When using Dialectic, there are many times when you may need to allow the application to make an external connection to an Internet resource. This will happen if you are using a Dial Method that accesses a remote device or service (such as a VoIP service or an URL). If your network requires the use of a proxy server to make an Internet connection, you can tell Dialectic to use this server (and your credentials for using this server) in the miscellaneous section of the Dialectic preferences. The password you enter here is not saved in the preferences but in your Keychain. For more information about this, please consult your network administrator or ISP.
If you have enabled the Mac OS X firewall, you may have to modify your settings to allow Dialectic to function properly. The instructions differ depending if you are using Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or a newer version of Mac OS X:
- Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). To enable Dialectic to accept incoming traffic through the Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.6 firewall, open System Preferences and select the Security preference pane. When this pane opens, select the “Firewall” tab and set the mode (from the three radio buttons at the top of the pane) to the third option labeled “Set access for specific services and applications”. You can then close the System Preferences. Restart Dialectic and, if prompted, allow Dialectic to accept incoming network connections.
- Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). You will only need to modify your firewall settings on Mac OS X 10.4 if you have enabled the firewall and enabled the Dialectic Remote, Dialectic Remote HTTP Server, and/or broadcasting features. If the firewall is on and you want to use these features, you will need to use static port numbers for the services (by default, Dialectic will dynamically choose the network ports for these services except the Dialectic Remote HTTP Server which always requires a fixed port). If the services are enabled with dynamic ports, you must first disable the services before you will be able to enter the static port numbers. Dialectic offers suggestions for the static numbers but you can use any number from 1000 to 65535.
Next, open System Preferences and select the Sharing preference pane. When this pane opens, select the “Firewall” tab and click the “New” button to add ports for the Dialectic services you have enabled (you will do this for each of the services you have enabled: Dialectic Remote, Dialectic Remote HTTP Server, Incoming Call Broadcast, Outgoing Call Broadcast). In the resulting dialog, choose “Other” for the port name, enter the TCP port number as specified in the Dialectic preferences and description for the specific service (e.g., “Dialectic Remote”). You can leave the UDP field blank.
After repeating this for the services you have enabled, your computer will allow Dialectic to accept incoming network traffic through these ports on your firewall.
If you are using your computer with a router and want to allow other computers on your WAN connect to Dialectic for these services, you will need to use static ports and you may need to configure your router to allow traffic to get through the network. See your router documentation or contact your network administrator for more information.
Also, to ensure that Dialectic is able to make any necessary connection, make sure that software such as Little Snitch is configured to allow Dialectic to connect.
