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PLEASE
READ THE FOLLOWING NOTES CAREFULLY
NetCFax does not require
any special network setup at all, but we cannot offer individual or detailed support on the configuration or setup of
your specific network
to work with NetCFax as there are many different issues that may occur,
often due to other software running on the fax server or fax client
machines that are blocking network access or ports we need to use, such
as the Windows Firewall ad others, so
please do not ask us to do so.
By default, NetCFax only
uses TCP port 7488, TCP/UDP port 7485 and UDP port 7487 for all of for its (many
possible) connections between the fax clients and the fax server.
These ports are specified by the TCP protocol as being available for use
by any application that wishes to use them. This of course means that
NetCFax does NOT have the sole right of claim to them, and although
equally unlikely, it is always possible for some other software program
on your network to already be using them !!
You can very soon change
these easily in the fax server and the fax clients if you need to do so.
When starting the
fax server.
If you see a message that
tells you it is unable to bind to a socket on port xxxx, then it is
almost certain that you do actually have another application that uses
this TCP port (7488 by default). If this does occur, the server will
close down again, as Winsock and TCP will not allow two servers to
use/monitor the same port.
You may also see this same
message if you try to run two "instances" of the fax server on
the same machine.
USEFUL HINT - If you
find that you are having problems
with fax clients connecting to the fax server on only some of the
machines on your network (in other words some other machines DO CONNECT
to the fax server), while others do not, then it is likely that those
machines that cannot connect already have some software running that is
acting as a server (or possibly even a client) on these same ports.
One other potential
culprit is firewalls of any type. These can (usually) be
configured to allow (or block) data to flow on certain ports, so you need to ensure
that the ports mentioned above are able to connect past these firewalls.
In particular, the Windows Firewall is configured by Microsoft to block
many ports unnecessarily.
Finally, it has been
documented that some Anti Virus (AV) systems will intercept (and
investigate) all data on ALL ports. NetCFax can not possibly be
aware of this AV software, so if the AV system fails to pass the data
through to us in a timely manner, we will have no option but to assume
that we cannot connect to the fax server.
Return to
main NetCFax FAQ page...
What
ports does NetCFax use for communication ?
Why
are ports needed by NetCFax ?
We
have the NetCFax server on a Windows Domain Controller (WDC) and we
cannot get the clients to be able to connect to the NetCFax server
OR
We are running NetCFax on NT based systems (W2K, XP, W23K) that do
have security polices set, and the clients cannot connect to the server.
Can
the NetCFax server be access by laptop and notepad users via an Internet
connection?
What
ports does NetCFax use for communication ?
The only (default) ports you need to
ensure are available are as follows:
TCP - 7485, 7487, 7488
UDP - 7485
These are the default port settings in NetCFax.
If you change these you need to ensure that the ports you
select are free, and that any firewall or security policies on your
system allow them to be used. You also need to ensure that the
clients know of any changes you make to these.
Return to
list of network questions...
Why
are ports needed by NetCFax ?
It's a simple answer really.
NetCFax uses TCP (and a
little UDP) for
ALL connections between the fax clients and the fax server(s). In
fact, internally, even the fax clients are TCP or UDP servers in their
own right, which allows them to receive the various broadcast
notifications sent out by the server(s).
The fax servers can also
communicate with each other to exchange address books data and other
information on a regular basis.
TCP and UDP are by far the
most efficient way to communicate across any network, which is of course
why the Internet itself uses this protocol for all connections to
anywhere else at all.
Return to
list of network questions...
We
have the NetCFax server on a Windows Domain controller and cannot
get the clients to connect to the NetCFax server ?
OR
We are running NetCFax on
NT based systems that have security polices, and the clients cannot
connect to the server.
This is very probably because your domain
controller, or the client machines running on the domain controller have
the Windows Security Policies set to block IP traffic. You just need to
check and change these "policies" to ensure that the fax
server and the fax clients are able to connect FREELY on the TCP and UDP
ports you have them set to use. To
prove this, we suggest you login as a local administrator on two of the
networked machines, and install the NetCFax server on one, and a client
on the other, and then try to connect between two machines. If
this works, it will confirm that your security policies are blocking IP
traffic. More information on
setting and changing Security Policies should be obtained from Microsoft
if you are unsure what to do, as we cannot provide support for your
Windows installation itself as part of our free support system.
Can
the NetCFax server be accessed by laptop and notepad
users via an Internet connection ?
Yes, of course, NetCFax
is a fully TCP based networked application, so nothing
could be simpler.
All this is needed is for the machine that is running
the NetCFax server to be accessible to the
Internet. This may be through the use of a
machine name that can be resolved via the public DNS
system, or the IP address of the machine itself. NB
- If you have a firewall or router on your network, you will need to
ensure that the TCP ports 7485 and 7488, plus the UDP port 7485 are
accessible in both directions. The
mobile user can then connect and use a normal NetCFax client just as if
they were working at their own desktop in the office. |
