How do I configure my firewall to work with Hotspot?
Security software of any kind (antivirus, firewall, combination suites, VPNs, etc.) is specifically designed to disable all kinds of normal functions in Windows. Security software, once installed, is completely in charge of other programs.
White Lists
Included in every kind of security software is some kind of a “white list". The white list is a list of trusted programs or other resources. To get Connectify Hotspot and your security software to cooperate, you must get Connectify onto the security software’s white list. When you’re using Microsoft’s own Windows Firewall, Connectify Hotspot can usually configure the settings for this. This is because Windows already trusts Connectify Hotspot. For third-party security software, additional configuration may be required.
Connectify Hotspot Resources
The first thing is to add these programs to any anti-virus or firewall white list that you might have available. Check your security software’s configuration tools; many have “wizards” designed to guide the user through these setups. The programs are:
- C:\Program Files\Connectify\Connectify.exe
- C:\Program Files\Connectify\Connectifyd.exe
- C:\Program Files\Connectify\ConnectifyNetServices.exe
If you’re running 64-bit Windows, these are found here:
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Connectify\Connectify.exe
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Connectify\Connectifyd.exe
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Connectify\ConnectifyNetServices.exe
Next, you probably need to open ports in your firewall. A port is like a channel on the network, different applications use different specific channels. Connectify Hotspot uses two kinds of ports, UDP (User Datagram Protocol) and TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), both very common Internet low-level protocols. The ports are used for UPnP (Universal Plug and Play), DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and DNS (Domain Name System) services.
- Connectifyd.exe
- UPnP – 1900 (UDP), 2869 (TCP), 5000 (TCP)
- ConnectifyNetServices.exe
- DHCP – 67 (UDP), 68 (UDP)
- DNS – 53 (UDP)
In addition to the above-named ports, if your firewall software has any settings involving Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), please enable support for these.
If you unblock all of the above ports, Connectify Hotspot itself will be fine, but a firewall may still prevent Connectify Hotspot from routing traffic to and from the Internet. We recommend granting full Internet access, all ports, to Connectifyd.exe in order for Connectify Hotspot to function properly.
Network Filters
If opening the ports don’t work, check for security filters installed on your network adapters.
You can find this quickly via
- Connectify Hotspot’s menu > Tools > Network Connections.
- Right-click on your adapter’s device icon, open “Properties”
- Look at the items listed. You’ll see things like “Client for Microsoft Networks”, “Connectify LightWeight Filter”, etc. These are normal.
- Anything you see there from the security software company, particularly on your Wi-Fi device, may be interfering with Connectify Hotspot’s normal operation. Try unchecking that item and see if your problems continue or not.
VPNs
Connectify gets its IP address from the "Internet to Share" and then uses NAT to create private IP's for the client devices that it gives out using DHCP.
Your VPN can be a suspect as well. Does your VPN have an Internet Kill Switch? That's a feature that makes sure no packets can go out anywhere but over the VPN. I can certainly imagine that blocking us completely. If you disconnect from your VPN and make sure the internet works without it, can you set the real internet as "Internet to Share" and see if Connectify works then?