This is a very newb question and probably demonstrates misunderstanding of networking; so please be patient.
I am using a network managed by someone else; this network appears to have all ports blocked by the router. I can understand that I am able to send a request (such as HTTP) to another computer which does have an open port on the Internet (such as example.com:80
) but I don't understand how the response reaches my computer.
The server can't reply to me through port 80 or 443 because those aren't open. So I assume the router listens in some way for data, then forwards that to my computer.
Thus I have the following questions:
- How does this mechanism work?
- Can I only receive data once I have requested it? In what way is it tied to the connection I have made?
- Would it not be possible to keep this "path" open until either server is closed? Meaning that a server/client/whoever can send me data constantly?
- Is this mechanism used in online gaming? Or is it a TCP-specific feature?
Thank you.