Re: BEFSX41 crashes with MSN Messenger 6.0 audio when Firewalling features enabled?

From: MyndPhlyp (notreally_at_home.now)
Date: 07/31/03 

Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 09:19:50 -0400

"Gilles Gravier" <Gilles.REMOVE.FOR.NO.SPAM@Gravier.org> wrote in message
news:3F289E96.7090709@Gravier.org...
> Yes. They are at the default values.
>
> Would you by any chance be available to do a test?
>
> Gilles.

Gilles:

Normally, yes. However I have uninstalled MS Messenger from all my systems
and have no intention of reinstalling it or any other chat software. (It's a
security thing.) Sorry.

With the MS Messenger workstation on the DMZ port, and DMZ enabled, it
should (in theory) bypass just about everything on the BEFSX41 with the
possible exception of SPI and NAT. If memory serves me correctly (and it's a
real wonder when it does), SPI becomes enabled when you enable the so-called
Firewall feature of the device. But I've never known the BEFSX41 to crash
and reboot itself except in situations where UPnP was enabled on the BEFSX41
and a WAP was somewhere on the LAN. It seems to me that DHCP was also in
that mix somewhere, but those particular synapses are refusing to fire right
now.

I don't recall offhand whether or not the BEFSX41 is H.323 friendly, or
whether or not MS Messenger requires H.323. (Netmeeting uses it depending on
how it is configured.) I do know the BEFSX41 isn't exactly FTP friendly.
Both protocols begin their communication on fixed ports and then switch off
to a high port for the remainder of the session. When I've tried setting up
Filter rules to "exclude everything except..." on outbound traffic, FTP
would fail. I suspect the same would be true for H.323.

You might want to try fixing a static IP address on the MS Messenger
workstation, disabling DHCP on the BEFSX41, removing all other devices from
the LAN and, with the MS Messenger workstation on the DMZ port, try again to
see if you can localize the problem device. It's about the only
tried-and-true method of troubleshooting this - strip down to the bare
essentials to a point where things work as desired and slowly add in
components, one at a time, until failure. Don't be too surprised if the WAP
generates the symptom.