Most firewalls will allow users inside the firewall to initiate connections outwards, so the following will not apply. For users with restrictive firewall policies that prevent outgoing connections or outgoing vnc connections, please read the following:

CrossBrowserTesting.com's, by default, uses a java based vnc client to connect and show you the remote browser. When connecting, this java vnc client first tries to initiate the vnc connection via port 80. If it cannot connect to CrossBrowserTesting.com via port 80 (tcp), it then tries to connect on a port range from 6020-6100(tcp). If this is also blocked, the java client will report an error and stop. The connection is initiated from your pc via the built in java vnc client, so for most firewalls they will automatically allow the outgoing socket connection and response.

By default, traffic from live testing connects to livetest.crossbrowsertesting.com. Traffic on this livetest.crossbrowsertesting.com runs across a new higher speed networking technology which improves the speed of the live testing sessions. This dns address resolves to various ip addresses, however, based on an analysis of the fastest path. Because these ip addresses are consently changing, it is typically easier set firewall rules to enable the vnc traffic to pass through your firewall to crossbrowsertesting.com (ie 216.37.72.238). So, the two options to connect via the live testing portion of the service are:

Preferred method:
1) Click on the 'Run live test' button on the Test Center tab. At the top left of the live test console, there is a 'live test settings' button. Click it and turn off the 'use high-speed network'. Doing so will leave your connection running across the older traditional path which uses crossbrowsertesting.com as the host name. This always resolves to one static ip address.
2) Add a rule to your firewall allowing connections initiated from inside your firewall on either port 80 and / or ports 6020-6100 going to 216.37.72.238 (crossbrowsertesting.com) to be completed successfully.
3) If you are using flash you may also need to allow for port 843 and 443 outbound to crossbrowsertesting.com also.

Second method:
If you want to continue to use the high speed network, configure your firewall to allow connections initiated from inside your firewall on port 80 and / or ports 6020-6100 to be completed successfully. Do not try to filter on destination ip, as it will continually change. Leave your live testing console set to use the high speed network.

If you are using a desktop vnc client, it will always use a port from 6020 - 6100. Only the java based client uses port 80 to connect.

Have questions or need help on this? Call us or write.