forward ports on router for BT

S

Stereophile

Supreme [H]ardness
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Dec 4, 2003
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Don't know anything about networking.
I installed a wireless Netgear FM-114P router and am trying to get
Bit Torrent to work properly. I know I have to forward ports 6881-6999.
I go into my router configuration on IE, and select rules.
For inbound traffic I create a new rule allowing any TCP on 6881-6999
but I have to fill in, "Send to LAN server". Is this the ip of the computer hooked up
to the router ? How do I know what it is ?

Thanks. :)
 
It's the IP address of the computer on the LAN running the Server application that requires the ports to be forwarded to it.
 
If your router supports UPnP, the new version of Azureus automatically opens/closes ports when you launch the program.
 
PorkCharSui said:
If your router supports UPnP, the new version of Azureus automatically opens/closes ports when you launch the program.
Click to expand...

Yes my router supports UPnP. I suppose that would give tighter security ? I've been using Bit Tornado. Is Azureus a more advanced wrapper ? Is it simple to use ?
Thanks.
 
I'd avoid turning on UPnP if at all possible. AFAIK UPnP is like having port 139 open for NETBIOS traffic. UPnP devices all give up too much information about what they are and such that it makes them a security risk since anyone snooping around will get a full look at all your UPnP devices and their capabilities. Sort of like having an overly drunk uncle at a family party giving away all the family secrets.

If I'm wrong in this assesment please correct me, but from what I've read UPnP has alot of potential benefits, at the risk of leaving you open to attacks across your network.

From the Gibson Research page on UPnP :
The Universal Plug and Play service (UPnP), which is installed and running in all versions of Windows XP — and may be loaded into Windows 98 and ME — essentially turns every one of those systems into a wide-open Internet server. This server listens for TCP connections on port 5000 and for UDP 'datagram' packets arriving on port 1900. This allows malicious hackers (or high-speed Internet worms) located anywhere in the world to scan for, and locate, individual Windows UPnP-equipped machines. Any vulnerabilities — known today or discovered tomorrow — can then be rapidly exploited.

UPnP is a set of communications protocol standards that allow networked TCP/IP devices to announce their presence to all other devices on the network and to then inter-operate in a flexible and pre-defined fashion. There is nothing wrong with the idea, though even in the absence of security mistakes, it is not difficult to be concerned about the overall security of the system.
 
Thanks. I decided not to use UPnP. Things are working smoothly.

Here's a stupid question, with a hardware firewall do I need Zone Alarm or anything anymore ?
 
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