I put in for both a problem report and a support ticket. Parallels contacted me quickly and asked me to try manually defining an NAT rule in my router... However I couldn't find an option in my Verizon Actiontec MI424WR to support NAT-PMP they required for this, so for the meantime I uninstalled Access Agent 2.0.1 (26213).
So, here's my current status with this problem.
I checked back this evening and found Access had been updated to 2.0.1 (26400), so I decided to give it a try.
I manage 2 Macs on my LAN. When I installed it on just one computer, it functioned and there were no extra rules created in my router's Port Forwarding section. *However*, when I added Access to the second computer, the issue returned. New multiple rules started popping up for PAX TCP & UDP port mapping tied to each computer's IP address... The port numbers increased in value (37370, 37371, 37372, 37373, 37374, etc), with one computer's IP address claiming the even numbers, the other the odd.
I think what I'm observing shows that if only installed on one system on the LAN, Access doesn't need to punch a hole in the router, it must somehow discreetly use that 37370 port. *BUT* if two systems are running Access, they seem to be fighting for that same port, and have to negotiate and agree to each map their own ports in the router.
However, it seems that they must somehow be continuously polling and discovering each other, and the Agents then decide to open the next highest port to again avoid conflict. But instead of settling on and agreeing to use what they've already opened, they keep polling and negotiating until hundreds of ports are created. It's crazy! Given what I noted above re: my router, the only way I can eliminate it is to uninstall the Access Agents from my systems and not use the product. But while I'm not using, my paid subscription ticks away.
I ran two Access Agent systems on my LAN earlier in the year with no problem until sometime in July. Something in the code appears to have changed, causing this issue. At this point, it's a strictly a single user / single computer product... It appears not to handle more than one computer at a time on a LAN, which unfortunately pulls this application out of an IT pro's toolkit.
Parallels is a good company with some really useful products — I hope they can resolve this problem soon!
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