Thread: bridging sockets between NAT gateways

  1. 02-18-2011 #1
    Elkvis
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    bridging sockets between NAT gateways

    I have a new task which could easily be accomplished if I can find a way to do the following:

    two computers are connected to the internet through NAT gateways. because of the NAT gateways, they cannot connect directly to each other without manual configuration of the gateways, which I'm hoping to avoid. can the two computers connect to an intermediate server, which somehow enables the two computers to connect directly to each other, similar to forwarding a telephone call? bridging the two sockets internally in the server is a trivial task, but if I could find a way to drop the server out of the picture altogether, once the connection is made, it would improve my state of affairs greatly.
    Last edited by Elkvis; 02-18-2011 at 02:29 PM.
  2. 02-22-2011 #2
    Clairvoyant1332
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    It depends on how restrictive the NATs are. Some NATs will allow any host/port to send data back to the same source port on the NAT of a previously sent packet, some only allow the destination host but any port, some only allow the destination host and port. If either NAT allows option 1, you could pull it off, but if not you're SOL. This asumes UDP. For TCP, not sure, but probably won't work.
  3. 02-22-2011 #3
    brewbuck
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    Hole punching - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Code:
    //try
//{
	if (a) do { f( b); } while(1);
	else   do { f(!b); } while(1);
//}
  4. 02-22-2011 #4
    Elkvis
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    after I posted the question, I did a LOT more research and found out about hole punching. I'm half way to a solution now, and hopefully it will work when I finish it
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