INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 22 for Windows => Topic started by: designmule on May 13, 2017, 02:02:14 pm
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I can't seem to get WOL to work from the WAN using JRemote on my iPhone.
So WOL works perfectly on my LAN (from phones, computers, etc.). JRemote connects via access key and I have the user name and password entered. I have port 9 UDP forwarded to my library server. When the server is running, a Wireshark trace shows the machine receiving the WOL packet sent from the WAN but when I put the machine to sleep I can only wake it if I am on my LAN. FWIW I am able to play music on my phone via JRemote while on the WAN (both cellular data and WIFI at work).
Does anyone have any additional suggestions? I'm stumped.
Thanks for your help.
Matt
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It turns out it works intermittently. I've successfully woken the library server from the WAN (cellular) using JRemote a couple of times but not consistently. I also setup dynamic DNS so that I could try and wake the machine from the the WAN using a stand alone WOL app. It also works intermittently.
So it's pretty clear this isn't a JRiver issue but if any of you out there have had similar experiences I'd still like to hear your suggestions.
Thanks
Matt
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Not all routers support WOL.
I discovered this with when I recently replaced my router.
It worked LAN not WAN
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Actually very few routers support Wake on WAN.
When a device is powered off, after a while its entry in the ARP table is lost. That is the record in your local router as to where to route a packet to a destination IP address is time limited and discarded after a short time.
So WOL works by sending a magic packet by broadcast on the local network to all devices and the one that matches the MAC address included in that broadcast responds. Unfortunately very few routers allow you to send a broadcast from outside the network.
It is possible to get round this issue by using a Subnet Directed Broadcast. i.e. send a Layer 3 message to a target router that then changes that into a Layer 2 broadcast on the local network, but very few routers support this. An exception being the open source router firmware DD-WRT.
Alternatively you can route the Magic Packet to a WOL proxy that is constantly powered up inside your local network that then rebroadcasts the command to the local network..
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I believe that WOL can send a single magic packet (not a broadcast) to a specific address.
Here's a topic on our wiki:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Wake_on_Lan
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I've read about the ARP table thing, and you might be right. However, for my testing the library server has only been asleep for 30 seconds or so. I wouldn't think that's enough time for the library server to be deleted from the ARP table. Additionally, the library server is assigned a static IP and the router forwards port 9 to that IP.
I have another machine I can test on to try and tell if it is network or computer specific.
I appreciate the suggestions.
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Ok, I tried it out on a second machine and it worked several times in a row. So it must be something with my library server.
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I think I've got it! I had to open port 9 on the Windows 7 firewall and it now seems to be waking regularly.
The ARP table might still be an issue once the machine has been asleep for an extended period of time. I'm hopeful the static ip will take care of that. I'll keep an eye on it and report back.
Thanks for the help.
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Not sure but it may be better to use address reservation on the router than static IP on the server.
The router would then always know the relationship between your server MAC and IP adresses (assuming the router is your DHCP server).
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Thanks for the suggestion. Static IP is assigned via the router.
I'm now finding that I can only wake the computer if it has been on recently. This is probably related to the ARP table or the router's inability to broadcast the UDP packet from the WAN. In my case, changing the router is not an option. It looks like I can setup a pi to receive the packet and transmit it to the correct machine but I'm not sure I'm interested in going down that route.
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Check the power settings for the network device.
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"Check the power settings for the network device."
Do you mean the NIC on the library server? It's setup correctly for WOL. WOL over LAN works great and WOL over WAN works fine provided that the machine has not been sleeping for too long. Is there a NIC setting you suspect would be different for WOL over WAN vs. WOL over LAN?
I appreciate the help.
Matt
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Thanks for the suggestion. Static IP is assigned via the router.
I'm now finding that I can only wake the computer if it has been on recently. This is probably related to the ARP table or the router's inability to broadcast the UDP packet from the WAN. In my case, changing the router is not an option. It looks like I can setup a pi to receive the packet and transmit it to the correct machine but I'm not sure I'm interested in going down that route.
Check your sleep states. Some can't WOL from S3 or deeper, which they will enter automatically after extended standby.
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Thanks. It could be asleep for a month and I can wake it on the LAN (slight exaggeration). It's only when waking via Wide Area Network that it will not wake after a certain amount of time. I believe this is due to the MAC address being removed from the router's ARP table after time as the crow suggested.
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Are you broadcasting to the broadcast address or a single IP at this point? I've always used OpenWRT so I'm not aware of OEM firmware limitations in this regard. It might be worthwhile to do some snooping on dslreports, etc., to see if there are any workarounds. If possible try a third-party firmware (obviously not an option if this is an ISP device, although you can buy a cheap router and use bridged mode on the ISP router).
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My router doesn't forward to broadcast address from the WAN. I'm on Google Fiber and I've found other users coming to the same conclusion and unfortunately you can't substitute their router and maintain TV service.
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Bummer. Sounds like there is a market for a cheap ESP8266 WOL device. You would just need to modify this code (https://github.com/iangray001/esp8266-wakeonlan) to forward the magic packet automatically.
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That looks pretty cool. I've looked at a few tutorials which describe how to get a pi to do it.
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I'm on Google Fiber and I've found other users coming to the same conclusion and unfortunately you can't substitute their router and maintain TV service.
I'm in the same situation in Australia with the supplied Telstra Cable Modem/Router. However in my case, and maybe yours, I don't need to substitute the Telstra router with another one, I can just put it into bridge mode, which turns it into a plain modem. Then I can add a new router behind (downstream from) the Telstra modem, connecting via the WAN port on the router, and have full functionality of the new router, whatever I happen to chose to use, be it just a better router, or a DD-WRT or other flashed router.
I don't have that setup at the moment, because I don't need to, but many people in Australia do just that to get a better router. The Telstra service isn't affected. An ISP Router in bridged mode, operating just as a modem, will forward all packets, including WOL packets, to the new router untouched. The new router can then be made to do what you wish, including Wake On WAN.
Perhaps you could do the same with Google Fiber?
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nope, no bridge mode on google fiber either. thanks for the suggestion.
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Bummer. That is pretty restrictive.
Are you sure though? Setting bridged mode isn't usually advertised by ISPs, but it can sometimes still be done. In some worst cases, via a serial port "hack" and a character interface rather than a setting in the GUI interface.
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It is a bummer but I'm positive there is no bridge mode. It's one of the most requested feature improvements on the google fiber forums.
It's kind of funny because when they rolled out google fiber they said that they wanted to see what people would do with a 1 gig network connection but then they require that you use their limited network box and won't allow internet access to machines running server OSs (or so I'm told).