Can ANYONE with 10.4.8 do video chats?

Question

Hi all..
I've been having all kinds of problems doing iChat audio and video chats--various combinations of me not hearing and/or seeing them, or vice versa; plus plenty of "not responding" errors (error -8). Occasionally it will work, but the next time we try, it usually doesn't. I've been working with a few people having OS's ranging from 10.3.9 to 10.4.8, and Macs ranging from Powerbook G4s, Powermac Dual G5s, Intel MacMini, MacBook, and MacBook Pro. Following advice I've seen on the Web, I've tried port-forwarding ports 5060, 5190, 5220, 5222, 5297, 5298, 5353, 16384-16403 in my router or the other persons', or not forwarding them, opening those same ports in the Mac OSX firewalls, or not, turning the firewalls off in one or both Macs, turning them both on, same for the routers and modems, quitting and restarting iChat, rebooting both machines, etc.
The common denominator in all these experiments I've conducted is this: if both the Macs are behind routers (different routers) and one or both are running 10.4.8, iChat cannot be consistently used to do video chats. (It can work occasionally, but definitely not every time.) If neither Mac is running 10.4.8, it works, even with the firewalls up.
So, my question is: is there anyone out there running 10.4.8 that can do video chats consistently? If so, what's your secret? Thanks!
--AVAvatar
Powerbook G4 1.25 GHz   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

Answer 1

I have no problems with 10.4.8 and video chat.
I do NOT have any of the cited ports open on my computer or port forwarded on my DSL modem/router (an ActionTec GT701-WG running an ISP-specific firmware load for Qwest Communications, my ISP). I am NAT'ed here at home, using static IP addrress assignment on the home LAN. One of my sons who lives here in Colorado, too, has a G5 iMac on Comcast Cable, and, like me, has no iChat-related ports open on his computer or port forwarded on his cable modem/router. He is also NAT'ed and is running 10.4.8 with latest security update. He's not static IP on the home LAN -- his modem is dishing out "192.168.1.x" DHCP addresses. Similarly, my other son, who lives in Florida, has an iMac G5, I'm 85% sure that he is on a cable connection, too. He is NAT'ed and is running 10.4.8 with latest security update and has no iChat-related ports open on his computer or port forwarded on his cable modem/router. He is DHCP, too, on the home LAN. We can all talk to one another. Unfortunately, my Quicksilver computer is too slow to do multi-user conference, but I have ichat AV'ed with each of them individually and they tell me they iChatAV with one another.
My work-provided Powerbook G4, running 10.4.8 with latest security update, also works between most hotels' networks and home, from as close as Cheyenne WY to as far away as Sydney Australia. I have no iChat-related ports open on my Powerbook. On my most recent business travel trip to Phoenix AZ, in addition to touching bases with the spouse at home, I multi-conferenced with both sons on it. That was cool. I had never multi-user conferenced before.
I am unable to iChat AV with anyone from my work computer (or my work-owned laptop affiliated to their LAN), though. Apparently, once the connection tries to migrate from oscar.aol.com to handoff traffic for establishing P2P SIP, snatmap, A/V, etc., connections, my work's firewall blocks all that stuff because, I am presuming, it doesn't look like traffic on those ports (5060, 5678, etc.) is "established" but rather appears as uninvited inbound traffic, so it gets blocked and the call crashes, regardless of who calls whom. Our IT guy won't open destination ports 5060, 5678, 16384-16403 from any IP to my IP, so, no iChatAV capability from work. It's too bad there wasn't a way to port-forward the P2P traffic over a ssh tunnel.
While on the road (i.e., business travel), I confess that I have had a few problems with audio/video distortion, dropped calls, or unable to connect reliably, but not many instances of that -- not very many at all. I suspect that these occurrences have had more to do with choked bandwidth or lots of fading or interference on the wireless channel on the hotel connection more than anything else.
When I have read these threads in this forum, they seem to indicate, to me, anyways, that perhaps the routers/hubs installed between the computer and the DSL/cable modem are the likely culprits for crappy or no iChatAV sessions. You might want to focus your attention on these devices, until a more robust iChatAV comes out, if ever.