Problem TFPing through Netgear WGR614 router

[MarshallAbrams]

I think this is a router problem, but hope that someone here has an idea how to work around. It may also be that I need more settings in CoreFTP.

The problem is after changing the router at home I can not get a directory listing using CoreFTP from work. But everything works when I FTP to other places or at home when I connect directly to the computer, bypassing the router.

I have upgraded my home router from a Netgear RP614 to a WGR614v6. FTP port forwarding is giving me a problem connecting to the FTP server on my home desktop computer. I compared the setting between the two routers and decided that I needed to set both the start port and end port to 21 because I am using PASV mode. The configuration utility would not let me change the starting port setting for FTP because it is a default service.

I call the help line and was told to delete the port forwarding for FTP and create a new port forwarding service with a new name; I chose PTF. I set the start and end ports to 21. Using a laptop, I connected to my employment host and opened an FTP session through the router. I use CoreFTP as my client and Typsoft FTP as my server. I was able to successfully connect, but the LIST command didn't display the directory content.

I tried the CoreFTP client on the laptop through my employment host with other servers where I use FTP and they all worked fine. I also tried using the built-in XP command line FTP to my home desktop through the router. I was able to get a directory list using the manual commands. I also disconnected from the employer host and used the CoreFTP client to connect directly to the desktop computer using its private LAN address (192.168.0.2), thus bypassing the router. That also worked perfectly.

I would love to have a suggestion.


Following is the log that I see on the CoreFTP client:

Welcome to Core FTP, release ver 1.3c, build 1447.6 (U) -- © 2003-2006
WinSock 2.0
Mem -- 1,047,496 KB, Virt -- 2,097,024 KB
Started on Monday January 29, 2007 at 16:18:PM
Connect socket #508 to w.x.y.z, port 21...
220 TYPSoft FTP Server 1.11 ready...
USER xxxxxx
331 Password required for fern-eve.
PASS **********


230 User xxxxxx logged in.
SYST
215 UNIX Type: L8
Keep alive off...
PWD
257 "/c:/" is current directory.
PASV
227 Entering Passive Mode (68,50,155,55,195,81)
LIST
Connect socket #456 to 68.50.155.55, port 50001...
226 Transfer complete.


I don't understand the numbers following the Entering passive mode. I also don't understand Connect socket #456 to 68.50.155.55, port 50001...
following the LIST command.

Are there additional settings I have to make somewhere?

[MarshallAbrams]

I turned PASV off by unchecking it on the connection screen. If there is another place, I couldn't find it. As the following shows, connecting to the home computer failed.

Welcome to Core FTP, release ver 1.3c, build 1447.6 (U) -- © 2003-2006
WinSock 2.0
Mem -- 1,047,496 KB, Virt -- 2,097,024 KB
Started on Wednesday January 31, 2007 at 17:34:PM
Connect socket #516 to w.x.y.z, port 21...
Can't establish connection --> w.x.y.z:21 @ Wed Jan 31 17:35:37 2007 (0-5)
Waiting 6 of 6 seconds for retry #1...
Retry #1, Connecting to w.x.y.z...
Connect socket #516 to w.x.y.z, port 21...
Can't establish connection --> w.x.y.z:21 @ Wed Jan 31 17:36:13 2007 (0-5)
Waiting 6 of 6 seconds for retry #2...
Retry #2, Connecting to w.x.y.z...
Connect socket #516 to w.x.y.z, port 21...
Can't establish connection --> w.x.y.z:21 @ Wed Jan 31 17:36:49 2007 (0-5)


I should mention that my employer has a firewall. The CoreFTP help file makes it clear that I need to use PASV mode:

PASV -- If you are behind a firewall, then you will most likely need to set this option. This causes the data channel (used for the file transfer) to initiate from you, the user. When PASV is turned off, the server will try to connect to your host (computer). If there is a firewall in the way and the server can't get through, the transfer will fail.

PASV worked before I changed the router.


I tried connecting to another account in PASV mode; it worked:

USER ABCD
331 Password required for abcd.
PASS **********
230 User abcd logged in.
SYST
215 UNIX Type: L8
Keep alive off...
PWD
257 "/" is current directory.
PASV
227 Entering Passive Mode (a,b,c,d,12,70).
LIST
Connect socket #612 to a,b,c,d, port 3142...
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list
226-Transfer complete.
226 Quotas on: using 13073472 of 26214400 bytes
Transferred 10,087 bytes in 0.380 seconds

[MarshallAbrams]

Perhaps I should try using a non-standard FTP port. It might even have the advantage of being more secure from net scanners.

I would appreciate an example of using non-standard FTP port(s). In particular, how do I set up the router? Am I forwarding one port or two?

[MarshallAbrams]

Not using PASV was indeed the solution. All the information the Netgear technician gave me was wrong. It took a while to sort out what worked and what didn't. Another part of the problem was that the router didn't always implement the settings I entered. I haden't noticed that at first.

Many thanks for all the help from this forum.