Last night there was a Technology Death Match between iChat Video and my Netopia DSL Modem. Fortunately iChat won in the end but it was a bloody battle.

Ever since I switched to BellSouth DSL, iChat video connections quit working. iChat would give an error message that the other person on the chat did not respond. After many hours of searching the net, reading, and experimentation I finally got it working. There must be a better way but this is the only one I have found. Disclaimer: This solution works with OS X 10.4 and above. You can really mess up your modem by changing its settings so if you brick it don’t call me. :)

1. Connect your modem directly to your mac with a network cable. This will allow you to modify your modem settings. If there is a router, wireless or otherwise, between your computer and the modem you won’t be able to modify the modem settings.
2. Open your web browser and go to http://192.168.1.254 to access the modem settings. If you are prompted to login the default username is admin and the password is 1234. If the username and password have been changed from the defaults you will have to use the new ones.
3. Select expert mode and say yes to the scary warning message.
4. Select configure and some additional options will appear.
5. Select the NAT option under configure.
6. Now the fun begins. The problem we are solving is that the modem is blocking some of the ports iChat needs. You are going to forward all the ports iChat needs to your computer so everything will work properly. Twelve different forwards need to be added.
   1. Select define custom service.
   2. Select Port Forwarding: Range of Ports.
   3. Select next.
   4. Enter “iChat 5190 TCP” as the Service Name.
   5. Enter 5190 into both Global Port Range boxes.
   6. Enter 5190 into the Base Host Port box.
   7. Select TCP.
   8. Select next.
   9. When the Set-up Complete message is displayed select done and you will go back to the NAT Configuration page.
7. Add four more forwards with ports 5220, 5222, 5223, and 5298. Select TCP on each of these.
8. Add six more forwards with ports 5060, 5190, 5297, 5298, 5353, and 5678. Select UDP on each of these.
9. Add one more forward with 16384 in the first Global Port Range box and 16403 in the second. Put 16384 in the Base Host Port box. Select UDP.
10. Now all the forwards you created should be listed at the bottom of the Service Name drop down list with an asterisk in front of the name. Each of these need to be enabled before they will do anything.
    1. Select a forward you created from the Service Name list.
    2. Select the enable button.
    3. Select your computer from the Select Host Device drop down list. (A limitation of this solution is that only one computer behind the modem will be able to use iChat Video)
    4. Select the enable button.
    5. You should return to the NAT Configuration page.
    6. Repeat for each forward you created.
11. You are done. Hopefully you can start video chatting with your friends now.