Hello All,

I have a curious problem and any assistance is welcome.
Currently running two computers:
One iBook OSX 10.3
One Desktop dual boot Windows XP and Slackware / KDE

In all of three systems there is a MS Messaging utility.
OSX = MS Messenger for Mac (current version)
Windows XP = MS Messenger (current version)
Linux = KDE Gaim 1.5

Turns out that if I use the MS Messenger in Windows XP all is fine until any of the other two non MS clients (Mac or GAIM) logs into the MSN Protocol for chatting, all the network dies.
The only way to recover is to reset my router (power cycle).

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Does your router have any rules about port forwarding MSN traffic or does it use its normal NAT rules to decide which box to send the packets to? If there are rules to forward to one IP address but the traffic should be going to the other box it may be getting confused.

That was only a guess, I haven't seen that problem before. Mixing gaim, windows messenger and msn messenger works on my LAN at home so it is possible to do that.

Thanks Gilead,

Nope, the router doesn't have any NAT filter enabled, just the standard config from the manufacturer, and also, it has worked fine with me from months. it just started last saturday.

Maybe the MSN protocol changed ??????

thanks,

That recently? I'll confirm mine is still working this evening when I get home then...

Is anything using UPNP on your router?

Could be that one of the programs is stealing the port forwards using UPNP without you knowing.

It's still working on my network at home - so I don't think having several different clients running is the problem.

Hello All,
So far troubleshooting, I can determine that apparently the router has a hardware/firmware problem. It wiorks until the MSN protocol kicks in, and I have also been havinf problem with some web pages that user Post Data ... it looses it's way and generates errors.
I connected the computers, one at a time, without the router, and all the applications work OK.
Does any one have some prefferences / suggestions for a new wired router?
Thanks,
McK.