Is LAN messenger safe?

Christine Jewett:

I run a public-facing department within city government. Our staff chose LAN messenger to communicate internally in our building primarily as a safety tool, to alert staff when an irate or dangerous member of the public was on site, etc. We have been using LAN chat for sixmonths & love it. The IT technician  discovered that a staff member was using it and blocked it, out of vague network security concerns. (he also is opposed to "modern" things like email & remote desktop access. 

Looking for info to show that LAN messaging apps is not a threat, but a great tool. Thanks for your help.

Anthony Chatterton:

Hello! First of all, thank you for your question.

The main goal of security is: all LAN messenger traffic remains in your network.

No traffic outside the company building or outside your office floor if you wish.

If you trust your local network connection, you can also trust LAN messenger.

If not, you should know that all traffic is heavily encrypted with a 256 bit AES encryption algorhytm shared only in the  dedicated p2p connection between 2 LAN messaging clients. This makes external access is a really difficult  thing for a hacker.

And you can always say: if your IT staff doesn't trust his local network, the problem is not LAN messenger but the network.

Sorry for the humour. It's safest thing to get people to use LAN messenger. 

Our office uses it at work and despite this I have had to fight against the distrust of people who see evil in a "messenger".

LAN messenger is an app designed to have a "intranet messenger" safely inside your office.

As I know that some army and goverment security departments in the world is using it after testing its reliability for months.

But in the end you should believe my words and I don't know how convincing I can be.

If I anyone  created malicious  commercial software, he will loose all credibility about his IT work.

I don't know what to tell you more..

And thanks again for having used and appreciated LAN messenger for months.

Christine Jewett:

Thanks so much for the clear answer. Of course, the real issue here is NOT the software, but the mindset. All I can do is try to educate and have faith that human beings can learn and evolve. A big thanks for offering such a simple-to-use and (therefore) elegant program. After trying several alternatives, ALL of my staff are on board and love what you've suggested. It keeps my staff safe. 

Thanks again.

Lan Messenger does not see other contacts on the network.

sysadnio:

Installed the Qualia application LAN messenger from https://sourceforge.net/ product  on computers in the network. There are almost no any problems , but this messenger doesn't see SOME machines on Win7 other and  vice versa. The firewall is disabled, the netstat-bn command shows that when the messenger is running a certain wininit.exe occupies port 50000 (by default it is port messenge.). If you shut down the LAN messenger, then  wininit.exe frees the port. In a normal situation, the port 50000 is missing.
How to overcome this trouble?

Added:
The question can be formulated in another way.
Why when you start the LAN messenger (and maybe any other application) in the processes appears wininit.exe?

maranelo:

The same problem.

I use it at home to communicate with my wife in the kitchen. My machine-Win 8.1 x64, direct ethernet connection; it has a laptop on Wi-Fi, Win 7.0 x32.

All within 192.168.1.0/24 under one router/AP (ASUS AC66U, latest stock firmware). Messaging clients see/do not see each other  in 50/50 cases. Numerous f5 refreshes usually help. The broadcast goes, nothing is filtered, any firewalls (neither on a router, nor on clients).

I  just want a stable work.


bringotus:
First of all, download another client from here: chocolatey.org/packages/slm . This messenger has a more stable work over LAN, check if this helps. If this messenger has the same issues like Qualia, check your network and firewall settings.

May be this video guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06CI3SiEnUU can help to fix it too.

Secure LAN Messenger with File Sharing Features

When you are working in an office environment, it is more common that your computers are connected over a local area network LAN or through a wireless WiFi router (in which case it would be WLAN). Working in such an environment, you must have the ability to communicate with your coworkers over the local network itself easily. A local messaging software called Softros LAN messenger can be used to communicate with other people over the same LAN securely.

Softros is an intranet instant messenger that utilizes the local area network to communicate with the other users of the same network. The program allows you to freely transfer files among other users within the range of the local LAN. It uses AES cipher to secure all the communications and works on all the popular operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Mac.

The LAN messenger is available in the form of a Windows installer package and as Android messaging app and Mac application. The application does not require installation on the server,  which leaves no troubles of installation in the office. It uses your computer device user name to identify you, but it can be changed if necessary. It is possible to conduct group conversations and to send messages to people who are not currently logged in. All the user activity is recorded in history.

BEST LAN messenger latest review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lDI7k0M8hE

You can configure and change the advanced administrative settings. There are a lot of customization options available. You can change what action must be open or forbidden for office users.

Conclusion: Softros chat is a straightforward way to communicate with other people over the same LAN or WLAN network. It features secure AES encryption of all the communication, easy sharing of files, and the desktop screen. You can also have group conversations with many different people at the same time.

You can download Softros messenger from https://messenger.softros.com/downloads/

Mac Apple store: LAN messenger

A simple messenger for the local network. What corporate instant messenger to choose to work on the local network for Mac and Windows computer? What are the messengers and what to use in your network?

Apple Mac LAN messenger: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/softros-lan-messenger/id1452176172

Check this video guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZrVzfWqyOw

In order to quickly and easily connect Windows and Mac LAN messenger over a local network, you need to understand how each running copy of the program (hereinafter in this section - the messenger) collects its list of users.

First, one of the instant messengers sends a UDP packet to the broadcast address of the local network. This address he calculates himself, knowing the IP address of the computer on which it is running, and its subnet mask. The peculiarity of the broadcast address is that the packet sent to it is received by all computers on the local network. Having received such a packet, other instant messengers running on this network respond with a TCP packet to the sender's address. As a result, the instant messenger-sender of the first packet receives packets from the remaining messengers of the local network, and, based on these responses, compiles its list of users. This method is used by all instant messengers running on the network, sending one packet to the broadcast address and receiving direct responses from all other network participants. Thus, Softros LAN Messenger works within the same subnet without any settings.

Messenger or instant messaging (IM-Instant Messenger) is nothing more than a technology that allows you to communicate using text messages on the network or via the Internet. Messenger is very profitable such technology of virtual communication in the network-for example, e-mail. Since the communication takes place in real time and the interlocutors can see the message immediately after sending it. Also, even if one of the users was not available at the moment, the message will be delivered to him as soon as he connects to the server. With the help of messengers, you can easily organize effective communication between employees in the enterprise, as well as significantly save on phone calls, for example, if the company's divisions are located in different cities or even countries. In this case, you do not have to pay bills for long-distance calls of employees, but only the services of an Internet provider.

PC to PC messaging

Woodrow Gaylord:

I have two computers that I wish to be able to use a messenger on to talk to
each other.
As such I am looking for a free (if there is one) LAN messenger.
Does anyone know where (if there is one) I could get hold of such a program.
Or if there is no free programs about how much would I have to pay for a
decent one.
Or if all else fails is there a way to do it with windows.

Trever Stokes:

Msg command
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/msg

How to use the Net Send command
https://www.net-send.net/netsend-tool.html

Woodrow Gaylord:

Thanks for the reply Carey, unfortunately due to my ignorance and technical
deficiencies (and possibly having sp2)  I am unable to get it to work.
Thanks any way for your help

Monserrat Glover:

Sir, You could try  Softros messenger for Lan Chat. The best Lan
Messenger software having many features like Lan Chat, Group Chat, Desktop
Sharing, and File transfer. Download it here https://messenger.softros.com/downloads/

MSN Messenger as Lan Messenger

Gabriella Christiansen:

I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard somewhere that you can configure
MSN messenger to login in via Active directory accounts to act as a lan
messenger? is this true? if so where can i read up more on it?

Thanks

Esther Gleason:

Greetings,
I'm afraid it's not true.  The only way to really do this with Messenger is to use Windows
Messenger coupled with either an Exchange 2000 IM Server or Live Communications Server.

Is there an Android Version of Lan Messenger around?

Ned Doyle:

Hi All

My  Name is Ned and I'm located in Central Switzerland.

I'm working for a long time now with Lan Messenger and to everyone involved a very big thank you for the great work, Thank you very much.

Now I have a question, is it planned to generate a android version of the programm?

best regards,

Ned

Krista Gorczany:

Sure, check Android Google Play, here are the free clients: 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Softros.softros_lan_messenger

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.realpopup.realpopup_lan_chat