Problems after router change

Hi,

A Netgear will have UPnP on be Default. You do not need to make any Port Settings.

However on the WAN set up page it has a line an about Port Scan and either DOS or SPI and this needs to be turned Off (Disabled).

Also on that page disable the Block Response to Pings on WAN Port line.

The wording of each is different in that one is to Change to Allow (allow Responses to Pings) and the other is Stop the action (Stop DOS (or SPI) interfering with the data flow).

DoS (Denial of Service) was designed to stop "Hackers" overwhelming a web server and crashing a computer's whole Internet connection.
It dos this by judging if "too much data is coming too quickly" and then cuts the one port that this happens on to "Protect" the connection as a whole.
It is threshold based which cannot be changed and is not capable with modern internet speeds and the Video that ichat can stream.

SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) tries to judge if a data stream is valid. It gets overwhelmed in high flow situations and thinks this is an attack and cuts the connection making it effectively threshold based as well.

On the Ping front iChat sends a ping during the connection process to prove that the Accept (Video) reply is from the same place you sent the Visible Invite to.

Out of the whole range there are only one or two models that Netgear make that have had problems with iChat even after the settings have been changed.



8:53 PM Saturday; July 24, 2010

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Hi,

The DG834G Netgear that I had would not work without the DOS being Off and the Pings being allowed.

Do you still have the Port Forwarding setting Enabled ?

I am curious about the VPN.
Some VPNs are set up with an Internet connection as part of the process.
It sounds like this one is not. iChat cannot resolve two connections to the Internet (Wifi and Ethernet at the same time for instance)

The No Data for 10 Secs message means you were connected (even if you did not see any Video or hear any Audio).
The message means that iChat did not end the chat and that an external event did, such as pulling an Ethernet cable, router failure, turning off the Mac's Airport card.

DOS work on a threshold basis and if it receives "Too much Data, Too Quickly" it cuts the port that this is happening on to "Protect" the whole connection.
This threshold cannot be changed and tends to be lower than iChat can Stream video over modern connection speeds.

I would try two things separately.

The SIP ALG is something I did not have on my Netgear.
iChat Uses SIP so I would try it with that ON.

Also try setting iChat menu > Preferences > Video Section > Bandwidth Limit to 500kbps
iChat 5 Can "See" your whole Internet Connection speed. (iChat 4 and Earlier was limited to a max of 1.5Mbps set in System Preferences > Quicktime > Streaming - a setting that does not exist in Snow Leopard)

It could be that the new router allows faster throughput and that you have moved to iChat 5 meaning you are bumping into the DOS threshold.

Of course the issue could be at the other end. The log is not that specific about which end "Cut" the connection.



7:34 PM Sunday; July 25, 2010

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Hi,

The 10 Sec error refers to breaks in the internet connection (As far as iChat is concerned) that are not caused by iChat.

It could of course be the other end but in the case of testing with the appleu3xxxx accounts this is unlikely

DOS (or SPI) are the most likely causes in a router set up.

However also consider Wifi Interference if you are Wifi.
Causes can be other routers close by on the same or close Channel, Microwave ovens, Power cables in walls, the Power bricks for Printers and the like.

My son and daughter have the same brand of laptop and recently changed bedrooms.
My son says he has no problem with the Wifi connection in the room whilst my daughter used to complain about it all the time.
We can find no external reason for this although a large set of metal shelving (heavy wire frame type) was moved from one wall to another.



8:55 PM Thursday; July 29, 2010

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"