[The Twisted One]

Hello all,

Rather than make 2 separate threads, i decided to basically combine these two issues. First of all, this isnt a problem that i am having, instead it is a friend of mine. (Yea yea, i know when someone says its 'a friend' or whatever, its always him/her talking about themselves, but thats usually for relationship stuff )

But here is the deal. I was connecting to her comp remotely, via TightVNC, a program im sure many of you are familiar with. You basically use this to tunnel in and just take control of their comp and do whatever you need to do on it. It was working perfect for 2 days. A simple 'go to your router and open the port we chose' worked just fine, and done is done, easy enough, right? Well now i suddenly cant get in, and basically, we have tried everything under the sun to figure it out and have yet to find a solution. It just doesnt make any sense to me at all, and there are some very odd occurences going on which ill outline later, but first ill list everything we have done, to make this easier on all of us:

1. Reset the router to the default settings, tried making the rule for VNC again, and it was not letting me in. She has a section for APPLICATIONS and PORT FORWARDING. We originally made the rule in PORT FORWARDING (the APPLICATIONS has this TRIGGER PORT thingy, and well..im not sure how that even works, though it seems similar). Nevertheless, when it was working we use PORT FORWARDING it was just fine. We tried both areas and no luck.

2. I had her connect her modem straight to the wall, and still, my viewer for VNC just sticks 'connection initiated' and eventually fails.

3. Tried DMZ in the router..again, nothing. This i found extremely odd, because that basically just opens you right up to everything.

4. Tried flushing her DNS, as well as using the DNS windows service and 'repairing' the connection via the netmon in the taskbar'.. no luck..(more on that in a bit).

5. She has DHCP service shut off in Windows, because since she uses a router, she can use DHCP settings in there, and save on having a useless windows service running. I had her refresh/renew it, etc, etc, and that didnt get us anywhere.

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Now for the odd things....

1. For some ridiculous reason, she can find yahoo.com. The main domain, and obviously any subdomain. She gets NOT FOUND pages with all that 'CHECK YOUR CONNECTION' stuff and its just driving us nuts. She cant ping it either, it just hangs. After all that we did, the only thing i can think of is that her ISP DNS/NAME servers are screwing up badly. She is on Shaw Cable in Canada, if that helps, maybe someone here is experiencing the same things on that ISP.

2. She also cant ping ME either. This is even more off-the-wall, because im not using any FW, or have ICMP/PINGS turned off. I can ping her fine, but she cant with me. Imo, this correlates to the issue with VNC. Something is apparently blocking me and doesnt want me in there. Lately im startin to think its some divine force, because honestly, its just very strange and i cant make an ounce of sense out of it. I thought maybe it was my ISP being blocked from her, but i had her ping several other VERIZON IPs (which i use), and she pinged them fine, but not me.

3. She has a dual boot setup with Vista on another partition. Well guess what? Yahoo.com works fine there. So this narrows it down to the XP side of things, which she uses with SP2.

4. Now for the real weird stuff, this ones a real kicker. Her sister is connected to her wirelessly, and she uses Vista on a laptop. Since its the same ISP/IP being shared...well, her sister cant connect to yahoo either. So how does this explain her being able to connect to yahoo on Vista on her own partition?

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Some other things to note:

Now i looked loads of times in her Network Properties (Network Connections, right click the main LAN CONNECTION)..Now she has some things in there that i think may be interfering. I dont use these items myself, and i was trying to get her settings to match mine as best as possible. She has this 'SERVER ADVERTISING PROTOCOL' and from what i read, i seriously doubt she needs this. She also this 'IPX' thing, which is right above the TCP/IP property. Again, from what i read on this, i cant see her needing those either, but when i wanted to remove them, she got nervous, because on other occasions, i disabled things there and she lost her connection or it temporarily hiccuped. But i just cant see her needing those two.

As for her TCP/IP settings, i had her set it up manually in windows. Since the DHCP is off, well its set to USE THIS IP (ya know, 192.168, 255.255.255.0, and then the gateway and DNS to use). She connects fine, but still, i cannot connect to her. I have this same set up on my end, and run FTPs and other apps that require port forwarding and it works just fine.

I just cant understand what has her so wired shut that i cant get in there, when i was able to before. And no, her Windows FW isnt on either (actually all the services for that are off/disabled, like the ICS and Security services).

Also, some people said on other forums i searched, that her VNC Server, needs to run as a SERVICE, due to some ADMINISTRATION issue that windows can have sometimes. Well, be that as it may, again, IT WORKED FINE BEFORE. The TightVNC i use, doesnt install itself. The server/viewer both run RESIDENT, and open n close at will. It worked without a single hitch like this before, so i cant see that being the problem.

I cant see spyware/viruses/malware being the problem either, because when i was in there, i set her up with very good apps for Virus and Malware scanning/cleaning. It caught some things, and we removed them and her comp runs way better than it used to. I also cleaned up and tweaked many things with her, gave her the latest versions of IE and FF, etc. I cant see some baddie being the issue at all. Her comp is very secure right now.

Oh yea, i mentioned 'divine forces' before. Seems this started happening to her around the time we first started talking. We talk on yahoo mostly, and when i connected to her and it was working, several days after it became fubar'd. Its like everything that had to do 'with me' is messed up for her now. Is there a priest up in here? Because i think an excorcism may be needed

Well...thats the best info i can give. Im not the most knowledgable on these things, and many posters here know 10x more than i do about these type of technical issues. So please, if someone can help figure this out, you will save two people from becoming more depressed than they already are, because its spoiling our fun and not allowing us to enjoy very much, as well as frustrating us to no end.

[Jtoast]

ok..need to clarify/simplify. Let me know if I have this right...

1) primary issue is that you can't remote into her machine.

2) Secondary issue is that she cannot go to yahoo.com but all other websites work fine. Is this correct?

Things to try.

1) Bypass the router and connect her computer directly to the modem. Can you connect to her now? If so then the problem is in her router. I suspect this is the case since her sister has yahoo issues also. If not, then the problem is most likely related to a software firewall installed on her computer.

If you can narrow the problem down to the router, post the make and model. Also go check the manf website for a firmware update.

[The Twisted One]

Originally Posted by Jtoast

ok..need to clarify/simplify. Let me know if I have this right...

1) primary issue is that you can't remote into her machine.

2) Secondary issue is that she cannot go to yahoo.com but all other websites work fine. Is this correct?

Things to try.

1) Bypass the router and connect her computer directly to the modem. Can you connect to her now? If so then the problem is in her router. I suspect this is the case since her sister has yahoo issues also. If not, then the problem is most likely related to a software firewall installed on her computer.

If you can narrow the problem down to the router, post the make and model. Also go check the manf website for a firmware update.

Thx for helping, JT. And yea, thats the primary issue and secondary issue we are having.

Well...as for what you mentioned, we did that, tried to connect the modem directly without any router, and yahoo wouldnt work, nor could i connect to her. Its just so weird. I cant see any kind of FW running, she has no firewall apps installed, and Windows FW is also disabled.

As for the routers make, here ya go:

http://www.speedguide.net/broadband-view.php?hw=245

Now we actually disabled Upnp on her router last night, as i heard that can cause problems with many things. She was actually able to get into yahoo last night for about 3 hours, then got kicked off and couldnt get back in. Im not sure if UPNP being disabled caused her to get in, because i had her re enable it to see if it wouldnt work again, but yahoo still worked. This makes it difficult to trouble shoot. Her sister then made it known that its actually SHAW CABLE (her isp) thats supposedly having issues with yahoo. But i dunno, because she said 3 other friends of her who are on SHAW, had no problems. I mean, to be blocking yahoo of all sites, one of the most popular in the world, makes no sense to me. Yahoo has a load of domains and subdomains, as well as ips. I could see if it was some unsafe obscure site.. but what ISP in their right mind, would block YAHOO.COM?

Can you do me favor and let me know if she needs to be using these:

IPSEC
PPTP
LP2P

I know thats all for like tunneling or VPN related things. Could having them enabled, cause me to be unable to connect to her?

Also, i have read on serveral other sites about the MTU being 1492, rather than 1500. I read people having issues with yahoo and hotmail not working or sites just not being found by the browser/not being able to pinged. When they lowered to 1492, it fixed all the problems. Unfortunately, i had her go in there and she cant find any MTU setting. But if you look on that website, her model shows an MTU control. Its under the 'Router' section.

Btw, i never did try connecting to her once UpNP was disabled (we got caught up with something else, and needed a break, because this issue brings way too much tedium and frustration, especially since it should be something so damn simple to get working, grrr). I also had her disable 'Server Advertising Protocol' and that 'IPX Protocol' in her network properties (where the TCP/IP properties are located). Ill try connecting to her later and see what happens. If it works, well then i guess thats what was causing it.

Oh yea, the reason she couldnt ping me was my fault. I had BLOCK WAN PINGS on afterall, and didnt realize i did. We both enabled them to test, and were able to then ping eachother. Still though, whether pings are on/off, i should still be able to connect to her regardless.

[avisitor]

Did you set VNC up on the standard 5900 port?

For sake of security, VNC is not secure... You'll want to tunnel it through a VPN. I suggest Hamachi since that removes all the configuration and port forwarding issues.

Post an ipconfig /all from her machine.

[The Twisted One]

Originally Posted by avisitor

Did you set VNC up on the standard 5900 port?

For sake of security, VNC is not secure... You'll want to tunnel it through a VPN. I suggest Hamachi since that removes all the configuration and port forwarding issues.

Post an ipconfig /all from her machine.

Hell no lol. I used VNC once on the default port ages ago, and learned that lesson fast. The person told me someone tried to connect, and it wasnt me at the time..so its obvious that lamers out there know the default port, and scan ip ranges. But i had PW and AUTH set up , and also to REFUSE the connection and time out in 20 secs of the PW isnt entered, so i dont know how someone can get in, it would be quite time consuming and difficult. But yea, we chose a much different port than that.

Ill paste you that info in ipconfig /all ASAP. She isnt home right now, but as soon as i speak to her, ill have it for you. Hopefully something will give there.

As for Hamachi, well..im a bit familiar with it, used it play games via the vlan, but..i have no idea how id be able to set up with VNC...how is that done? It does sound nicer, as you mentioned, no dealing with configs and port issues.

[The Twisted One]

Ok, avisitor, here is well..some of it lol..she was in a damn rush, and needed to go, so ill paste the rest later. If the copy and paste in DOS wasnt such a pain in the butt, i coulda got it all.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : computer
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

I never seen that HYBRID for the node. Mine always says UNKNOWN. Maybe that has something to do with it? I dont even know what hybrid even means. I mean, i know what the word means, but not in this context lol.

[avisitor]

Ok, need to see the rest of it. Look up Hamachi though, you'll feel a lot safer.

To copy and paste in Command Prompt, right click and click Select All. Hit enter. It's now copied to your clipboard, you can paste it here or in notepad, etc.

[The Twisted One]

Originally Posted by avisitor

Ok, need to see the rest of it. Look up Hamachi though, you'll feel a lot safer.

To copy and paste in Command Prompt, right click and click Select All. Hit enter. It's now copied to your clipboard, you can paste it here or in notepad, etc.

Ok here it all is:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : computer
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : cg.shawcable.net


Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 4:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : cg.shawcable.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, November 26, 2008 8:51:51
AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, December 03, 2008 8:51:51
AM

I dont know what the HYBRID thing means. Mine just says UNKNOWN for the node type. Also, mine shows a NETBIOS OVER TCP/IP: DISABLED, hers shows nothing about NETBIOS. It all seems rather normal to me *shrugs*

[The Twisted One]

Ok , i had her go here (http://www.canyouseeme.org/) to test her ports , as well as the one used for VNC and shes getting errors up the you know what. CONNECTION REFUSED, NO ROUTE TO HOST, ETC. It doesnt make an ounce of sense, and i just cant figure it out as every option to solve it has been exhausted. She has the ports open in the router, why wont it just work!!

BTW, i just realized that nothing worked even without the router connected, so...the router isnt the problem. I can only narrow it down to being a software problem within the OS; some setting thats screwing it up badly, or maybe something in the registry. She basically cant open ANY ports and is completely non-connectable.

[JohnWill]

What's the exact make/model of the modem and the router in use?

[The Twisted One]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

What's the exact make/model of the modem and the router in use?

http://www.speedguide.net/broadband-view.php?hw=245

Thats the exact make and model of the router. The modem, well, ill once again have to post that later, because shes not 'connectable' atm...(shes not home hehe). Ill post it asap.

[kev123]

For your questions:
1) primary issue is that you can't remote into her machine.

If you know her IP, you can try to connect to a specific port to determin if the physical connection is ok by :
a. telnet xxxxxxxx 5900 (if the vnc server starts)
b. telnet xxxxxxxx 80 or 21 port
meanwhile you can download a tool (TCPView) from Microsoft website to monitor if the connection is established or not.

Now, you know if it's possible to connect to her machine. IF you CANNOT and just because your 2 computers are cross several networks, you can use a VPN software like NeoRoute (www.neorouter.com) to create a virtual LAN over these networks. Then you can use VNC.

2) Secondary issue is that she cannot go to yahoo.com but all other websites work fine. Is this correct?

This may caused by her ISP’s DNS servers. She can try to run trace route command from this website http://network-tools.com/ to see where it stops.

Good luck
----------------------------------------------------
NeoRouter - the network revolves around you

[The Twisted One]

Well i give up, i dont know what the heck she could have done to Fubar everything up on her end, but..i just installed Hamachi, had another friend connect to my Network and it worked fine. Hopefully it will work like a charm with VNC, since i can bypass all this port/router nonsense

Would someone be so kind to help me with the WINDOWS FILE SHARING? (i can use VNC, yea, but wanted to get it working with HAMACHI too). I had the SERVER service turned off, and enabled that, and now i can SHARE A FOLDER. I type the share name and the folder changes the icon. My friend said you are supposed to see the folder in MY NETWORK PLACES>MS WINDOWS NETOWRKS>WORKGROUPS? I see nothing there (or maybe hes supposed to, and not me, since im the one sharing it). I then enabled CLIENT FOR WINDOWS NETWORKS and FILE, PRINTER SHARING, in the network interface for HAMACHI...still, he sees nothing.

And when i enable those two and click WORKGROUPS, it hangs really long and i get an error that says:

Workgroup is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contanct the administratior of this sever to find out if you have access permissions.

The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available.

Also, her yahoo issue is solved, seems her ISP was causing that, because now its been working last 2 days.

[Jason08]

Originally Posted by The Twisted One

Ok , i had her go here (http://www.canyouseeme.org/) to test her ports , as well as the one used for VNC and shes getting errors up the you know what. CONNECTION REFUSED, NO ROUTE TO HOST, ETC. It doesnt make an ounce of sense, and i just cant figure it out as every option to solve it has been exhausted. She has the ports open in the router, why wont it just work!!

BTW, i just realized that nothing worked even without the router connected, so...the router isnt the problem. I can only narrow it down to being a software problem within the OS; some setting thats screwing it up badly, or maybe something in the registry. She basically cant open ANY ports and is completely non-connectable.

Do you know if she tested the ports while there was activity on the ports?

[avisitor]

NetBIOS naming over hamachi is a little weird. I actually set up A Records in DNS for my hamachi network, but that might not work for you ... First see if you can access it by the other person's Hamachi IP (5.x.x.x)