The site is
www.imesh.com. you have to download and install the program, and sign in with a username and password.
i have accessed their help page with regards to not being able to sign in. it says that either my internet connection is not working (which it is as i am chatting to u) or my firewall, and it then proceeds to tell me what ports i must allow (hence the reason for my original question). that is why i assumed the problem was because of Avast!. I have activated the windows firewall.
if the problem signing in is not because of Avast, i will contact them.
this is copied from the "help page"
* You have lost your connection with your Internet Service Provider.
* The connection between your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and our servers was lost.
Here's a short list of things that can help you work through this:
*If you are behind a corporate firewall, check with your System Administrator that the ports used by iMesh for communication are not blocked for outgoing connection. The port numbers are the following: Port 1863, port 80 and port 443.
*If you are using a local firewall software (such as the built in firewall in Windows XP, Norton Firewall, etc) make sure that the port is not blocked.
*If you are using Windows XP you can temporarily disable the built in firewall.
To do that - go to your 'Start' menu -> 'Settings' -> 'Network connections'. Then, choose the connection you're using, right click on it and choose 'Properties'. In the dialog window that opened go to 'Advanced' tab and uncheck 'Internet Connection Firewall' checkbox.
*If you are using Windows XP SP2 verify that iMesh is not blocked. To do that - go to 'Start' --> 'Settings' --> 'Windows Firewall' -->and select 'Exceptions'. Make sure that iMesh is in the Exceptions list and add it if its not.