I recently found out that my ISP disables port 135. I have a server and personal computer behind my router. A friend and I are working on a programming project and are running into some sql issues because of this blocked port. For him to be able to access everything, I have dynadns configured

Personal Computer: 192.168.1.100 Server Computer: 192.168.1.110

Is there a way for me to forward localhost traffice from port 135 to say port 8081 and then have my server take incoming requests from port 8081 to 135? I have heard a little bit about ssh tunneling but it seems odd to be using Putty to login to my local machine where the ssh server is running to forward ports.

Any advice would be very helpful.

Thanks

EDIT: I am using a router with dd-wrt installed and have installed the vpn addon. I was trying to get VPN working on my windows 2003 computer but was having problems with the GRE protocol not being configured. I will attempt the vpn option with my router and post my results later today.


You want to set up a VPN on one of your computers, and have the other one log into that one. That way they will appear to be on the same subnet, and have full access to each other without exposing vulnerable ports to the world.

A really good Open Source VPN is OpenVPN. I've only used the server under linux though, so I can't comment on how easy it is to set up on windows.

Another option is to flash your router with dd-wrt firmware. There is a version that includes an OpenVPN server, and would connect your entire network to his.


I've used PortMapper by AnalogX to do this exact thing. It is very easy to setup and run.


Port 135 is used by active directory and other Microsoft services. It is unlikely you'll find a good method for redirecting that port either on the client or the server. You would be better off giving your friend remote access to a virtual PC on your network, using some kind of VPN, or otherwise getting him onto your network where these port assignments do not need to be changed.


Your ISP blocking 135 for good reason. That port, and port 445, are two of the major vectors for the continued attacks by malware and worms against Windows machines.

If you need access to those ports, can I suggest ssh forwarding, or using a VPN?