We are having a problem with firewalls. We can't pinpoint the exact
problem but the working theory at this point is the request from the
client software is reaching the server through port 80. The response
from the server is not making it back because the return port back to
the client software being blocked by the firewall. This seems to be an
intermittent problem because some of the ports are open through the
firewall and some are not. Outbound from the client to the server
(port 80) is obviously not blocked. The firewall and the settings are
at the client site and out of our control. First question: Is this a
good theory? 2nd: What is a good , general strategy for dealing with
these issues? 3rd: Can we control the inbound port - one that is not
blocked? 4th: Can we use a persistent connection so the inbound port
will not change? Would the inbound port change anyway even of we had a
persistent connection?
Thanks. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.