RE: Netserver problem

At 08:36 PM 4/20/02 -0700, you wrote:
>I don't think ATT is the issue.  What I meant by tunneling of NetBios,
>is that it uses pure TCP/IP to encapsulate the NetBios protocol.  Now,
>you may not see the servers because the NetBios broadcast won't go
>across the WAN (or Internet in this case).  The broadcast is what
>announces the available shares on all NetBios servers.

As I understand it, the LMHOSTS table should open this up. The broadcasts
don't go outside a subnet, from what I've read in the 400 NetServer manual.

Others CAN get to the 400 with Windows Networking over the Internet. But
they have a different ISP.

Right now, when I use the NBTSTAT command (in Windows), which is supposed
to tell me things about NETBIOS, one option (-r) lets me see what are the
remote hosts my machine knows about. MAGIC is in there 3 (!) times. But if
I use the option -a to see the remote host status, I get host not found,
even if I use the -A option with the IP address.

 From ATT's help site:

NetBIOS Filtering

There is a certain amount of risk involved in using an "always on"
connection and File & Printer Sharing (also known as NetBIOS). However, our
cable modems automatically filter the 3 ports (137, 138 and 139) that are
used for this. Computers on the Internet side of the modem cannot access
shared files or printers on your system, so the risk is minimized. For even
more protection, we recommend that customers disable file sharing on their
systems.

Now this seems to be referring to incoming traffic at home. But other
statements on the ATT site suggest it's more general than this.

but consider:

AT&T Broadband does filter the netbios ports 137, 138 and 139 as well as
DHCP traffic on ports 67 and 68

>So try this, do a Map Network Drive and type in your server and the
>share.  Something like \\MAGIC\FILES  or if the name thing isn't
>working, use the IP address:  \\192.168.1.16\FILES.

This did not work. Taking Start->Run... and typing \\magic gets a computer
not found message.

>A real concern is that if this works and you are not connected via VPN,
>than anyone can access your office network.  VPN is the safe way to
>provide remote access to the network and, as a direct benefit, access to
>you key servers.  The client is dependant on your firewall or VPN
>server.

Clearly we are at risk right now. This 400 is right out there, naked to the
world. We are looking at VPN ASAP.

I wonder if I can disable that filtering at the cable modem. Or make my
Win98 use different ports for NETBIOS. Or just wait.  :-(

Thanks