Re: [GnomeMeeting-list] Re: Connecting to Netmeeting which is on a home network

[Damien Sandras <dsandras seconix com>]

Hello,

Le lundi 16 mai 2005 à 11:02 +0900, Yves-Eric MARTIN a écrit :
> Hello all,
> 
> 
> Good time to chime in: I have also been unable to get the a similar setting to 
> work. 
> 
> I now understand from a recent email on this list (thank you Damien) that 
> whatever we try, a call from GM to NM will not work, and a call from NM to GM 
> may work... or not...
> 

I think you have misunderstood. That's the case were Netmeeting is
behind a NAT router and the NAT router doesn't support it.


> First thing:  FAQ entry 2.2. Does it work with Netmeeting?
> 
> There should really be a mention of the above NAT problems in the FAQ entry 
> "2.2. Does it work with Netmeeting?". That would have saved me hours of vain 
> tweaking and testing. I know that it's better for PR to claim that "Yes, 
> GnomeMeeting is compliant with all H.323 products, software and hardware 
> including NetMeeting.", but as NAT is getting more and more common on the 
> Internet, the current text in that FAQ entry is waaaaay too optimistic and 
> misleading. I know that is is not GnomeMeeting but Netmeeting that is at 
> fault here, but in the same way that the FAQ mentions problems with 
> Netmeeting receiving large images, it should more importantly mention 
> problems with receiving *anything at all* when Netmeeting is behind NAT. And 
> maybe the FAQ entry could even suggest Windows alternatives to Netmeeting 
> (OpenPhone and MyPhone?).

Well, NAT is another problem. We would be lying if we were telling it
doesn't work with Netmeeting. It won't work either if you don't have a
soundcard, but that is not mentionned in the FAQ, however, that doesn't
make GnomeMeeting incompatible with software running on computers
without a soundcard. 

If Netmeeting has problems behind NAT, that is unfortunately not
possible for us to change anything to that, just buy a router that
supports H.323....


> 
> 
> Next thing: Trying to get at least a NM -> GM call to work...
> 
> I now have got back some hope of getting it to work since Damien mentioned it 
> may work, so here is the call for help I never posted until now:
> 
> The setup is the following:
> 
> GM ----| NAT router |----(internet)----| NAT router |---- NM
> 
> I have opened the necessary ports on both routers, and GM reports 'Cone NAT'. 
> Note also that both NAT routers say they "support NetMeeting". (Oh, and 
> MS-GSM and Speex codecs are installed in NM).


If GM reports Cone NAT, that is ok. But pay attention that if the router
tells it supports Netmeeting, and if you have forwarded ports, you could
have some conflicts. The first thing to try is a call without any port
forwarding and H.245 Tunneling/Fast Start disabled in GnomeMeeting.

> 
> Symptoms are the following: Indeed, as Damien said, a GM -> NM call never ever 
> worked. Call is closed right away. For a NM -> GM call, the connection is

is 1720 forwarded?

>  
> established OK, in the GM general history, I can see both video and audio 
> codecs open for both transmission and reception. But only the GM side gets 
> audio and video. The NM side gets nothing...
> 

My guess is :
- the router on NM's side supports Netmeeting
- it sends the public IP in the packets
- GM can not detect NM is behind NAT because of this
- so GM can not "trick" the router to allow audio and video to pass
through

However, if the router really supports NM, then it should work. So, are
you using GM 1.2.1?

> Any suggestion to try and get this to work would be greatly appreciated, as 
> the Windows alternatives to NetMeeting have not been satisfactory :-/
> OpenPhone is too clumbersome to install and use for my end-users (OK, big name 
> to say Mom and Dad and a few friends ^^), and MyPhone latest binary just 
> consistently crashes on me every time it sends or receives a call... :.-( 
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> 
> On Sunday 15 May 2005 18:37, Jan Schiefer wrote:
> > Allan schrieb:
> > > First of all let me congratulate everyone associated with this project
> > > for a first-class effort.  I was particularly impressed by the quality of
> > > the documentation.  But, after spending two frustrating weeks off and on
> > > I am still no closer to making a connection to Netmeeting.
> > >
> > > I have finally determined that the problem I'm having is that both of the
> > > systems I am trying to communicate with are running on home networks and
> > > of course the H323 protocol demands a direct connection.  Unfortunately
> > > the documentation makes no mention of this problem.
> > >
> > > Would someone please, please, please tell me how to connect to a system
> > > on a home network  bearing in mind that I'll have to pass on the
> > > instructions to a couple of typical Windows users.  And PLEASE don't tell
> > > me to have them install gnugk to act as their gatekeeper.  One look at
> > > it's documentation is likely to drive them kicking and screaming away
> > > from anything to do with Linux and OSS.  Besides which, if I understand
> > > correctly, that only provides them with a way to connect to me not vice
> > > versa.
> > >
> > > Allan
> >
> > First try to ping the other hosts.
> > Be sure that your firewall ( or the other host's firewall ) doesn't
> > block the H323 + RTP ports ( see FAQ ).
> >
> > If this succeeds try to enter just their IP address in the address field.
> >
> > Greetings,
> > Jan Schiefer!
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > GnomeMeeting-list mailing list
> > GnomeMeeting-list gnome org
> > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnomemeeting-list
> 
> -- 
> Yves-Eric MARTIN
> _______________________________________________
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> GnomeMeeting-list gnome org
> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnomemeeting-list
-- 
 _      Damien Sandras
(o-     GnomeMeeting: http://www.gnomemeeting.org/
//\     FOSDEM 2005 : http://www.fosdem.org
v_/_    H.323 phone : callto:ils.seconix.com/dsandras seconix com