Interclient Communication on Access Point - Punching a hole

[plates]

Is it possible to punch a hole in the interclient comms blocking? Basically, we have two AP1220's attached to a switch which attaches to a border router, which performs the traffic shaping. Some clients however want to be able to play games with each other locally, and having the 'Block Interclient Communication' box ticked prevents this happening. Can I get around this, so they can see each other on their public IP's on the local AP on game ports 27500--->27900 and play games without having to disable the 'Block' feature?

[scottmac]

Well, first, "getting around" security features installed by your company is generally grounds for immediate dismissal.

Second, Access points operate as a hub: so much bandwidth divided by so many users; playing games through the access points will likely slow down or prevent legit users from their work (which is why they probably checked the box).

Finally, try ad-hoc mode. It's point-to-point and doesn't use the APs. You are probably still at-risk of losing your job if caught.

Good Luck

Scott

[plates]

Thanks for the response. Thing is, i maintain the access points. The feature blocks *all* interclient communication, which is great to prevent clients using the network as some sort of community copying facility (Windows File Sharing). However, I want to allow the clients to communicate locally on ports 27900-28000 - the ones used typically for games (Quake, Counterstrike et al). This is currently blocked by the "blocking interclient communication" feature on the AP. Hope this explains my problem more clearly.

Kind Regards

Colin Watson

[scottmac]

Well, since it is apparently an all-or-nothing deal, and assuming it is not configured per-VLAN, it would seem your only choice is to disable it, then "cripple" the other machines with Domain settings to keep them from copying files (and other undesirable activities).

I suppose you could set up another AP, different SSID, security such that the others can't associate with it, and use the profile manager to flip to the secondary system for "bandwidth trials".

Playing games at work still seem like a good way to lose your job. If you control the AP, whay not flip the client-to-client block off while playing?

Good Luck

Scott

[plates]

Ah right, that sounds interesting. I think I need to clarify my position, I own the AP's and the backlink to the net that feeds them (smale scale WISP project) - so the only one who's gonna sack me, is me - prolly for being lazy ;) basically 2 punters (on an AP that feeds 20 people) want to play on Quake 3 against each other locally. Remote IP's (such as those from other ISP'S) can connect to games they host, but they cannot connect to games that are locally hosted. We don't want to disable teh "interclient comms block" because it stops other punters from using the AP as some sort of communical facility - and because traffic shaping is performed on the border router - not the access point, clients would have access to the full 'air bandwidth' of the unit - thus causing other clients connections to be horribly slower. Hope this clears up the conundrum ;) - Thanks for the suggestions, if you have any others I'd be really intrested - I haven't yet really explored VLAN's, just used subnetting up to now to group.