Linksys router and Zone alarm

LAKE_MUSIC · 14-03-2004, 10:28

Greetings.....I have a bit of a problem that I thought maybe you guys could solve....

First off, I'm a new NTL customer - only been connected for a few days. I have a 600k broadband connection, NTL 200 modem, a linksys BEFSR41 router, and a wireless linksys NIC installed in the PC. I'm running windows XP along with the free version of ZoneAlarm (bit of a necesity having been bombarded with viruses over the last couple of weeks).

All is working quite well apart from a few re-boots required when the router or the modem drops out. The problem I'm having is with Microsoft instant messenger. It's working OK with text only, but refuses to work with voice. When I try to initiate a voice conversation the PC just hangs there with the 'connecting to...' message until it times out. If I shut down Zonealarm, it works OK. I've given messenger permission in ZoneAlarm to act as a server etc. I've also tried enabling upnp in windows and the router (a suggestion from Linksys tech support) and also set up the individual ports within the router. (from the Linksys knowledge base)
Everyone else I connect to can get messenger to work behind ZoneAlarm, so I'm assuming it's something to do with the combination of ZoneAlrm / router thats blocking traffic on the voice port.

Has anyone else had this problem or know of a solution? I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

paulyoung666 · 14-03-2004, 10:49

hi and

to the site , just been doing some digging about and it looks as though it could be the router , aint no expert , sorry but it might give you summat to look for

TheBlueRaja · 14-03-2004, 11:07

You could try a different firewall just to be sure, i personally have not heard good things about ZoneAlarm, but have been recommended the Tiny personal firewall here..

http://www.webmasterfree.com/tpfw.html

Its absolutely free to use as well.

I use Norton Personal Firewall by the way, but you have to pay for that.

paulyoung666 · 14-03-2004, 11:33

kerio pf is another good free one

slysy · 14-03-2004, 11:39

Drop ZA security from high to medium. You dont really need it on high if your are behind a router anyhow. See if that fixes the problem

LAKE_MUSIC · 14-03-2004, 11:40

Thanks for the advice. I will uninstall Zone Alarm and try the other one. Do you have any problems with the Norton Personal Firewall? I don't mind spending a few quid if it sorts the problem.

Cheers again.

LAKE_MUSIC · 14-03-2004, 11:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by slysy

Drop ZA security from high to medium. You dont really need it on high if your are behind a router anyhow. See if that fixes the problem

I did try dropping it down but it didn't make any difference. Does the router act as a kind of firewall?

TheBlueRaja · 14-03-2004, 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by LAKE_MUSIC

Thanks for the advice. I will uninstall Zone Alarm and try the other one. Do you have any problems with the Norton Personal Firewall? I don't mind spending a few quid if it sorts the problem.

Cheers again.

No never had any problems with it - its a worthy purchase and you get Anti Virus as well.

Some people complain that it can hog resources, but its never been a problem on my machine.

Indians · 14-03-2004, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by LAKE_MUSIC

I did try dropping it down but it didn't make any difference. Does the router act as a kind of firewall?

Yes the router acts a hardware firewall, have you got the correct ports forwarded for this application on the router ?

LAKE_MUSIC · 15-03-2004, 06:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indians

Yes the router acts a hardware firewall, have you got the correct ports forwarded for this application on the router ?

I think so. There was an article on the Linksys tech support site on how to set the port forwarding for messenger, so I just followed that.