PopNote Tips and Fixes Copyright 2009 by G.Mike Raymond, K5HUM Last Updated 02/16/09 PROBLEM: Most all problems with PopNote have to do with Firewall blocks and or not having Administrator rights on the PC you operate. The typical firewall scenario using PopNote is: you can send out a popnote but you get no echo from the remote and the remote is unable to send to you. Of course this assumes the remote is online and running a copy PopNote at the same time, which in my case should be true. *If your problem is PopNote failing to upgrade go to the bottom of this article. QUIK TEST: Use the LocalHost address of "127.0.0.1" (it should be an entry in the address window) to see if PopNote will talk to itself (local loopback) before proceeding. SOLUTIONS: PopNote requires that UDP ports 54538 and 54539 pass traffic in both directions in order to signal correctly. In most cases, firewall blocks to incoming packet traffic cause problems with PopNote. Incoming blocks can start with the Modem (especially the newer DSL types like the Westels), then the Router (if one is used) and finally the software firewall on the PC itself. Since modem and router setup menu configurations vary widely, it is not possible for me to cover the "how to" setup of every device out there. However, here are the basics you need to know. Many digital cable modems especially the newer DSL modems have internal firewalls that block almost all incoming traffic other than the web and email server ports. They are typically "on" by default. Disable the internal firewall by using its internal setup configuration menu. Access to the internal setup configuration menu of most all Modems (and Routers) is accomplished through your Browser using a special (non routeable) IP address that accesses a mini web server built into the device. In many cases you can access the devices configuration menu vi your Web Browser and the address 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.254 If either of these IPs do not work, look for the device's setup IP address in its user manual. Once you gain access to the DSL modems setup you want to modify its Firewall configuration by either enabling DMZ or IP Passthrough to your named computer. If you are using XP SP1 I highly recommend you disable XP's built in firewall so you can have more precise control over your system using a better software firewall as described farther down this article. There are many ways to reach the required disable menu. One way is vi the Start Button /Settings /NetWork Connections /Local Area Connections /Properties then high-light the Tcp IP Protocol and /Advanced button. Then disable it. If your XP has SP2, this firewall is adequate but does not trap clients that may try "phoning home". ZoneAlarm will trap everything. I recommend the free ZoneAlarm as a software firewall. First because it works well, and second because Zone can check a change in a files crc signature which most hardware firewalls do not do. Finally, with todays powerful computers, a PC hardly knows a software firewall is running in the background. There are other good software firewalls but I can recommend ZA with 7 years of confidence acquired in using it. If you use ZoneAlarm, you MUST set Zone's Internet security to "Medium", not High. Leaving the default setting on High will block many Ports in a useless Stealth mode and give little or no extra protection. Any hacker worth his salt will laugh at any ports in stealth mode. Without stealth you are still protected if the software you are using on any particular port is properly written and has no secret back doors. It is up to you to KNOW what client server software you are using. If you have a router between your modem and PC, I recommend that you DMZ the node your PC connects to on the router. A good software firewall on your PC makes using the router firewall (NAT) redundant and overly complicated. DMZ eliminates a lot of nuisance port forwarding or triggering tasks for all the client server software you use. Thus keeping your operational pain to a minimum. When using a Router between your modem and PC its best to define a fixed (*non route-able) IP in your PC's NIC (one thats within the IP range dictated by your router). This eliminates problems on a home LAN with more than one PC connected, should one power down, then reboot and grab a different IP vi the routers DHCP server. This is because in most cases you have to define the node you will DMZ. note: If NOT using a router, just a digital modem connected directly to your PC's NIC, your WAN (Internet) IP will be the same as your PC's IP address. NIC RESET and DIAGNOSTIC TEST: From a command window type "IPCONFIG /RELEASE". When the prompt returns, type "IPCONFIG /RENEW" and make sure you see no error messages. This step make take up to 30 seconds before your prompt returns. Next, type "IPCONFIG /ALL" to see if your NIC acquired a non routable IP from your router. Again, if you have no router, your PC's NIC IP will be your WAN IP. How I operate. I completey disable the built in firewalls in my Modem, Router and OS. I run ZoneAlarm on all my machines, including my 24/7 web server. I NEVER have any problems with ports, Zone takes care of everything. Now, I realize my advice works great for me only because all my machines are in a secure home environment. I also run PopNote on each PC on my LAN. Each of the other Node's must be properly port forwarded to communicate over the outside Internet, but only the active PC (the one I wish to run PopNote from at the moment) can have this Forwarding "Enabled" within the Router. This is usually nothing more than adding or removing a check mark in the routers appropriate setup menu. For convenience I have a bookmark on my Browser for my Routers IP address. Routers can cause big headaches, especially the poorly designed ones that are unstable and or frequently lose their eprom cmos settings. I can recommend with confidence, the LinkSys WRT54G (about $50) built by Cisco Systems - the same company that builds backbone routers for the Internet. Most all Wallmart stores carry them, so access and availability is good nation wide. For additional help on how to setup home LANs, read: HTTP://ARC.TZO.COM/HAM/NETWORK.TXT For help setting or understanding Port Forwarding on various routers, visit: http://www.portforward.com For operational tips on running PopNote, read the FAQ under PopNote's HELP menu. *Non Routable IP's are addresses that are blocked by outside Internet backbones (routers) and thus cannot be used to pass traffic across the Internet. In theory, because routable IP's are unique world wide addresses, there are never two identical WAN IP's at the same time. Not so with LAN or non routable IP's. Jim, Joe and Frank can all be using a non routable IP of 192.168.1.100 on their home LANs without conflicts. If you are wondering how your WAN IP can be (example) 68.114.113.168 and your PC's IP be something like 192.168.1.100, and incoming packets be addressed to 68.114.113.168 yet reach 192.168.1.100 its because your router contains a NAT or Network Address Translator that determines which PC on a LAN to direct incoming traffic from the Internet. Generally it does this by examining the "port" portion of the address carried on an incoming packets datagram. This is why, generally, no two PC's can have client software actively listening (acting like a server) on the same port. Should you still be unable to solve your router problems here is a list of common Router Manufacturer's Technical Support contact information. Manufacturer Homepage Technical Support Linksys http://www.linksys.com/support 1-800-326-7114 Netgear http://kbserver.netgear.com/main.asp 1-888-NETGEAR 1-888-638-4327 1-800-211-2069 D-Link http://support.dlink.com 1-877-453-5465 SMC http://www.smc.com/index.cfm 1-800-762-4968 Apple Airport http://www.apple.com/support/airport 1-800-275-2273 Belkin http://www.belkin.com/support 1-800-223-5544 Buffalo http://www.buffalotech.com 1-866-752-6210 Microsoft http://support.microsoft.com/msbn 1-800-936-3900 US Robotics http://www.usr.com/support 1-888-216-2850 Dell http://www.dell.com 1-866-930-3355 For additional hints on how to troubleshoot and unblock ports on your firewalls, visit PopNote's FAQ vi the PopNote Help menu or block, copy and paste this URL into your Browsers address box: http://arc.tzo.com/ham/pn_faq.php -[30]-