No, Shields-up still says ports are open although it seems crazy. I’ve got a global rule in Comodo blocking anything whaatsoever on port 23, I’ve closed all he telnet, ICMP TFPT etc stuff, apart from http on the LAN, and both ports still say open. :S
Thanks for your help Endymion.
Indeed it baffling as at least in case of port 23 the telnet service could have been completely terminated once it was disabled on both WAN and LAN.
The shieldsup Open response mean that the port is acttive and listen on incoming connections though the router might reject the communication attempt once they have been established (obviously it would have been preferable to reject the connection in earlier).
If your PC is the only one physically connected to the router there is no chance than another PC got a telnet and HTTP server running while the router is forwarding the connection to that PC.
Since you already checked netstat to verify if those ports were opened on your PC and also the router Virtual server settings (meant to forward the connection to the router to a PC in your LAN) there is not much else to check.
Just in case you could use UPNP Port Mapper check for uPNP port forwarding (Get all port mappings button).
Another thing left would be to check if the router firewall is enabled (available in TD-8840 but probably hidden among unrelated WAN settings which should not be altered ) and if there is an IP filtering section in Advanced Setup →Security →IP Filtering →Incoming (it loos like it is available at least in W8910G models)
[attachment deleted by admin]
I can’t find any reference to a firewall on any of the settings on my TD-8840 unfortunately.
I tried the UPnP Port Mapper but I’m not that sure about the results. It seems to me to only have ports mapped for Skype. Maybe you can tell me more…here’s the transcript…
Starting UPNP Device Search…
A Router Device Responded with UPNP URL…
http://192.168.1.1:5431/dyndev/uuid:0000e0a8-20a0-00e0-20a0-48d800f808e0
Requested Device Info (Waiting on Response)…
Device Model:
Requested All Port Mapping Entries (Waiting for Response)…
Device Response For Mapping At Index[0]…
Client IP: 192.168.1.2
Port: 3047
Protocol: UDP
Lease Duration: Forever
Description: Skype UDP at 192.168.1.2:3047 (986)
Enabled: 1
Sending Request for Next Port Map Entry…
Device Response For Mapping At Index[1]…
Client IP: 192.168.1.2
Port: 3047
Protocol: TCP
Lease Duration: Forever
Description: Skype TCP at 192.168.1.2:3047 (986)
Enabled: 1
Sending Request for Next Port Map Entry…
End of List
Thanks for your help and patience.
Hi, you’ll probably find the ‘firewall’ settings under Advanced Set-up/NAT. Check to make sure there’s not a Virtual Server running on port 23.
There are no Virtual Servers running at all (See attachment).
There is no mention of a firewall on any of the options anywhere on the router setup as far as I can see.
I just tested on PC Flank as well to see if it was just Shields-Up which found the ports open but it was even worse! It found those two ports open as well as finding several ports which are not open but are visible and vulnerable to trojans. It also told me my browser is insecure, even though it’s the latest version and Windows itself is also always kept up-to-date.
I do allow cookies, but not third-party ones and others only by prompt and I only allow them if it’s actually required for the site.
It just seems impossible to close or stealth those ports. Maybe I need a new, better router, eh?
[attachment deleted by admin]
This is really curious. If you run the Pc-flank tests directly, i.e. via a direct connection from your pc, bypassing the router, do they show the same results?
As far as the browser vulnerability is concerned, if I remember correctly, it’s actually testing to see what’s being sent in the referrer HTTP headers. This is not so much a security risk as a privacy issue. Depending on which browser you use, there are ways to control what’s sent. For example, if you use firefox you can install an add-on like RefControl
How do I bypass the router and establish a direct connection? I tried plugging the plug which goes from the phone line into the router directly into the same-sized socket on my laptop but there was no Internet access and it told me my Ethernet cable was unplugged.
I used to use Firefox but it started freezing/hanging randomly. I put up with it for months since i had all my shortcuts etc on it but I now use IE 8.0 since it works and, unfortunately, it now has all my shortcuts on it and there are a lot of them.
Is there a similar thing to RefControl for IE?
Thanks Quill.
I guess your DSL is via the telephone and not a direct Ethernet connection? If this is correct and your laptop has a connector for telephony, which from your description, sounds like it has, then you could create a dial-up connection. It won’t be terribly quick, but it servers for testing purposes.
Unfortunately, I haven’t used IE in a long time so I’m not current with the available add-ons that may be available. However, I’m sure someone here will know.
I don’t have a dial-up account and the trouble with the ones I just found on Google is that I live in Laos (SE Asia) and they won’t work from here. Is there a free dial-up service you know of that I could use internationally? Is there some sort of worldwide number for testing purposes? Probably not, but worth a try…
On a side topic, do you know of any way of exporting shortcuts from IE to Firefox? Anyone know if Firefox works OK with Windows 7 64?
Unfortunately, I don’t know of any free International dial-up services. Are you sure your ISP doesn’t have a facility for this. I noticed on the Lao Telecom site that they offer dial-up.
Failing that, I’m wondering if switching your router to bridged mode, for testing purposes only, might give us what we need. I need to think about that.
By short cuts, do you mean bookmarks/favourites? If so, the answer is yes, it’s possible. In firefox go to File/Import …
Firefoz works fine with Windows 7 x86 and x64 there’s even a 64 bit version available http://www.mozilla-x86-64.com/
Edit: I’m just wondering. If you haven’t done so already, I reset your router back to factory defaults. Use the reset button on the back and hold it in for at least 10 seconds. Then try testing again. I suspect your router is misbehaving, hence these strange open ports.
I think I could get dial-up but it seems a bit much to sign up to a dial-up service at $15 plus a month (yes, Internet is still stupidly expensive here) just to perform one test. If I can’t fix in the next couple of months i’ll try it back in the UK. Since this thread will presumably be long gone by then, what would be your advice if they are still open, are closed or are stealthed when I do connect directly?
It’s a push button which stays in when pressed and released once and then comes out when pressed and released again if you see what I mean. I’ve reset it by turning it off using that switch and leaving it for more than ten seconds, I’ve done it more times than I can remember over the last few days. Is that what you mean? I can’t find any other “Reset to Factory Settings” button anywhere in the router.
Is it possible it’s a simple hardware issue with the router itself? Or can it only be software/settings-related?
I’m working on the bridging part…
Thanks again.
I agree it’s silly to create an account for the purposes of one test. I’m also inclined to think it may be the router that’s at fault, as opposed to some software issue.
I’m not 100% sure about the bridge mode providing us with what we need, but it may be worth a try.
As for this thread, it’ll still be here when you get back, just use the advanced search with Telnet and your name.
If there was a firewall/IP filtering setting it would have been possible to manually set a router rule to block those ports.
Considering the manual didn’t mention virtualserver nor upnp either I hoped that such IP filtering section could have been available. :-\
Indeed there are only Skype rules. These upnp rules are equivalent to Virtual servers rules though some routers don’t list them in their web interface (eg in virtual server section).
Those rules are meant to have the router listen for incoming skype connections and send them to your PC’s Skype application.
Without them Skype will not work properly because these incoming connection would stop at your router. Outgoing Skype connection would work fine though.
hi buddy.
i am new here.
you wrote that you have blocked telnet on your router(port 23)
how…if you may…did you do that?
i cant accomplish that despite my best efforts.
*i have tp-link TD-W9970 modem-router
thank you.