NetMeeting - "The other party did not accept your call"

[Ian Wilson]

Wow, this newsgroup is really active... hopefully you
guys can help me out.

I'm trying to use NetMeeting with a couple fellow
students so we can work on our project remotely. We all
have WinXP and have "enabled/installed" NetMeeting.

I am planning on being the host for the conference, but
having problems getting the connection to work via
Internet.

I have two computers at my house that I've gotten them
connected with NetMeeting easily. They have no problems
connecting. I can have either PC be the host and it
works just fine... this is using the local IPs assigned
by my router. Now when I try to connect to the other PC
via the Internet IP it doesn't work. I've opened all
ports that the Knowledge Base said were required, but it
won't go through. I'm getting "The other party did not
accept your call"... but it never tries to let me accept.

Any ideas?

THANKS!

[Brian Sullivan MVP]

Post by Ian Wilson
Wow, this newsgroup is really active... hopefully you
guys can help me out.
I'm trying to use NetMeeting with a couple fellow
students so we can work on our project remotely. We all
have WinXP and have "enabled/installed" NetMeeting.
I am planning on being the host for the conference, but
having problems getting the connection to work via
Internet.
I have two computers at my house that I've gotten them
connected with NetMeeting easily. They have no problems
connecting. I can have either PC be the host and it
works just fine... this is using the local IPs assigned
by my router. Now when I try to connect to the other PC
via the Internet IP it doesn't work. I've opened all
ports that the Knowledge Base said were required, but it
won't go through. I'm getting "The other party did not
accept your call"... but it never tries to let me accept.

How are you trying to make this call? Calling to a station behind a NAT
router will generally be possible. Is the other end (the called end) also
behind a router? Is the other end running a firewall of some kind?

[Ian Wilson]

-----Original Message-----

Post by Ian Wilson
Wow, this newsgroup is really active... hopefully you
guys can help me out.
I'm trying to use NetMeeting with a couple fellow
students so we can work on our project remotely. We

all

Post by Ian Wilson
have WinXP and have "enabled/installed" NetMeeting.
I am planning on being the host for the conference, but
having problems getting the connection to work via
Internet.
I have two computers at my house that I've gotten them
connected with NetMeeting easily. They have no

problems

Post by Ian Wilson
connecting. I can have either PC be the host and it
works just fine... this is using the local IPs assigned
by my router. Now when I try to connect to the other

PC

Post by Ian Wilson
via the Internet IP it doesn't work. I've opened all
ports that the Knowledge Base said were required, but

it

Post by Ian Wilson
won't go through. I'm getting "The other party did not
accept your call"... but it never tries to let me

accept.

How are you trying to make this call? Calling to a

station behind a NAT

router will generally be possible. Is the other end (the

called end) also

behind a router? Is the other end running a firewall of

some kind?

--
Brian Sullivan
Meeting by Wire ( http://www.meetingbywire.com)
------------
Is your PC protected? --
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/default.asp
.

Yes, the joining PC and hosting PC are both behind
Linksys routers. It works just fine inside my network,
but if someone tries to connect from outside the network
it doesn't. Aside from the routers there are no
firewalls set up. I've verified that the WindowsXP
firewall is disabled on both PCs.

Thanks,
Ian

[Brian Sullivan MVP]

Post by Ian Wilson
Yes, the joining PC and hosting PC are both behind
Linksys routers. It works just fine inside my network,
but if someone tries to connect from outside the network
it doesn't. Aside from the routers there are no
firewalls set up. I've verified that the WindowsXP
firewall is disabled on both PCs.

Generally it is not possible to call a station behind a NAT router ( and
calling from behind a router often has issues as well).

To call a station behind a router you have some options:
1) If you just want to have a data only call the receiving end will have to
forward tcp 1503 to the target computer and the calling end would call the
wan IP address of the router. The calling end need no special configuration.
2) If you want an audio/video call the receiving end will have be the dmz
machine ( running an appropriately configured software firewall) and the
calling end would call the wan IP address of the router. Most likely the
calling end will also have to be the dmz machine at the calling end as well
(again with a software firewall).

A few older Linksys routers have built in H.323 gateways so that the called
end need only forward tcp 1503 and 1720 and the calling end needs no special
configuration but I don't think any current models have this feature. You
could try this first to see if it works as it would be more secure than
using the dmz at either end.

[Heli2Reg]

Post by Ian Wilson
Wow, this newsgroup is really active... hopefully you
guys can help me out.
I'm trying to use NetMeeting with a couple fellow
students so we can work on our project remotely. We all
have WinXP and have "enabled/installed" NetMeeting.
I am planning on being the host for the conference, but
having problems getting the connection to work via
Internet.
I have two computers at my house that I've gotten them
connected with NetMeeting easily. They have no problems
connecting. I can have either PC be the host and it
works just fine... this is using the local IPs assigned
by my router. Now when I try to connect to the other PC
via the Internet IP it doesn't work. I've opened all
ports that the Knowledge Base said were required, but it
won't go through. I'm getting "The other party did not
accept your call"... but it never tries to let me accept.
Any ideas?
THANKS!

Ian,

Can you please tell me the firmware of your router?
So much upfront: Sadly enough, I just experienced the same problem and
confirmed that Linksys's latest firmware "1.46.02, Aug 03 2004" for
the BEFSR11 or BEFSR41 is incompatible with Netmeeting. That means, if
you got a router with that latest firmware, Netmeeting will not work.
That is a definitive BUG with Linksys routers and I am not sure if
they are even yet aware of that huge problem.

I reverted back to firmware "1.42.7, Apr 02 2002" and Netmeeting will
work just fine befine a BEFSR11. Actually, what I have is a BEFSR11
connected to a DSL Modem in California, U.S., and another BEFSR41
connected to a DSL modem as well in Austria/Europe. Netmeeting works
if you setup the port forwarding correctly.
The biggest issue is, however, that the latest firmware has a BUG with
Netmeeting and Linksys will have to take care of that ASAP. As soon as
I updated my Linksys BEFSR11 with the latest firmware and setup the
exact same settings, Netmeeting won't work anymore. I get the exact
same message from Netmeeting that you got. Analyzing the ports
revealed that some communication happens on ports 1503 and 1720, but
somehow Netmeeting then gets some bogus package that causes the "The
other party did not accept your call" message, which in fact is not
true.
It's a LINKSYS problem with the latest firmware.

If you need any help on port forwarding setup, please respond. I don't
think so, though, since you apparently did not get "The person you
called is not able to accept Netmeeting calls" error message, which
would indicate, that you did not reach the other party. Most likely,
you talked to the other machine already, but it was a Firmware issue.

Good luck,
Wolfgang

[a***@discussions.microsoft.com]

I have a BEFW11S4 running firmware version "1.45.3, Jul 1
2003".

I'd send you a screeny of my forwarded ports, but I dont'
see anyway to make an attachment here... I'm sure I set
them up, and I used all the ports that the MS Knowledge
Base said NetMeeting uses.

Is this firmware bad?

Thanks,
Ian

-----Original Message-----

Post by Ian Wilson
Wow, this newsgroup is really active... hopefully you
guys can help me out.
I'm trying to use NetMeeting with a couple fellow
students so we can work on our project remotely. We

all

Post by Ian Wilson
have WinXP and have "enabled/installed" NetMeeting.
I am planning on being the host for the conference,

but

Post by Ian Wilson
having problems getting the connection to work via
Internet.
I have two computers at my house that I've gotten them
connected with NetMeeting easily. They have no

problems

Post by Ian Wilson
connecting. I can have either PC be the host and it
works just fine... this is using the local IPs

assigned

Post by Ian Wilson
by my router. Now when I try to connect to the other

PC

Post by Ian Wilson
via the Internet IP it doesn't work. I've opened all
ports that the Knowledge Base said were required, but

it

Post by Ian Wilson
won't go through. I'm getting "The other party did

not

Post by Ian Wilson
accept your call"... but it never tries to let me

accept.

Post by Ian Wilson
Any ideas?
THANKS!

Ian,
Can you please tell me the firmware of your router?
So much upfront: Sadly enough, I just experienced the

same problem and

confirmed that Linksys's latest firmware "1.46.02, Aug

03 2004" for

the BEFSR11 or BEFSR41 is incompatible with Netmeeting.

That means, if

you got a router with that latest firmware, Netmeeting

will not work.

That is a definitive BUG with Linksys routers and I am

not sure if

they are even yet aware of that huge problem.
I reverted back to firmware "1.42.7, Apr 02 2002" and

Netmeeting will

work just fine befine a BEFSR11. Actually, what I have

is a BEFSR11

connected to a DSL Modem in California, U.S., and

another BEFSR41

connected to a DSL modem as well in Austria/Europe.

Netmeeting works

if you setup the port forwarding correctly.
The biggest issue is, however, that the latest firmware

has a BUG with

Netmeeting and Linksys will have to take care of that

ASAP. As soon as

I updated my Linksys BEFSR11 with the latest firmware

and setup the

exact same settings, Netmeeting won't work anymore. I

get the exact

same message from Netmeeting that you got. Analyzing the

ports

revealed that some communication happens on ports 1503

and 1720, but

somehow Netmeeting then gets some bogus package that

causes the "The

other party did not accept your call" message, which in

fact is not

true.
It's a LINKSYS problem with the latest firmware.
If you need any help on port forwarding setup, please

respond. I don't

think so, though, since you apparently did not get "The

person you

called is not able to accept Netmeeting calls" error

message, which

would indicate, that you did not reach the other party.

Most likely,

you talked to the other machine already, but it was a

Firmware issue.

Good luck,
Wolfgang
.