Problems With Firewalls

Most connection problems with Remote-Assist are caused by personal firewall software.

Personal firewall software does not always prompt the user to allow programs like Remote-Assist to connect to the internet and simply blocks all or part of the communication process.

It is normally safe to temporarily disable personal firewall software provided you first ensure the built in Windows Firewall is enabled (it will not interfere with Remote-Assist).

Click here for information on enabling Windows Firewall and disabling common personal firewall software>

Testing Outgoing Ports For Remote-Assist

  • Make sure Remote-Control is connected on support PC
  • On remote PC click 'Start' - 'Run' type 'cmd' in the 'Open:' dialog box and click 'OK'.

  • A black DOS or CMD window should open on the remote PC.
    Please click here for instructions on how to install telnet on Vista.

  • Within the black window type 'telnet ra1.ra.net.nz 1XXXX' and press enter (where XXXX is the account number).

  • If all text disappears from the black DOS window then Remote-Assist should work.

  • If you receive a 'Connect Failed' (takes 2-4 seconds to appear) message the most probable cause is the remote PC's firewall is restricting outgoing connections.



Testing Outgoing Ports For Remote-Control

  • On PC click 'Start' - 'Run' type 'cmd' in the 'Open:' dialog box and click 'OK'.

  • A black DOS or CMD window should open on the remote PC.
    Please click here for instructions on how to install telnet on Vista.

  • Within the black window type 'telnet ra1.ra.net.nz 443' and press enter

  • If 'SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_3.9p1' appears from in black DOS window then the Remote-Control should work.

  • If you receive a 'Connect Failed' (takes 2-4 seconds to appear) message the most probable cause is the PC's firewall is restricting outgoing connections.
Firewall Ports

No inward ports need opening on either client (Remote-Assist) or support (Remote-Control) firewalls.

Remote-Assist (Client PC) needs to be able to make outward connections on port 80 and 10000 plus the account number - e.g. if your account number is 5678 ports 80 and 15678 would need to be open for outward traffic.

Remote-Control (Support PC) needs to be able to make outward connections on port 443 and port 80.

Most small firewalls do not block outward traffic and the remote control process should work without problems.

If your PC uses personal firewall software you may be prompted to allow Remote-Assist or Remote-Control to make a connection. You must agree to this prompt or the remote control process will fail.

Encryption

Remote-Assist uses Microsoft Windows buit-in 128 bit encryption. Some older PC's (primarily Windows 98 and Windows 2000) may only have 56bit encryption installed and Remote-Assist will fail to connect.

Your can determine what encryption level a PC has by opening Internet Explorer and clicking 'Help' then 'About Internet Explorer'. Microsoft's update site has various packages avaliable to upgrade older PC's to 128 bit encryption.