If you're using IRC (with *whatever* client) from behind a router
using IP-NAT to connect you to the internet, you simply are NOT
going to be able to use DCC. Your IP packets have your
non-routable address on them (192.168.x.x) and so the person on
the receiving end can't "get back" to you.
Note that you'll also have trouble with direct FTP transfers for
a similar reason; you have to use the "passive" transfer mode of
most modern FTP clients to get a reliable connection.
[To explain a bit, certain IP address blocks were set aside for
"private" networks -- the 192.168.x.x block mentioned above being
one of them. These addresses don't work on the internet at large
*because* of that definition -- *anyone* can use those addresses
on their private network, so they don't work at all on the public
internet. This was done in part because the IP address space is
getting very crowded -- the growth of the internet has made IP
addresses a limited commodity, and using private networks
connected through an IP-NAT gateway router is one of the "tricks"
that has been devised to extend the usability of the existing
addresses.]
The only way around this while continuing to use IP-NAT (as far
as I know) is to set up a proxy server specifically to handle DCC
transfers (as well as whatever other kinds of services you might
want a proxy to handle). The other alternatives are to get a
"real" IP address, or to switch over to using SOCKS instead of
IP-NAT. The thing is, in most cases, SOCKS is a lot more trouble
to set up and maintain than IP-NAT, so it's not hard to see why
it's a preferred solution, considering that for *MOST* internet
services, it's quite transparent. And, with the possible
exception of FTP, most of the services it does NOT work for are
the kinds of thing that many businesses don't want their systems
used for in the first place.
How do I know all this? I'm the DP manager at a company where we
use a router with IP-NAT to connect to the internet, and I've had
to work through these issues myself. While I wasn't particularly
concerned about DCCs, the FTP issue was a *real* problem for us.
George
----
[> George Madison <*> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Just say NO to razors! <]
[> It's a BEAR thing -- you wouldn't understand <*> Copyright 1999 <]
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