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  Port 6346 and port 6347 are the standard ports for the Gnutella network. Gnutella is an peer to peer file sharing network where the computers communicate directly with each other through applications like Bearshare, Limewire, and a handful of others. In order for the computers to communicate they have to establish connections to each other. This is usually done via TCP connections to port 6346.

A lot of people have been talked into installing "personal firewalls" by companies who hype up fear of "hackers" or "crackers" trying to break into your computer. They use unrealistic advertisements and consumer ignorance to scare people. The media's coverage hasn't helped the situation. After the software is installed and a gnutella connection happens the software improperly (and irresponsibly) reports a break in attempt. The end user gets upset and starts griping to admins making themselves look quite silly.

If you have not been on the gnutella network recently or ever and you got a connection from someone anyway, you probably have a dynamic IP address. This means that every time you connect to the internet your provider gives you a new internet address for your computer. If you are assigned an address that the previous user used to access gnutella, other computers will think that you were the one on the network. Relax, the connections will stop after a while. If you REALLY care, disconnect from your ISP and reconnect. You will get a new IP address.

If you have a static IP, have not been on gnutella, and got a connection, it is possible that someone on the network has accidentally misreported their IP address as yours. Don't worry about it, the connections don't hurt anything and will stop after a while.

Some advice: If you must run one of these personal firewall systems, PLEASE educate yourself so that you can understand what the connections are and why. A quick search through a search engine like Google about the port number that was touched can save you some embarrassment. If you DO get an ACTUAL break-in attempt, be reasonable about the complaint to the admin. Threatening emails are quite a bad idea. We admins can locate where you came from quite fast. Angry voicemails are not going to encourage cooperation, quite the opposite. In short, be smart. Ignorant users are not pleasant to deal with. Do not rely on some "security" company to tell you what is safe. There is a lot of information out there. Look it up.

For Your Information: There are several file sharing networks that make direct connections between users. Here is an incomplete list of common file sharing ports:

  • Port 1214 - Morpheus or KaZaA
  • : A very cool decentralized self organizing hierarchal network that has quickly grown into a great resource.
  • Port 5634 - The original Gnutella port used by older network clients.
  • Port 6699 - Napster: The standard data transfer port for the now basically defunct network from over filtration and a dying user base.
  • Ports 41000->50000 and 1117-5190: Audiogalaxy - a nice web based music sharing system that separates the client from the server. Very cool design.
  • Ports 5500->5503 - Hotline - a chat/filesharing system.
  • Varying ports (4000's usually) - iMesh: A Napster-like service that shares all file types and has started implementing filters recently.