port 137 - 139 blocked

[bilebalar]

hi,

i have a windows nt4 server behind a router which blocked port 137 - 139 recently. now we can create a pptp vpn connection but can't get to any resource on the network remotely. is there any to work around this? netbios over tcp/ip is disabled at the server and client. i tried mapping drive to the internal ip 192.x.x.x instead of the server's ip. but nothing works. any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

 

[ITdude]

What happened when you tried to map the drive? Can you ping it?

 

[bilebalar]

the error when i try to map drive is 'network path not found', i can ping its ip and the 192.x.x.x ip.

 

[ITdude]

M$ requires netbios to communicate among other M$ machies. Enable netbios over tcp/ip

 

[bilebalar]

netbios won't work if 137 - 139 are blocked, right?

 

[ITdude]

yes,
I believe the specific ports are 135 and 139. It could be also 137. Netbios communicates throught these ports.

 

[bilebalar]

so with 137 - 139 blocked. i can't use netbios over tcp/ip. what else can i do the get the ip resolved??? can i use a host file? or is there anyway to direct all incoming traffic to the server via port 1723 ONLY? can i do something on my router to forward all traffic to the server's port 1723?

thanks.

 

[CharlieU]

bilebalar,

Can you temporarily enable 137 and 139 to see if you still have the problem. Are the ports being blocked at the router or elsewhere? If you issue a 'netstat -na' in a command prompt do you see 137 or 139 listening?

v/r,

CharlieU

 

[bilebalar]

charlieu,

i have no control over unblocking 137-139. but i can tell you that our vpn works with 137-139 unblocked because the person who blocked these ports 'accidentally' unblocked them for a short while and my vpn got through...

 

[CharlieU]

I just reread the thread. Have you enabled netbios over tcp/ip? Since you have a VPN tunnel the ports will traverse through the tunnel. Here's some M$ stuff that may be helpful. Its old but still applicaable to your issue.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;170998

v/r,

CharlieU

 

[bilebalar]

yes, netbios over tcp/ip is enabled.