Getting through a Firewall?

Okay, so you may call me a newbie or whatever but here's my problem:
i'm using a shared internet connection and i can't modify anything about its configuration and it has a firewall and apparently the only thing open is the port 80 (which is for the http thing from what i've heard)

So the big question is : is there any way to get second life working in that case ? cause i've tested another internet game (guildwars if anyone knows but this is another story) and it works just fine although i want to get in SL instead.

Anyway which ports should be opened exactly to let it works and what are my options ? (although i guess they might be 1 get an internet connection on my own or 2 don't play it but still i wanna hear it from fellow players)

Well if you are configuring your router, here is what SL knowledge base says,

"Hardware firewalls need to allow access on certain network ports. Second Life needs to connect to ports 443/TCP, 12035/UDP, 12036/UDP, 12043/TCP, and 13000-13050/UDP. You should configure your firewall to allow outbound traffic on those ports, and related inbound traffic. You'll need to consult your firewall's documentation, or the manufacturer's website, for instructions on how to make these changes to your firewall. As of Version 1.13.2, released Jan. 10th, 2007, you may need to enable UDP/TCP in order to access Second Life."

Yes well, as i said i can't do that so there's no hope for me to get in SL ? there's no way to bypass those things ?

Hi Eleanor, welcome to the forums and to SL (hopefully)! Regrettably, there is no easy way to access SL if you cannot change the firewall (for example, if you're at a university). You can ask whoever administers the firewall to change it for you, but SL takes a lot of bandwidth and they may not be eager to do so.

Nominally speaking, I suppose it would be POSSIBLE to set up an HTTP tunnel into a friend's network that DID allow SL, and then run it via some remote control tool like VNC. But that is not for the faint of heart, and performance would probably be wretched and unstable anyway.

Well although it's a shared connection, it's fast enough.
For the tunnel thing, it sure doesn't sounds easy but what should i do for that ?
Oh and just wondering but is there any version of SL using just the http port (nothing from UDP/TCP or whatever) ? And how can i check if those ports are closed too ?

Well has the name implies a tunnel requires two endpoints, so you need to install some software on your machine but you also need to install the software for the other end of the tunnel on some other machine.

That machine must:

a) be located on a network which can access the secondlife servers without a firewall getting in the way
b) have good network access - not only a fast download speed for getting stuff from SL but also a good upload speed for sending this over to you via the tunnel. Remember that most home broadband (e.g. ADSL) is assymetric so may have a good download rate but not a good upload rate
c) either be switched on all the time or at least be switched on whenever you want to logon to SL
d) ideally not be required to run SL itself (or any other software which uses the same ports as SL) whilst you are using SL - otherwise this makes setting the tunnel up even more complicated.

So first things first - do you have access to such a machine - or a friend with such a machine?

Matthew

The thing that strikes me a little odd about this thread is the fact that the OP obviously does not have administrative rights to make changes to the network. The reason could be almost anything............the owner may have an intense dislike of internet games, is selfish, or maybe the OP has abused the network in the past. I'm not saying any of these reasons are, in fact, the reason. The the owner has the say so (not the guests using the network). Why not ask the administrator (or person who owns the network) to open the required ports? If that person allows it, great.........if not then the choices are: You are out of luck. Or you can disconnect your computer from that network and set up one you do have administrative rights to.

All these suggestions about work arounds or hacks to by pass the rules set up by the owner of something that is not yours remind me of telling someone how to sneak into a neighbors house to raid the refridgerator. Asking before you open the back door to the kitchen might be the best way.

My two cents.............or lindens.

Well, i guess i'll just ask the admin but well, i don't know about it.
And let's forget the tunnel thing, don't have another "endpoint" to set it to.

Thanks for the answers, just hope i'll be able to convince the admin if that's my only solution.