PLEASE HELP. The right way for chatting over Internet

[Clawsy]

Hello,

I'm trying to develop a chat application over internet. First I want to send just strings... later files. I want to have a client that is a java applet that connects to the server - a java desktop application. I waould like to send files later over applet and server application. Is this possible or the applet could be limited? I use Socket connection for tha application. Is this the right approach?
I struggled a lot trying to send string data between to computers on the internet but I could not. I only can comunicate on LAN between to desktop applications. With the applet I have problems connecting to desktop appplication.

So can someone give ma hints? An example? Advices? What I am trying to do, overall, is to control my computer (which has the desktop application installed) over internet (with the applet client).

Thanks you. I need your advices.

[adams161]

i can't answer all your questions but this is a simple java telnet client i wrote to talk to a server ( in this case chessclub.com): www.adammr.com/chessbot5.zip

it implements a socket connection for sending text back and forth, it can listen and parse text it hears on the server, and it creates a thread for you typing and that being sent as typed to the server.

Mike

[adams161]

also it occurs to me, if your server essentially only hears the client on a lan, maybe the firewall is not doing port forwarding to open the port that the application is listening on.