FTP & Router Problems. Any Network Administrators?

[larryxtreme]

I run an FTP server, and I've been trying to get my brother to connect to it. No matter how we try, we cannot get it to work. It looks like it is going to connect. It asks for login and password, and everything looks okay. But in the FINAL step, it just stalls and says connection failed (we tried FlashFXP and Internet Explorer).

We both have an SMC Barricade 4-Port Router. They have built in firewalls. That might be a problem, although I don't know why. Other people can connect to my server. I can connect to other people's servers as well. That leads me to believe that there is some kind of conflict between my router and his router? I know nothing about networks, so any help is greatly appreciated.

We tried setting FlashFXP to passive mode, but still didn't work. I tried fiddling with Serv-U/FlashFXP options, but still didn't work. Does it have anything to do with Proxy servers? Please let me know if more information is needed.

Once again, I appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.

[Hiro]

im not great with networks...im still working on my certifications, but you may have to open up one of the router ports on your brothers router.

[hapoo]

hmm... icq has similar problems with file transfers when there are 2 firewalls. They have a way around it though... not sure about ftp's, i've never had that problem.

[larryxtreme]

Thanks, Chosenfool. I did get my brother connected to my computer, but I had to enter my computer as a DMZ host, which means that I demilitarize my computer and make it susceptible to hackers.

Does anyone know how I can allow my brother to connect without demilitarizing my computer?

[topane]

I'm not familiar with the SMC product, but is there a way to map a protocol to an IP address on the inside network; ex: map FTP to internal PC 192.168.1.15? That way FTP traffic will bounce to that address.

[Eric_B]

I have the SMC Router you are talking about. I encountered a similar problem connecting to a friends ftp site. He entered my IP in his router (as the router by default blocks all incoming IP's) and presto...I could get in to his FTP. Hope this helps