Remote Assistance

[Bill Thorngate]

Whenever someone tries to e-mail me a remote assistance
invitation, I have to modify it because they are using a
DSL modem which has it's own IP address. Sometimes it
doesn't work. I get "Remote host name could not be
resolved." My question is: doesn't XP's Remote Assistance
feature have the ability to detect additional IP
addresses that it needs to ad to the invitation in order
for it to work, like with a DSL or Cable modem?
Thanks!

 

[Robin Walker [MVP]]

Whenever someone tries to e-mail me a remote assistance
invitation, I have to modify it because they are using a
DSL modem which has it's own IP address. Sometimes it
doesn't work. I get "Remote host name could not be
resolved." My question is: doesn't XP's Remote Assistance
feature have the ability to detect additional IP
addresses that it needs to ad to the invitation in order
for it to work, like with a DSL or Cable modem?

Yes, Remote Assistance can do all of this automatically, providing that the
NAT router at the Novice's end (the one requesting assistance) has UPnP
supported, enabled, and working. In adddition, the Novice's firewall must
permit both (a) UPnP traffic and (b) Remote Assistance traffic into the PC.
Also, in the Novice's XP, the SSDP Service must be running (this is true by
default).

With the above conditions satisfied, when the Novice requests Remote
Assistance, the RA application uses UPnP to discover the WAN IP address of
the DSL router/modem so that it can write that IP address into the request
ticket. The RA application also uses UPnP to automatically configure the
inward port-forwards required for the RA session.

If the Novice's router does not support UPnP, then frankly it is easier to
throw it out and get one that does, rather than fiddle around trying to get
RA to work efficiently.

 

[Bill Thorngate]

Thank You Robin.

-----Original Message-----

Whenever someone tries to e-mail me a remote assistance
invitation, I have to modify it because they are using a
DSL modem which has it's own IP address. Sometimes it
doesn't work. I get "Remote host name could not be
resolved." My question is: doesn't XP's Remote Assistance
feature have the ability to detect additional IP
addresses that it needs to ad to the invitation in order
for it to work, like with a DSL or Cable modem?

Yes, Remote Assistance can do all of this automatically, providing that the
NAT router at the Novice's end (the one requesting assistance) has UPnP
supported, enabled, and working. In adddition, the Novice's firewall must
permit both (a) UPnP traffic and (b) Remote Assistance traffic into the PC.
Also, in the Novice's XP, the SSDP Service must be running (this is true by
default).

With the above conditions satisfied, when the Novice requests Remote
Assistance, the RA application uses UPnP to discover the WAN IP address of
the DSL router/modem so that it can write that IP address into the request
ticket. The RA application also uses UPnP to automatically configure the
inward port-forwards required for the RA session.

If the Novice's router does not support UPnP, then frankly it is easier to
throw it out and get one that does, rather than fiddle around trying to get
RA to work efficiently.

--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
(e-mail address removed)


.

 

[Bill Thorngate]

Yeah it did ad the WAN IP of the modem. I set the SSDP
and UPnP to start automatically. Is that ok? If so then
thank you very much.

-----Original Message-----
Thank You Robin.

-----Original Message-----

using

a

Yes, Remote Assistance can do all of this

automatically,
providing that the

NAT router at the Novice's end (the one requesting assistance) has UPnP
supported, enabled, and working. In adddition, the Novice's firewall must
permit both (a) UPnP traffic and (b) Remote Assistance traffic into the PC.
Also, in the Novice's XP, the SSDP Service must be running (this is true by
default).

With the above conditions satisfied, when the Novice requests Remote
Assistance, the RA application uses UPnP to discover

the
WAN IP address of

the DSL router/modem so that it can write that IP address into the request
ticket. The RA application also uses UPnP to automatically configure the
inward port-forwards required for the RA session.

If the Novice's router does not support UPnP, then frankly it is easier to
throw it out and get one that does, rather than fiddle around trying to get
RA to work efficiently.

--
Robin Walker [MVP Networking]
(e-mail address removed)


.

.

 

[Robin Walker [MVP]]

Yeah it did ad the WAN IP of the modem. I set the SSDP
and UPnP to start automatically. Is that ok?

You only need SSDP Discovery Service to be running: it will start correctly
if left on "Manual".

You do not need the "Universal Plug and Play Device Host" to be running:
leave it set to "Manual" start.