This article describes the network ports that Windows Live Messenger Version 2009 must be able to access to work on a Windows-based computer. This articles also lists the URLs that Messenger uses.
Network ports
The following table lists the network ports that Windows Live Messenger must use for specific features to work.
Collapse this tableExpand this table
| Feature | Port |
| Sign in to the Messenger service | TCP 80, 443, 1863 |
| Network detection | TCP 7001
UDP 9, 7001 |
| Voice
and video (V/V) | Messenger VOIP servers for call establishment of voice and video services listen on ports 1863, 443, and 80.
Media flows directly between both endpoints (either directly or through a relay server) over UDP or TCP by using any available port. |
| Audio (legacy) * | UDP 5004 - 65535 |
| Webcam and video conversations | TCP 80
TCP/UDP 5000 - 65535 |
| File transfer | TCP 443, 1863
TCP/UDP 1025 - 65535 |
| Whiteboard and application sharing | TCP 1503 |
| Remote Assistance | TCP 3389
TCP/UDP 49152 - 65535 |
| Windows Live Call | TCP 443, 5061
UDP 5004 - 65525 |
| Games | TCP 80, 443, 1863
TCP/UDP 1025 - 65535 |
* These ports are used when you are connected to a contact through a "legacy" (old version) client program, such as MSN Messenger 5.0.
URLs
The following table lists the URLs to which Windows Live Messenger connects.
Collapse this tableExpand this table
| URL | Function |
| https://Login.live.com | HTTP over SSL (HTTPS) authentication to Windows Live ID and obtaining x509 certificates for secure peer-to-peer (p2p) connections for the Sharing Folders feature |
| http://Login.live.com | HTTP authentication to Windows Live ID |
| https://*.contacts.msn.com | To obtain the contact list |
| https://*.storage.msn.com | Storage of the user tile, personal status message, and display name for a user so that the user can have the same set of information across all Windows Live experiences on work and home computers; (Simple Object Access Protocol [SOAP] over HTTPS) |
| http://*.storage.msn.com | Storage of the user tile (HTTP DAV) and obtaining pictures from a user's Windows Live Space |
| http://c.msn.com | To set an anonymous unique ID for a user to personalize the Windows Live experience |
| http://*.messenger.msn.com | Various core messenger operations |
| http://g.msn.com | Redirect URLs used for tracking the start of a URL for a particular page to Microsoft Web sites |
| http://crl.microsoft.com | To access the latest Certificate Revocation List (CRL) to check the validity of a certificate |
| http://messenger.hotmail.com:1863 | Communications channel for messenger server; Microsoft Notification Protocol (MSNP) for messaging |
| http://gateway.messenger.hotmail.com | In case a firewall is blocking the ports, Messenger can use this gateway over HTTP |
| http://config.messenger.msn.com | Download configuration information that is used by the Messenger client |
| https://ows.messenger.msn.com | Send offline messages |
| https://rsi.hotmail.com | Receive offline messages |
| http://sqm.microsoft.com | Upload Service Quality Monitoring (SQM) data to Microsoft (No personally identifiable information [PII] is transferred.) |
| http://*.edge.messenger.live.com | Various core Messenger operations; for example, echo servers that are used to establish direct connectivity between two messenger clients for peer-to-peer (p2p) communication when clients are behind firewalls |
| http://relay.data.edge.messenger.live.com | Media relay used to transfer binary data (files, voice, or video) |
| http://rad.msn.com | To download advertising content to display in the client and to download ad-sponsored personal expression content, such as display pictures and emoticons |
| http://appdirectory.messenger.msn.com | Used by Messenger activities/games applications that run inside Messenger applications |
| https://images.messenger.msn.com | For messenger image files |
| http://spaces.live.com | For the contact card |
| http://relay.voice.messenger.msn.com | Media relay used for voice |
| http://sup.live.com | To obtain the "What’s New" list |
| http://sup.live.com/whatsnew/whatsnewservice.asmx | Service URL for the Social Update Service |
| http://vp.sip.messenger.msn.com | SIP proxy for legacy and interop voice/video calls with other services (Messenger for Mac, Office Communicator) |
Users who have computers that are behind some authenticating proxy servers may experience sign-in problems. They might have to configure the proxy server to force authentication for the following User Agent string:
MSN Explorer/9.0 (MSN 8.0; TmstmpExt).
To do this, see the documentation for your proxy server or contact your network administrator.
Article ID: 960820 - Last Review: January 8, 2009 - Revision: 2.1
| kbpubtypekc kbinfo kbmessengerportal kbsurveynew KB960820 |
Back to the top
