How to block MSN on a WRT54gl using Tomato?

Quam256 · 09-08-2008, 16:56

Does anyone know how to block MSN using to Tomato .

09-08-2008, 17:18

whats tomato?

Graham M · 09-08-2008, 17:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by i-Set

whats tomato?

What a useful response.

I would imagine it being a custom router firmware Quam that you can do whatever you wish for blocking ports. However, if in doubt, MSN messenger will try to use Port 80 which is used for Web Access, so without stopping access to the WWW I think you will likely fail.

Stuart · 09-08-2008, 17:46

I had a quick look around. Couldn't find any instructions for Tomato, but found some for using Microsoft's ISA server to block it. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925120/en-us

Basically, IF the tomato firewall offers filtering by User agent, then you can add the User Agent "MSN Messenger" to the list.

Having said that, I know of no router firewall that allows that level of blocking.

brundles · 09-08-2008, 17:53

Still looking for it on Tomato, but if it's anything like DD-WRT, there should be the option to block it under the Access Restrictions section. The Tomato Wiki does have a section that refers to that so give it a try.

DD-WRT even has the protocols listed under msnmessenger and msn-filetransfer.

The only thing to watch out for is that using these restrictions can slow down the router as they use packet inspection (DD-WRT does anyway) as I found out recently after the 10 meg upgrade.

Edit: Here you go - about half way down someone covers how to do exactly what you're after.

Quam256 · 09-08-2008, 19:45

Thanks for the info ,will put to good use .

dragon · 09-08-2008, 20:04

look under acces restrictions, think there's a l7 rule for messenger.

brundles · 09-08-2008, 20:11

Can you let me know how you get on with the QoS? I had to disabled it on my router running DD-WRT as it slowed 10 meg down to 7ish even switching to classifcation by IP rather than protocol

dragon · 09-08-2008, 20:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by brundles

Can you let me know how you get on with the QoS? I had to disabled it on my router running DD-WRT as it slowed 10 meg down to 7ish even switching to classifcation by IP rather than protocol

it's on on my wrt160N but i don't have much setup on it at the moment since compared to tomatos QOS I find DD-WRT's a Pain in the backside.

Tomato doesnt work on my current router (did on the wrt54gl I had, but sold that when i got the wrt160n)

I seem to manage 20Mbit + of throughput even with it on depending on the destination (I have 24Mbit DSL, using a netgear modem)

brundles · 09-08-2008, 21:09

Hmm - might swap for Tomato - I've seen lots of things indicating DD-WRTs QoS is no match for Tomatos.

One thing that's useful for DD-WRT though is the CRON functionality - I have the router reboot itself every Sunday at 3am and never have to think about it. From what I've seen, Tomato doesn't seem to have that - or am I wrong? What's it's stability like long term?

Horace · 09-08-2008, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by brundles

Hmm - might swap for Tomato - I've seen lots of things indicating DD-WRTs QoS is no match for Tomatos.

One thing that's useful for DD-WRT though is the CRON functionality - I have the router reboot itself every Sunday at 3am and never have to think about it. From what I've seen, Tomato doesn't seem to have that - or am I wrong? What's it's stability like long term?

There's a scheduler that allows you to set when to reboot/reconnect or execute a specific command (on the router).

Re: blocking msn, it does so successfully without blocking web access. You can block web-messenger within access restrictions easily too.

Haven't had any stability problems whatsoever, unlike DD-Wrt and official firmwares where I needed to regularly reboot.

jonifen · 09-08-2008, 22:04

Horace has gotten it bang on.
I believe it is messenger.hotmail.com that you would block... and even port 1863 for starters.

dragon · 10-08-2008, 00:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonifen

Horace has gotten it bang on.
I believe it is messenger.hotmail.com that you would block... and even port 1863 for starters.

1863 blocking doesn't work WLM just uses port 80 if you block 1863

jonifen · 10-08-2008, 22:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragon

1863 blocking doesn't work WLM just uses port 80 if you block 1863

Hm, must be a "feature" in newer versions, as I've never come across it before... but I have been using Miranda for about a year now.

brundles · 10-08-2008, 22:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horace

There's a scheduler that allows you to set when to reboot/reconnect or execute a specific command (on the router).

Re: blocking msn, it does so successfully without blocking web access. You can block web-messenger within access restrictions easily too.

Haven't had any stability problems whatsoever, unlike DD-Wrt and official firmwares where I needed to regularly reboot.

Thanks for the info - I've now swapped to Tomato and much happier with it. The QoS seems to work much simpler and more effectively. QoS now working at 10 meg