Port Issues on Ichat

Question

I have had problems several times I have had to log on to ichat but it displays the message "the connection could not be completed because it has timed out.try again? Now, I have tried to switch the port from 5190 to 443 but which lets me log in to my screenname but when i try to video chat with my friend or receive pictures it does not allow it.
Is there anything I can do? And I am not in with the computer lingo so in a way I can understand?
Please help!

Answer 1

Hi,
Welcome to the    Discussions
(no computer Lingo so far )
Ok so you have grasped that iChat can login on port 5190 and that this can be changed (normally to port 443)
These ports are effectively what your internet Connection is made up of. There are 65535 is all (think of them like TV Channels)
The fact that Port 443 works for Text Chatting and the A?V chats don't work suggests the issue is with your routing device.
Routers come "out-of-the-box" with the ports up to port 1024 open already (So dropping to port 443 drops below this threshold)
iChat uses other Ports for the A/V chat that cannot be changed.
You have to open these ports in the router.
The Easiest way to open ports in a router is to find the UPnP (Universal Plug And Play) setting and Enable it.
Also in the Mac Firewall (System Preferences > Security > Firewall do NOT have Stealth Enabled in the Advanced Button).
8:23 PM Friday; November 19, 2010
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