Is there any way to overcome the router port forwarding on tcp/ip application

need to connect to computer over tcp/ip i have the external ip but without port forwarding I can't connect to the server . Is there any way to configure the server to accepts connection on the external ip and port define by the server without configuring the router ? (how does emule, FogCreek CoPilot, LogMeIn does it ? or other peer to peer application )

Meir Yan wrote:how does emule, FogCreek CoPilot, LogMeIn does it ? or other peer to peer application

Two possible answers...

1. They don't. In a peer to peer environment. It is not possible for two peers, both of which behind a router, to communicate. Only peers that can be reached can be connected to, so... if a peer is behind a router, the peer can't be reached. It must initiate the connections, and only to other peers that are reachable.

2. They use UPnP. Many routers should support a programmatic protocol to forward the port. The program connects to the router (which is generally its default gateway) and request that a port gets forwarded to it. The router doesn't have to be manually configured to forward the port, but needs to be configured to allow UPnP.

Henry

thanks for the answer , can you please explain me what do you mean by
"... It must initiate the connections .."
in simple words can you explain the scenario?