Getting Technical

For technical information about FidoNet please see www.ftsc.org

Microsoft's ICS and BinkP
By Frank Vest
1:124/6308

Before I start, I'd like to say "Thank you" to Steve Quarrella for giving me an "ear to bend" in this and for his help in general. Rather he knows it or not, I couldn't have figured this out without him.

Thanks, Steve!

Disclaimer:

This is written in hopes of being helpful to others that might run into this problem. It is in no way intended to replace Microsoft's support, or any other support for that matter, nor guaranteed to fix your problem. This is just my experience and, as always, your mileage may vary.

Keep out of reach of children. Not intended for internal consumption. Use at your own risk. May not be suitable for anything. If symptoms persist, consult someone else. :-)

Background:

Microsoft Windows 98 SE has a program called "Internet Connection Sharing" (ICS). If you run a Local Area Network (LAN) with Microsoft Networking (peer to peer), you can share an Internet connection with other computers in the network using ICS.

Technical problem:

The ICS program acts as a "firewall" to some degree. When installed, ICS opens certain ports that it knows, from it's setup information, are generally used. Ports such as "21", "23", "25", "110" "80" and a few others that are normally used for mail, web and file access are opened. The others are closed and can't be accessed.

This is a problem for BinkP users that might be running a LAN using Microsoft Networking and ICS since port 24554 is effectively blocked.

My problem:

My system(s) consist of three computers. One has a DSL modem, ICS and is the "hub" (Browse Master) for the LAN. This means that it has two Network Interface Cards (NIC) in it. One for the LAN and one for the connection to the DSL modem. The "hub" computer is the one I run BinkP on. I'm not sure if there would be a problem with a cable modem or a dial-up Internet connection, but with the DSL I have, ICS effectively blocked access to port 24554. I assume that this is because of the NIC that connects the DSL modem to the computer being a different address. At any rate, access was blocked to the Binkp port of 24554. This was only happening on incoming "calls". I could send from BinkP with no problem. I'll not further try to guess why this is.

After contacting tech support and checking everything I, and Steve Quarrella, could think of, I removed the ICS. The BinkP port opened up and all was well... almost... With ICS not installed and running, I obviously couldn't access the Internet from any machine except the one that the DSL was on. :(

Solution:

Reference, "http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q231/1/62.ASP"

The above URL "should" take you to the Microsoft tech support, and land you on a page about "How to Map a Port in ICS Using an .inf File".

Once you are there, read the text and find the example .inf file to copy, paste and edit for your needs. I give this reference because you might need to un-block ports other than the standard 24554 for BinkP.

I have a completed .inf file that I will share with anyone that wants/needs it. It simply tells ICS to not block port 24554. As always, I'll not guarantee anything to you and I'm not responsible if you use my .inf file and you have problems.

You can probably do the same thing by editing the "system registry" in Windows if you are technical enough to understand and do this.

Once you've created your .inf file, or acquired mine, simply right click on it and tell it to install. Restart your computer and port 24554 should be un-blocked. :)