Norton Firewall- Opening Ports

[killer_cow]

Hey guys Im having a problem. Ive got my webserver all set up, but now the firewall is getting in the way. It basically blocks any request to port 80 unless the IP requesting it is in my Trusted list. Which tbh isnt of much use because I want everyone to be able to access that one port.

The Firewall is : Norton Personal Firewall 2002 (not enterprise edition)

I have tried setting it in the system-wide settings but that refuses to work. So anyone know a way to open ports thru my firewall for the public?

As a last resort, could someone tell me if ZoneAlarm (or any other recommended free firewalls?!) has the ability to open ports?

Thanx,

K-C

[thornyone]

get rid of norton and use sygate its better

[Cirga]

I have never used Norton myself.. I really dont like their software. If you get Zone Alarm it shouldnt have a problem allowing traffic to come through. It will just ask you if you want yoru webserver to act as a server and you just need to hit Yes on it.

But definately worth a try. Are you hosting this webserver from your house? Do you have a router between your internet connection and your PC?

[killer_cow]

Yes I am hosting this server from my house and behind a router which is all configured correctly i.e. uses UPnP services and forwards HTTP port to my LAN IP.

I might give zone alarm a go, i used to use it and i was happy with it, but sometimes norton is better at blocking idle ports (and i got it free with system works), preventing ppl from seeking out open ports so I like that feature.

Would it be ok to run both at same time so i can just disable norton when i want my webserver to be accessable then seal myself up afterwards?

Thanx in advance.

[Cirga]

Sure you can run both.. the only problem is trying to figure out which program is blocking what. hehe. Just makes troubleshooting tougher when you cant get an internet application to run.

As for the router being configured correctly.. I believe that may be the problem there too. Are you sure its actively listening on port 80 on the router side?

Are you using Dynamic DNS for your web domain name? or are you just using your WAN IP address to hand out to people you want to access it?

If you want to put it up and let me know in a PM what IP its using I can take a peek ?

Let me know bud

[killer_cow]

Im sure my router is all set up fine because if i add my friend to my firewall's trusted list, it works fine no problemo. Its only if a user isnt in my trusted list that it becomes a problemo.

Ive got Zone Alarm installed and ill see how that fares. Ill PM my IP to you just now. Anyone else wants a look, ask me and Ill PM you my IP.

It is a dynamic IP so changes every week. Just now i want to get it working, later if i really want i can look into dynamic forwarding, but for now just the ability to get it workin would be great.

[Cirga]

Hope you saw my PM bud. I had your website up on my home PC last night no problem. Worked perfectly.

Must have been Norton just not allowing it.

[killer_cow]

oops i thought i sent a reply tellin u i did recieve ur pm.

Thanx for that, much appreciated! I hope it ran at an ok speed, i had some P2P on at same time but turned down the bandwidth for it. Hopefully it wos a smooth ride anyway.

Id give you browny points for it if there wos some way hehe.


Till the next time.


K-C

[Cirga]

Originally posted by killer_cow
oops i thought i sent a reply tellin u i did recieve ur pm.

Thanx for that, much appreciated! I hope it ran at an ok speed, i had some P2P on at same time but turned down the bandwidth for it. Hopefully it wos a smooth ride anyway.

Id give you browny points for it if there wos some way hehe.


Till the next time.


K-C

Well it ran "ok" but it was a bit slow loading the graphic files. Maybe you could try reducing the size of the image files to help them load faster? If you have photoshop you can do alot to reduce image size when you use the "save for web" option. Other than that looked fine