Listening on wrong interface

Can't select the i.p. / interface to listen on, and the program isn't route friendly = problem

Howdy!

A friend got me to look at this app, pretty cool for a lightweight program, well done.

I have two problem though; Each of my machines has two i.p. addresses - A private 10.x.x.x address in the same subnet, and a public 202.x.x.x in the same subnet. Locally, they talk to each other over the switch. The Primary machine is also occasionally on VPN, which gives that machine a third i.p. address.

Problem 1:
Multiplicity binds to 'an' i.p. address on startup. However, I can't select the i.p. it chooses. Ideally I would put it on the private ones, as they never change.

It chooses the public ones, but that's not a problem as I have a good firewall. However, if the VPN is up when it starts, it chooses my VPN i.p. as source. My secondary doesn't have a route back to this i.p. address as it's not on the VPN.

Problem 2 is that the Secondary machine doesn't like allowing connections on a public i.p. address, even when it's from the same subnet, and the 'allow same subnet is turned on'. The second option 'allow connections from private i.p. addresses would also stop this, but is turned off. When troubleshooting, the error is that the secondary machine needs "allow from same subnet" turned off.

I imagine it's not something that's tested often, so I figure it's a bug. Technically, the machines are talking to each other from the same subnet, but not from private i.p. addresses:
Example addresses:

202.1.2.1 / 255.255.255.248 - Primary
202.1.2.2 / 255.255.255.248 - Secondary

This is treated as a connected route, and the other machine is in the same subnet as the secondary. But in order to allow connections, I must untick "only allow connections from the same subnet". Testing this is easy; you can set up a LAN on any address you like as long as it's outside private ranges to replicate the problem. Forum admins are welcome to Email me if you have questions.

So, if you want suggestions, here's what you do:
One option: Accept connections on
3,513 views 9 replies
Reply #1 Top

You're correct that you have a pretty unique setup and therefore your issue with connections on your public ip addresses could possibly be a bug.

I've forwarded your issues to the development team.

-Mike
[Stardock Support]

Reply #2 Top
MP should bind to ALL active adapters (and thus IPs)
Reply #3 Top

I've created a support ticket for your problem. You will receive an email containing the relavent information.

-Mike
[Stardock Support]

Reply #4 Top
Hi Neil

I was able to get the program working by setting the option option to restrict connections to the same subnet to disabled. In a private i.p. environment, this would probably work ok, as you'd be using the application just between two pc's on the same subnet. However, introduce a dialup connection on one, and you would have difficulties in having the program determine exactly which subnet to listen on (a dialup adapter is also a network interface, but it's subnet mask is 255.255.255.255. VPN would also present problems with interface selection, and using the 'allow connections only from this subnet' if you were unable to select precisely which subnet to accept from

The public i.p. issue becomes a problem when; if you must accept connections from all i.p. addresses in order to use in a LAN environment BUT you are directly reachable from the Internet, you are then at the mercy of your firewall to stop people connecting to your Multiplicity service (which may be passworded, but still is bad practice)

The version I was using was the latest version on the site at the time. My trial has run out, but the exe version is 1.0.0.1
Reply #5 Top

I've hit the same problem and with a much more common setup.  I have a laptop that has both wireless (different subnet) and a wired (same subnet) interfaces.  I want to connect from my desktop machine (primary) to my laptop (secondary) when sitting at my desk.  Multiplicity, using the infallible logic of most software bugs, always chooses the wrong interface.


I agree with previous commenters -- I write networking apps for a living and listening on all interfaces is a 'standard practice' and easily done in Winsock.

Reply #6 Top

The problem isn't MP listening on the wrong interface, its the option to restrict incoming connections to your own subnet which picks the subnet from the first network interface it sees.

MP listens on all network interfaces and always has done.  If you have two ways to get between the 2 pcs then the decision on which to use is made by the OS.  We may look into providing you with greater control over this.

Reply #7 Top

I specifically turned off "restrict incoming connections" and still had the problem.  If I manually disable the wireless network interface leaving only the wired NIC, it works as expected.


Certainly sounds like a "not listening on all interfaces or all IP addrs" issue to me

Reply #8 Top

Easy way to find out, try a telnet to the specific ip address of each interface on port 30564 and see if you get any response.

Reply #9 Top
I tried your trick Neil, and sure enough Multiplicity is listening on my 100BaseT interface but it is not listening on my 802.11g interface.