What about NAT/Firewall problems ?

[Psionic 0]

If you want to build really useful software that is usable in harsh ( office/university ) envoirment, you need to build in NAT traversal. Something that will enable users behind routers which can only use http for internet connection. They have disabled TCP ports, and similar stuff. This is a week spot in every P2P application, and I think that there is a lot of people with this problem. There are plenty of university networks, all firewalled/disabled for everything but HTTP. So... I think it is a good idea. :D

[Zlobomir 3]

Hmm, what if you just run the client on port 80 or 8080? Of course, if you start your browser in the same time, it will be quite unhappy.

[Brett 0]

I don't know if universities disable every port except HTTP. They can't. Then they wouldn't be able to FTP to their sites, and all the bandwidth would go through 1 port, rather than dispersing the load over multiple ports....

Plus, plenty of us use AIM (port 5190) and other programs and email (110, 465, 993) off-campus. So really, many campuses lock-down the most exploited ports.

That being said, many universities now use an intranet system that sits secluded behind the main Firewall to the internet. Everyone can communicate at 100 Mb/s (or about that) and nothing goes through the external firewall. Most DC++ hubs on campuses (that I've seen) are campus wide, and disallow outside users. So really, using port 80 wouldn't matter in that case.

And if you took the time to think about your suggestion (using straight port 80 for everything), the network would be so slow, downloading would be useless, and thus the app itself would be useless. And even checking your mail/browsing the web would become laggy. So Universities just can't afford to close all ports. It'd break the firewall (happened at my school last year) if someone (or loads of people) kept trying to FTP all the time. Utilizing the main HTTP port is not a real answer. If anything, it would decrease the file-sharing community.

A better answer would be to do the NAT traversal, only when necessary. Or, just educate people on how to forward certain ports. I use Azureus on my computer, behind my own a/b/g router, and forward the Azureus ports to my computer. Never had a problem downloading. Yes, the NAT is an issue, but I still get speeds of 800 Kb/s.... and I'm one of 7,000 students on campus using Azureus or any other internet app that utilizes bandwidth.

[Zlobomir 3]

I agree completely, that was just an advice for now, while the NAT is worked out.

If the router is your own, why you mention the port forwarding? Any of the other 6999 students could use Azureus without router and forwarding... Or I have misunderstood you?