Messenger 5.0 & Linksys BEFW11S4 Router Problems

[Tim FitzPatrick]

I am having problems with my Linksys BEFW11S4 V.2 router
(Firmware Version 1.45, Firmware Date 2/28/2003) working
with Windows Messenger 5.0.

If I connect my PC directly to my DSL modem (bypassing
the router), video conversations with my relatives work
fine.

But, if I connect my PC to the Linksys router and then
connect the router to the DSL modem, video conversations
no longer work. However, with the router in place,
everything else like e-mail, web browsing with Internet
Explorer, file downloads, etc. all work fine.

The strange thing is that I have had the router in place
for the past year and video conversations had been
working fine. About 4 - 5 weeks ago the video
conversations quit working, although no system changes
had been made other than Microsoft WindowsXP Updates.

So, I took the router out of the loop and connected the
DSL modem directly to my PC and video conversations
started working again.

My Question is This: What settings do I need to check or
change on the BEFW11S4 to get it working again with
Windows Messenger??

Thanks,

--Tim

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Tim,

There are a few issues that might be causing this. Firstly, click Start, All Programs,
Accessories, Communications, Network Connections. Right-click the "Internet Gateway" (should
be under the Internet Gateway heading) and choose Properties. Choose the Settings button,
click each 'msmsgs' or 'msnmsgr' entry and then choose 'Delete' to each one. Then close
Messenger (right-click the Messenger icon, choose Exit), then restart Messenger.

If you don't see any Internet Gateway or something similar, then UPnP (Universal Plug and
Play) has been disabled in the router. To turn it back on, go into the router configuration,
click the password tab and make sure that UPnP is toggled on. If you needed to toggle it on,
be sure to reboot before attempting another voice/video conversation. UPnP is what actually
opens the necessary ports and forwards them to your computer for the voice/video conversation
to be successful.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

 

[Tim FitzPatrick]

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I checked my PC using your procedure, and I do not have
an "Internet Gateway" icon showing in the Network
Connections window.

Also, when I tab through all the various management
screens in the Linksys BEFW11S4 router, there is no
option under any of the screens for turning UPnP "on"
or "off".

Under the "Forwarding" tab there is a button at the
bottom of the screen that you can click on called "UPnP
Forwarding".

This takes you to a screen that has a number of colums
such as application name, ext. port, protocol, int. port,
IP address, and an Enable check box at the end of each
row. Enable is checked in each row, but video
conversations still do not work.

The page looks somewhat like this (minus the HTML):

Appl.Name Ext.Port Protocol Int.Port IP Addr. Enable
msmsgs 18155 UDP 10890 192.169.1.100 X
msmsgs 41722 TCP 15214 192.168.1.100 X
MSMSGS 7909 TCP 9427 192.168.1.101 X
MSMsgs 47588 UDP 9588 192.168.1.101 X


I'm not sure where the router got the port numbers from,
I certainly didn't enter them. I suppose UPnP fills them
in, but they're not working!

Also the PC that I'm using for video conversations has
first the IP addr. (192.168.1.100) and not the 101 addr.

I've sent this same message to Linksys Tech. Support
three times over the past 5 weeks but they have never
responded.

Not quite sure where to go next, since there is no
UPnP "on" / "off" button on any of the router's admin
screens, so I assume it's always "on" since they claim
the router is UPnP compliant.

I see where you could uncheck the Enable boxes in
the "UPnP Forwarding" screen to disable things - but they
are all set to Enable.

Any further help you might have would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

--Tim

of

-----Original Message-----
Greetings Tim,

There are a few issues that might be causing this.

Firstly, click Start, All Programs,

Accessories, Communications, Network Connections. Right-

click the "Internet Gateway" (should

be under the Internet Gateway heading) and choose

Properties. Choose the Settings button,

click each 'msmsgs' or 'msnmsgr' entry and then

choose 'Delete' to each one. Then close

Messenger (right-click the Messenger icon, choose Exit), then restart Messenger.

If you don't see any Internet Gateway or something

similar, then UPnP (Universal Plug and

Play) has been disabled in the router. To turn it back

on, go into the router configuration,

click the password tab and make sure that UPnP is

toggled on. If you needed to toggle it on,

be sure to reboot before attempting another voice/video

conversation. UPnP is what actually

opens the necessary ports and forwards them to your

computer for the voice/video conversation

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Hi Tim,

It may just be that it's on by default and you can't change it. If enable is checked off in
each row, then you've most likely run out of UPnP port forwardings, which is why it just
"stopped" working (and why it appears to be pointing at the wrong IP). Go back into the UPnP
forwarding table, remove all the msmsgs entries (totally remove them, not just uncheck
enabled), and then exit and start Messenger back up again (as I said previously).

Also, although this *is not* required, you may want to install the UPnP services in Windows
XP. To do so, click Start, then Control Panel, then Add or Remove Programs, then Add/Remove
Windows Components, click Networking Services, then the Details button, and verify that
'Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client' and 'Universal Plug and Play' are
checked and click OK. Again, I must emphasize that this is *not* required for voice/video
conversations to work, but may assist in that missing icon.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

 

[Guest]

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks again for the quick reply.

I exited Windows Messenger 5.0 and then went to the
Linksys admin screens via Internet Explorer.

I deleted all the UPnP entries in the Linksys router on
the "UPnP Forwarding" screen - there is only room for 5
entries, and they were all used.

I then clicked Apply, which makes the changes and reboots
the router (in theory).

I then started Messenger back up and tried to initiate a
video conversation with my brother. When he accepts, his
camera light turns on, but mine does not. After about 30
seconds of black screen on my side the conversation
aborted.

The he tried initiating a conversation and pretty much
the same thing happened, except my camera light came on,
too, and then the conversation aborted. It seems like
we're close, but no cigar yet.

I'll look into installing the UPnP services in Windows XP
(unless they're already installed - I haven't checked
yet) and see if that changes anything.

I'll probably do that tomorrow, as my brother just went
to bed, so I won't have anyone to test with till tomorrow.

I will keep you posted on my progress. Again, thanks for
your help.

Regards,

--Tim

-----Original Message-----
Hi Tim,

It may just be that it's on by default and you can't

change it. If enable is checked off in

each row, then you've most likely run out of UPnP port

forwardings, which is why it just

"stopped" working (and why it appears to be pointing at

the wrong IP). Go back into the UPnP

forwarding table, remove all the msmsgs entries (totally remove them, not just uncheck
enabled), and then exit and start Messenger back up again (as I said previously).

Also, although this *is not* required, you may want to

install the UPnP services in Windows

XP. To do so, click Start, then Control Panel, then Add

or Remove Programs, then Add/Remove

Windows Components, click Networking Services, then the

Details button, and verify that

'Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client'

and 'Universal Plug and Play' are

checked and click OK. Again, I must emphasize that this

is *not* required for voice/video

 

[Guest]

Hi again, Jonathan,

Well, I had a chance to install the UPnP Services in
Windows XP. And, as I mentioned, I've deleted all the
UPnP Forwarding entries in my Linksys router.

I had my brother initiate a video conversation with me
tonight. His camera turned on and he saw himself on his
PC screen. My camera turned on (little green light on
camera turns on) but the video box stayed gray.

If I initiate a video conversation with him we get
basically the same thing, except that he no longer sees
himself in his video camera (nor do I).

So, I'm still not able to do video conversations with the
Linksys router in the loop.

If I disconnect the router and connect my PC directly to
my DSL modem, the video conversations work fine.

The weird thing is that until about 4-5 weeks ago the
router was in the loop and I had been doing video
conversations with my relatives using Messenger 4.7 for
about a year. Then one day it quit working, although I
had not changed any software, other than getting Windows
XP Updates from Microsoft.

I'm going to call Linksys Tech. Support tomorrow and see
if I can get anyone to help me. I've sent them numerous
emails explaining the problem, but they never reply.

Any further suggestions or procedures to try that you
might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your
help.

--Tim

 

[Quaoar]

Hi again, Jonathan,

Well, I had a chance to install the UPnP Services in
Windows XP. And, as I mentioned, I've deleted all the
UPnP Forwarding entries in my Linksys router.

I had my brother initiate a video conversation with me
tonight. His camera turned on and he saw himself on his
PC screen. My camera turned on (little green light on
camera turns on) but the video box stayed gray.

If I initiate a video conversation with him we get
basically the same thing, except that he no longer sees
himself in his video camera (nor do I).

So, I'm still not able to do video conversations with the
Linksys router in the loop.

If I disconnect the router and connect my PC directly to
my DSL modem, the video conversations work fine.

The weird thing is that until about 4-5 weeks ago the
router was in the loop and I had been doing video
conversations with my relatives using Messenger 4.7 for
about a year. Then one day it quit working, although I
had not changed any software, other than getting Windows
XP Updates from Microsoft.

I'm going to call Linksys Tech. Support tomorrow and see
if I can get anyone to help me. I've sent them numerous
emails explaining the problem, but they never reply.

Any further suggestions or procedures to try that you
might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your
help.

--Tim

On the subject router, the UPnP toggle is on the Password Tab.

Q

 

[Demitrius >I]

Hi,

I had this problem too. I solved it by re-installing the latest Firmware
from www.linksys.com. You'll find it in the "Support" section of their web
site.

Best,
Demitrius >I<

 

[Tim FitzPatrick]

Quaoar -

Thanks for the reply on where the Enable/Disable for UPnP
Services is located. Unfortunately, it is Enabled and
things still are not working. Thanks for your help.

--Tim

 

[Guest]

Hi Demitrius -

I orginally had Firmware Ver. 1.44.2 when I bought the
router and everthing worked fine with Video Conversations
for the past 10 months.

When it quit working, I hadn't changed any router configs
or firmware. I also had not added any programs to my PC,
nor had I made any Windows XP (SP1) changes, other than
getting the Windows Updates from Microsoft.

When things quit working, I tried loading the latest
Linksys Firmware Ver. 1.45 - no luck there. I have now
gone back to the original version (1.44.2), which was
suggested by Linksys Tech. Support.

My brother is not home right now, so I'll have to see if
this gets me going again when he gets back. Thanks for
you help.

--Tim