues going through cheap routers such as netgear or linksys because they do not support fragmentation and you will need to set the vpn concentrator for udp instead of tcp. more info would be helpfull from you.

I apologize for not giving more info. My machine is running Win2k pro. The server is directly plugged into the cable modem from 1 nic card, and to the switch with the other.
My machine just goes to the switch.

I do not know if the ports were forwarded after they were open. (Is this another step, or is it automatic?)

I have not tried to run my programs after I disable the firewall. I will try that first.

I'm out in Florida, and my IT guy is in Chicago, which makes it a beetch, so all your suggestions are very helpful.

Sorry I slightly misunderstood you - I thought you were connected directly to the modem.



You will have some sort of firewall on your server and there will be some sort of administration control panel for it. There should be something similar to a port forwarding page, or perhaps traffic policy. From there, there will be options to select a port number and select which computer it needs mapping to on your internal network. You really need a static IP address on your 2000 Pro computer, so that the ports are always forwarded to your computer. Forwarding the ports should open them, but check that they are being forwarded to the correct IP address.