XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-11, alt.comp.microsoft.windows

*SMB over QUIC*
<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/file-server/smb-over-quic?tabs=windows-admin-center%2Cpowershell2%2Cwindows-admin-center1>

*SMB alternative ports now supported in Windows Insider*
<https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/filecab/smb-alternative-ports-now-supported-in-windows-insider/3974509>

AFAICT, SMB over QUIC is running the traditional Windows file sharing (SMB)
on top of a faster & more modern QUIC transport instead of the older TCP.

The advantage, supposedly, of QUIC are:
A. Security is baked in as data is always encrypted using SMB over QUIC
B. It uses TLS 1.3 (the same kind that secures modern HTTPS websites)
C. Remote access can ditch VPN & tunnel with SMB over QUIC instead
D. QUIC handles crappy unstable networks better than does TCP lost packets
E. Firewall friendly as UDP port 443 is already open on most firewalls

*The Road to QUIC*
<https://blog.cloudflare.com/the-road-to-quic/>

Notice these supposed advantages are many, from easier tunneling into your
own network to easier shares with your own mobile devices to faster speeds.

To Android Windows owners, the advantages of non-standard SMB ports are:
a. More flexible networking (e.g., with blocked/filtered ports)
b. Perhaps some added minor security by obscurity
c. Increased support for adoption of SMB over QUIC

*QUIC: The Secure Communication Protocol Shaping the Internet¢s Future*
<https://www.zscaler.com/blogs/product-insights/quic-secure-communication-protocol-shaping-future-of-internet>

I do not have a convenient Windows 11 to test (as it's my wife's and she
guards it like a mother bear guarding her cubs) but in a loooooooong thread
on the Windows 10 newsgroup, we recently proved, as a team, this datapoint:
iOS SMB servers <=======> Windows 10
Android SMB servers <===X===> Windows 10
iOS SMB servers <=======> Windows 11
Android SMB servers <=======> Windows 11

For the gory details (and yes, it was a bloody affair), see this thread:
*How do nonroot Android & nonjailbroken iOS run SMB servers to connect to each other & Windows?*
<https://www.novabbs.com/computers/article-flat.php?id=86516&group=alt.comp.os.windows-10#86516>
<https://www.novabbs.com/computers/article-flat.php?id=58366&group=comp.mobile.android#58366>

Excerpt below with a clean summary.
======== the clean summary below is from the other thread ==========

This Windows 11 ability to bind to non-standard SMB ports is designed to
allow connecting to Android SMB shares hosted on non-standard TCP ports!
Android SMB servers <===X===> Windows 10
Android SMB servers <=======> Windows 11

I agree with anyone who says something logically sensible, and disagree
with anyone who says something not logically sensible, where often that can
be the same person in both situations.

Both Arno & Frank are correct to test this on Windows 11, which I don't
have convenient access to, where I think it is FANTASTIC that the entire
team pitched in (yes, even our Apple, ahem... our friendly Apple posters).

What we learned, which most of us didn't know, least of all me, was the following, where if my summary is wrong, please do correct it as it's
important to get the facts 100% correct as we strive together to learn.

1. Android does not allow SMB servers to bind to port 445 (non root).
2. Surprisingly iOS does allow SMB servers to bind to 445 (non-jailbroken).
iOS SMB servers <=======> Windows 10
iOS SMB servers <=======> Windows 11

3. Windows 10 "net use" does not allow the user to specify the port.
4. Windows 11 "net use" does allow the user to specify the port as 445.

This came in Windows Insider builds released around November 8, 2023.
*SMB alternative ports now supported in Windows Insider*
<https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/filecab/smb-alternative-ports-now-supported-in-windows-insider/3974509>

Note that means Android & Windows 11 tie together even more closely because Android SMB servers must use non-standard ports, which Win11 allows!

That post, written by Ned Pyle on November 8, 2023, details the
introduction of the /TCPPORT option in the net use command, along with the support for alternative ports for SMB over QUIC and RDMA.

Many thanks to Tyrone in particular for pointing out the Windows 11
feature, which I openly & humbly admit I was completely unaware of.

Likewise, many thanks to Chris, in particular, for pointing out that iOS
always had the capability to bind to privileged ports, also which I was
unaware of (and which I found hard to believe until I tested it myself).

I can find nothing on the Internet that's reliable that explains that.
Thanks to everyone for teaching all of us this wonderful new information.
iOS SMB servers <=======> Windows 10
Android SMB servers <===X===> Windows 10
iOS SMB servers <=======> Windows 11
Android SMB servers <=======> Windows 11

With the latest releases, SMB servers are now possible on both mobile OS's.

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