windows - Send traffic over specified connections by port
2014-04
D. Strout
I am currently at a college with an extremely restrictive network. No outbound ports are open except 53, 80, and 443. I can't do any of the things I'd like to do like FTP, SSH, etc., which is obviously extremely annoying. To remedy this, I got a FreedomPop stick which has no such limits, except when it comes to bandwidth, the free plan only having 500MB BW. What I'd like to do, then, is to have port 80 and 443 traffic go over my school's network (wired or wireless, can do either way), and everything else go over the FreedomPop connection (which appears to Windows as a wired connection). How can I force specific ports to go out over specific connections? I'm using Windows 8.1. I have a variety of other networking hardware around, including several different wireless cards and two wireless routers, and I can acquire more if needed. Any help would be appreciated.
Elliot
I can't get port forwarding to work now that I am using windows 7 (64-bit). I am using a wireless connection (no wired connection available). I have the ports forwarded (IP has been double checked, router settings are confirmed), there is an exception for all of the programs in question in windows firewall, and in the resource monitor windows lists the ports as available, not restricted, and yet when I either use a specific program (ie utorrent, DC++, Command & Conquer 3) or check using firefox, the port reads as closed. How do I get the port forwarding to work?
Anthony
Things to check:
First, open up Resource Monitor and look under Networking. It will show you three things: 1) Services using ports 2) Open Connections 3) ports being listened on.
Therefore you should be able to see the request as Firefox is making it and see which ports (local and remote) are involved and see if the request is being allowed through in the listening port area. (there should be a firewall status).
Second, always double check with another system. I recommend starting up a virtual machine (something small like Knoppix or PuppyLinux) and setting it to bridged-mode first, then NAT. If the port is open in NAT and not bridged, you know it's Windows 7. You can, of course, also connect a second laptop to the same cable and see if the port is open that way.
Third, try turning off all security software, including Windows Firewall, Norton, etc, AND Windows Defender (or Security Essentials if it's installed). Assume any security software, native or third-party, are doing their job too well before assuming Windows 7 is slick enough to block ports on its own.
harrymc
There may be two firewalls that interfere: Windows and the router. Both should be disabled for testing. You may use the suggested canyouseeme.org for testing.
If the tests are positive, meaning the ports are open, try temporarily turning off UAC to see if that's related to the problem.
If the ports are still reported as open but the programs can't use them, then there's a problem with the port forwarding definition. Some products need more than one port open, or of different types (TCP/UDP).
I suggest that for a more detailed answer, you should include screen captures of the router's port-forwarding page(s), so we can comment.
rodey
Did you check your router to make sure the port forwarding rule is enabled? I run AVG Anti-virus on Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (retail) and have no issues forwarding ports on my Linksys WRT54G or WRT160N.