Accessing a network from a different location or making a file server...?

[glc]

To access your server from the Internet, you have to assign the server computer a static local IP and forward the needed ports in the router to that IP. Then you access the server using the real IP. Once you do that, you cannot easily access your server from your LAN, you have to access your files at the basic Windows filesharing level. Firewalls need to be properly configured too.

This is why I'm a big fan of remote control services (such as logmein.com) instead of servers behind a consumer grade router.

[MaxRat]

How do I do this...?

As far as the router I can only foward ports for the 192.168.*.*** numbers....

I dont know how to assign static IPs to the pc..I can find the tab but dont know what to put in there... or how to set it up to make it work or to make the pc work with the router...

friend typed the static IP in for the ftp and no go...?

man this stuff is too complicated... but when I'm done I'll know how to do it....


On the DHCP tab of the router there is a spot for DNS...

There are 3 spots to put in numbers...the first box says required but it's filled with zero's as well as the others...what is that for...I can uplink and image if need be....?

[Ob1]

start>control panel>network connections>right click your Local Area Connection and go to properties>tcp/ip and select properties>assigna static ip,subnet,default gateway, and dns. you can use the same ip info that you have now.
start>run>cmd>ipconfig /all

then go into your router>application/gaming>port forwarding and open up tcp port 21 and use the private ip address you assigned statically to your pc.
when accessing it via a wan connection NAT will redirect the incoming request to that ip based on the port number. so since port 21 has been forwarded to ip address 192.168.1.100 in the router configuration page, all requests coming on port 21 will go to that machine. make sense.

your friend needs to use the public wan ip ie: 210.232.12.125 NOT the private ip address on your local machine he is trying to access ie: 192.168.1.100

[MaxRat]

oh ok....

now if I do this on the pc and router will this mix things up for the other pc's plugged into the router...?

Or will I have to do this for all 4 pc's on the router......?

EDIT: I gave my friend the public WAN IP and that didnt work either...?

I even "enabled" incoming WAN request in the router and still no go... I will try to assign the static and see if it goes...

EDIT...on the DHCP tab of the router do I need to fill in anything for the DNS part....I know if I set DHCP to "disable" I cant access the internet... but not sure what thats for I lost the manual and the help part of the router wasnt very clear...or I'm not that smart...I'm betting on the second...?

[Ob1]

NO you only do this for the FTP server.

to access the FTP internally (inside the router from your 4 computers) just type in a web browser ftp://192.168.1.100 (use the static ip address of your FTP server, which would be the same one you assigned for port forwarding) or connect this way FTP;//

to summarize, set a static ip only on the computer that is running as the FTP server, and setup port forwarding on the router to point outside users to your computer acting as an ftp server.
leave the remaining computers on your Lan with DHCP assigned ip addresses.

when your friend(s) want to access your FTP server and they are not connected to your LAN, then they must use your public WAN ip that you get from your ISP ie: 69.126.45.211.
if they come over to your house and connect there pc's to your lan they would use the private ip address of your FTP server or FTP server computer name ie: 192.168.1.100 or workstation01. make sense

[MaxRat]

yep...I'll give it a whirl...

[MaxRat]

Update...

I still cannot get this working...? tommorro I am going to try bypassing the router to see if thats my problem...will post back...

[Ob1]

are you having trouble connecting to the FTP internally? of from across the WAN connection?

[mojo]

A better idea than a completely static IP might be to set a fixed lease on the router for that computer. Some routers dislike working with computers that have static IPs.

I was going to explain the concept of what you're doing, but ob1 already did it well. Basically your friends will type ftp://WANIP, which will send a connection request to your router on the standard ftp port, 21. If you have your router setup to forward port 21 to 192.168.1.10 your router goes "Hey, a connection on port 21!! I better forward that to 192.168.1.100!" Your server gets the request and it ends happily ever after.

[MaxRat]

Originally Posted by Ob1 are you having trouble connecting to the FTP internally? of from across the WAN connection?

No...I can access it in house just fine...even with the static set up as described...

I get the same error as in the 1st few post... about cannot access file/server was reset..

I did the IPconfig/all and took that info and fill it in on the Ip address and DNS address as listed did nothing to the other tabs...applied and ok'd...

I can type in the 192.168 ip on any of the pc's and can see/use the ftp no problem but anyone else outside the house cannot...

I dont know if I have my router set up right or if the internet just cant see the ftp...

Thats wht I was going to try bypassing the router...

I have the ftp port forwarding for that IP they have it set for ext21 and int20... and incomming WAN request enabled...tried disabled too...

router is set to DHCP and it's set to Gateway.....I tried setting from gateway to router and could not access the net...?

[Ob1]

if people are using IE to access the FTP server from outside the house make sure they go into tools>internet options>advanced tab>uncheck use passive ftp. have them close and reopen IE and try again.

on your end particularly the router, just make sure TCP port 21 is open. you dont need port 20 open for this connection. and the same goes on the windows firewall.

the allow incoming WAN requests would only allow people to ping (see) your router on the internet. Traffic will still pass through the router regardless of that setting. Leave DHCP turned on and set to Gateway mode. no need to mess with those settings

double check your Ip/subnet/Default gateway/dns entries on both the FTP server and where you forwarded the port on the router and make sure the IP's match. make sure you are using a class C subnet: 255.255.255.0
make sure you are pointing your default gateway to the routers ip address and your primary dns entry to the routers ip address as well. secondary dns could be an ip from your isp provider but not necessary.

[glc]

Hmmm - I was under the impression that to access a FTP server through a NAT, you also need to forward a few high number ports and use passive.........

[Ob1]

I've always done it by just forwarding TCP port 21 on the router and setting a static ip on the FTP server. then using IE go into tools>internet options>advanced tab>uncheck use passive ftp>click ok close out of IE and open it again, and then try accessing the FTP server.

this has always worked for me. i've only done this on Linksys consumer grade routers, not on high end routers.

[MaxRat]

ok I'll recheck my settings.... just in case I'll link the pages of my router... I think it's just that I dont have it set just right....???

[MaxRat]

[Ob1]

everything appears to be setup up properly. have you checked for an updated version of firmware for your router?

[mojo]

It's possible that the ISP is simply bocking connections on port 21. Many ISPs don't like you running servers of any kind and will block several ports, 80, the windows filesharing ports, 25, and others. I would suggest bypassing the router, hooking your computer directly to your modem, and running a portscan using Shields UP at grc.com. Make sure you have windows firewall or any other software disabled for this. Pretty much all the ports should show as being open. Any ports that are closed or "stealth" are being blocked by your ISP.

[MaxRat]

nah...I havent checked firmware... but I started to think maybe I need to fill in the static routing? (top pic of post 45)

All I have ever done is plug and play the router...this is the 1st time I actually got inside the router...it's 5 years old and works like a champ...so far...?

On the forwarding port page...the router, by default, sets the int.port to 20... I set it to 21 to match the ext.port...I wonder if thats not giving me fits..? I'll try that too...

[Ob1]

just do the common port scan option with shields up first and see if it detects that port 21 is open. if you verify its open and you still can't access it then i disable the firewall. i would also test it with the router in play and then remove the router and test.
http://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?rh1dkyd2

[Ob1]

Originally Posted by MaxRat nah...I havent checked firmware... but I started to think maybe I need to fill in the static routing? (top pic of post 45) All I have ever done is plug and play the router...this is the 1st time I actually got inside the router...it's 5 years old and works like a champ...so far...? On the forwarding port page...the router, by default, sets the int.port to 20... I set it to 21 to match the ext.port...I wonder if thats not giving me fits..? I'll try that too...

static routing deals with setting up routing tables to control the flow of data to and from your network, unless you know exactly what your doing i would stay away from this not to mention that it can be time consuming to say the least, let the router handle the routing table.

do this, uncheck the where FTP is enabled at the top.

and under custom applications: set the internal and external port to 21, select the TCP option and put in the 4th octet of the ip for your FTP server (102) and enable it then see if you can get it to work

[MaxRat]

Ok I will try that..here are links to the Ip config tab in network connections..

[Ob1]

set you preferred dns to 192.168.1.1
set your secondary Dns to 68.238.0.12

also remove the ip address/subnet and dns information from the advanced settings. just setup the static ip information on the general tab for TCP/IP as such:
Ip 192.168.1.102
subnet 255.255.255.0
default gateway:192.168.1.1

Preferred DNS:192.168.1.1
Secondary DNS: 68.238.0.12

let me know what happens after you setup FTP in the customized application section of your router by forwarding TCP 21 to 192.168.1.102 and enable that. make sure to uncheck the FTP port forwarding on the top of the page