Improving iChat Connection Reliability

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Jeff Gamet

2:00 PM, Feb. 13th ET, 2007

Articles by Author Jeff Gamet on Twitter Contact Author Bio

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If iChat is giving you connection headaches, the problem may not be in iChat - it could be the server port iChat is using. In many cases, simply changing the port fixes all kinds of issues, and itis easy to do. Hereis how:

Launch iChat. Itis in your Applications folder, and probably also in your Dock.
Make sure your iChat status is set to Offline.
Choose iChat > Preferences.
Select Accounts.

iChatis default server port is 5190.

Click the Server Settings tab.
The default port is 5190. Change that to 443.
Close the Preferences window.

Port 443 tends to be more reliable.

Many people report that they have much better luck initiating an iChat connection, experience fewer random dropouts, and are able to start video chats far more reliably after changing to port 443.

[Thanks to Seth at Small Dog Electronics for reminding me about the alternate iChat server port.]

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