Greetings,
Firstly, the ports you specified aren't correct -- 6901 *was* used for audio conversations
nearly 3 Messenger versions ago (hasn't since), and 2001-2120 is for the PC2Phone features
which don't require the ports to be opened at all.
Secondly, to use these features, your router needs to support Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)
which will automatically open and forward the necessary ports. Nearly all the popular
Linksys models do at this point, so you'll probably just need to install the latest firmware
release for it here:
http://www.linksys.com/download
After installing the latest firmware, go into the router configuration, go to the Password
tab and make sure UPnP is toggled to on (in some versions of the firmware, it's not in the
Password tab, so you may need to look around).
Thirdly, remove the ports you've already "opened", as this will interfere with the UPnP
support. Then, make sure you have an up-to-date version of Messenger. Although any version
from 4.x and above will support UPnP for voice/video conversations, UPnP file transfer
support is limited to MSN Messenger 5 (and above) and Windows Messenger 5.
You can find them here (You can use either client, but MSN Messenger will not upgrade your
current Windows Messenger like Windows Messenger 5 will):
Windows Messenger 5:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/messenger/download.asp
MSN Messenger:
http://messenger.msn.com/Download
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com