FTP - MSIE not work behind NAT but FTP client does

[laird]

I have an FTP server running at home and often login from different locations. I usually like to use Internet Explorer to connect to my server (ftp://mylogin@111.222.333.444:21) so that I don't need to install any extra software.

However, when I am sitting at a computer that is behind a NAT firewall I find that MSIE will not connect to my FTP server. BUT if I install a proper FTP client (eg. WS_FTP or SmartFTP or CuteFTP), they work just fine. In these cases, I have also tried to use the DOS FTP client included with Windows, but that has the same result as Internet Explorer. But proper FTP client programs always work...!

What do these formal FTP clients do that MSIE doesn't do? Is there any way to use the DOS FTP client -- am I doing it wrong? The DOS FTP client _can_ login to my server, it can successfully issue the BINARY command, but it always hangs when I issue an LS command (same as MSIE).

Puzzled in Vancouver

 

[etp777]

Tools - Internet Options - Advanced - Use Passive FTP

The FTP clients are smart enough to do this automatically.

 

[laird]

Thank you very much, I didn't notice that setting.

Just for the sake of curiousity now (since the MSIE setting solves my problem) but is there an equally simple way to make the DOS sessions work? I noticed there is a PASV command in the DOS client but there must be a special way to use it. I tried issuing the PASV command at the FTP command prompt and it came back as an invalid command. How does it work? I've scoured Google and haven't yet found an explanation.

The solution in MSIE is a godsend. Thanks!

Still in Vancouver but not so puzzled anymore

 

[etp777]

To the best of my knowledge, and a quick(albeit old messages) google serach, the dos client doesn't support passive mode. I've never needed to try that in the dos client, so never relaly looked into it. SOmewhat disappointing, as I still use the dos FTP client pretty frequently, but that's life.