Disconnecting from Operator Console or dropped chats caused by firewall configuration

Activa Live Chat Support » Operator Console » Troubleshooting

Article ID: 34 | Last Modified: 06/04/2008

Related Article: "Disconnect problems troubleshooting checklist"

Certain network firewalls have been known to misidentify the traffic generated by Activa Live Chat as a malicious flood, and block access to the Operator Console and even the activalive.com domain entirely, especially in instances where multiple operators are connecting behind a single firewall.

This occurs most commonly in firewalls that make use of methods designed to prevent Denial of Service attacks, and may be identified as "Smart Packet Detection" or "Stateful Packet Inspection".

In order to use Activa Live Chat behind devices implementing these firewalls, you must "Whitelist" the Activa Live Chat servers (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED).

The IP addresses that would need to be added to your Whitelist are:

• 64.239.111.75 - 64.239.111.99
• 72.3.245.119
• 67.192.164.81
• 67.192.164.82
• 67.192.164.83
• 67.192.164.84

The firewall responsible for blocking your Activa Live Chat connections may be contained within a router or gateway device as well.

The Comcast Business Gateway has been known to block traffic when multiple operators make use of a single connection. Unfortunately, this device does not have the option to Whitelist IP addresses, but there is another option. You can disable the Denial of Service protection on this specific device by simply logging in to your gateway's Web interface and then navigate to "Feature Settings" and then "Firewall". There check "Disable Gateway Smart Packet Detection". This will solve the problems described in this article.

Please Note: If your are unable to use the recommended Whitelist option described in this article, there is another option where you can disable this specific portion of your firewall entirely. This option is not recommended as it could leave your network open to outside attacks. If this is your only option, we highly recommend that you invest in a more configurable firewall. If the firewall was integrated with a router or gateway device, standalone hardware firewalls are available.