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[Mr Swordfish]

I've been trying to get Media Server to work for a while now, and am still unable to get it to work.  It can connect while on the same LAN as the library instance, but won't connect from outside the LAN (tested using my phone as a wifi hotspot)

Previous thread is here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,139345.msg971480.html#msg971480


One possible problem is that when connecting it says it is accessing 192.168.xxx.xxx while my ip is 99.8.xxx.xxx according to both https://www.whatsmyip.org/ and ipconfig.

If use https://canyouseeme.org/  to check port 52199 is says that port is open.

So, it appears that the access code is telling the client to go to the wrong ip address.

Is there a way to fix this?

Thanks. (still using MC 32, will upgrade to MC33 if it solves this problem)

[Mr Swordfish]

Thinking maybe I need to update the Access Code, I reset it and generated a new one. But I don't remember where I go to enter it, and the wiki is of no help:  "On the client PC or device, just enter it to gain access to your Library server."

Where do you enter it? It's not at all obvious.

[JimH]

Access Key (not code).

The first time you try to connect to the server, you will be asked for it.

Your problem connecting from the Internet is probably either a firewall or incorrect port forwarding.  See Network Access on the wiki.

[zybex]

One possible problem is that when connecting it says it is accessing 192.168.xxx.xxx while my ip is 99.8.xxx.xxx

What does this page say? (add your access key to the end of the URL):
https://wr.jriver.com/libraryserver/lookup/<YourAccessKey>

The reply should contain both your private and public IP addresses. The remote MC should use the appropriate one, though I wonder what happens when the client PC/device happens to have the same private IP address range as the remote server...

You can also test the connection here:
https://jriver.com/webgizmo.html

[Mr Swordfish]

Access Key (not code).

The first time you try to connect to the server, you will be asked for it.

Your problem connecting from the Internet is probably either a firewall or incorrect port forwarding.  See [url=http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Network_Access]Network Access[/url] on the wiki.

How do I "try to connect to the server"?  I've looked at every single menu item and don't see anything that resembles a "connect to a different server" option.

[Mr Swordfish]

What does this page say? (add your access key to the end of the URL):
https://wr.jriver.com/libraryserver/lookup/<YourAccessKey>

The reply should contain both your private and public IP addresses. The remote MC should use the appropriate one, though I wonder what happens when the client PC/device happens to have the same private IP address range as the remote server...

You can also test the connection here:
https://jriver.com/webgizmo.html

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response Status="OK">
<keyid>SVOHmO</keyid>
<ip>99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net</ip>
<port>52199</port>
<localiplist>192.168.1.68</localiplist>
<macaddresslist>b8-ca-3a-95-21-8f,bc-85-56-7a-62-e4,bc-85-56-7a-62-e3,1e-85-56-7a-62-e3,2e-85-56-7a-62-e3</macaddresslist>
</Response>

Using the webgizmo, I see all the albums in the music library.  This works when connected to the LAN. It does not work when using the wifi hotspot on my phone.

Again,  https://canyouseeme.org/ says that the port is open. Perhaps somehow the traffic is not being routed to MC?  The NAT/Gaming interface on the modem where I open up the port asks for a Service name, but this is just a text field.  Do I need to specify what program to route the traffic to?

[zybex]

It looks like MC is not able to determine or register your public IP address. A bit weird as the DNS hostname is there...
It's possible your firewall is blocking a connection. Try adding MC to the Allowed Outbound rules on the firewall, then restart MC for it to re-register and re-check the same URL to see if the public IP shows up on the "localiplist" line.

[JimH]

That "the port is open" may only mean that your router allows it.  You still need to do port forwarding for inbound access to get to the right machine.

In Media Network settings, you can do a test to see what MC thinks.

[zybex]

Also try changing your DNS to 8.8.8.8 on the server PC.

@Jim, it won't work without the public IP on the AccessKey registration. It's just trying to connect to 192.168.xx.xx

[JimH]

It won't try to connect to the outside address unless it knows it's good.

[Mr Swordfish]

How do I "try to connect to the server"?  I've looked at every single menu item and don't see anything that resembles a "connect to a different server" option.

Asking again.  Can't test anything until I can find the place in the UI to tell it the Access Key.  This seems to be very well hidden.

[zybex]

You need to add a new library/connection, it's not possible to change the IP/Key on an existing one. If it works, then remove the old one.

[zybex]

You can also try adding a library with your current public IP address directly, instead of the access key.
The format is IP:port, eg: 99.8.xx.xx:52199

If this works then it's a problem with the AccessKey registration. If it doesn't work then it's your ISP, router or Windows firewall blocking it.
Have you opened this port on the Windows Firewall, or any other security software you have? Also make sure your network is not set as "public", which would cause the firewall to block all incoming connections.

[JimH]

Read "Ways to Connect" here:

https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Media_Network#Ways_to_Connect

[Mr Swordfish]

Thanks. It's File -> Library -> Library Manager - Add New Library

Chatting with AT&T rep now about how to open the firewall.

[Mr Swordfish]

Spent all morning going around and around with the AT&T tech support. 

Apparently, there is no firewall in the router/modem, and the tech verified that was the case.  So, it's not the modem that's the issue, at least according to the tech.  He says:

"We have tried all the available steps. still its not responding, please do contact the related media center vendor to check on the settings."

So, I'm back here. 

I've gone into windows defender and allowed MC32 to have access, verified that the PC internet connection is set to Private, not sure what to try next.

[Mr Swordfish]

It looks like MC is not able to determine or register your public IP address. A bit weird as the DNS hostname is there...
It's possible your firewall is blocking a connection. Try adding MC to the Allowed Outbound rules on the firewall, then restart MC for it to re-register and re-check the same URL to see if the public IP shows up on the "localiplist" line.

I've done all that. Still can't connect outside the LAN.

Interesting that the library lookup now doesn't have the local ip, it has the public ip in both places:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response Status="OK">
<keyid>SVOHmO</keyid>
<ip>99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net</ip>
<port>52199</port>
<localiplist>99.8.87.177</localiplist>
<macaddresslist>b8-ca-3a-95-21-8f,bc-85-56-7a-62-e4,bc-85-56-7a-62-e3,1e-85-56-7a-62-e3,2e-85-56-7a-62-e3</macaddresslist>
</Response>

And now I can't connect while on the LAN either.

Seems like something is broken on your end.  Not sure what.

[zybex]

Did you try connecting with IP instead of access key as described above? If that works then it's a firewall/routing issue somewhere.

Having that public IP in the "localip" section is not good. Did your ISP technician happen to put your router in Bridge mode? That's dangerous and completely the wrong thing to do! It would explain that IP and why you can't connect anymore on your LAN.

[Mr Swordfish]

Did you try connecting with IP instead of access key as described above? If that works then it's a firewall/routing issue somewhere.

Having that public IP in the "localip" section is not good. Did your ISP technician happen to put your router in Bridge mode? That's dangerous and completely the wrong thing to do! It would explain that IP and why you can't connect anymore on your LAN.

Tried connection with ip, both local and public.  Can't connect.

I'm not sure how to determine if the modem is set to bridge mode.  I think it has something to do with Allocatiion mode and IP passthrough - these are the options:

Allocation Mode:

    Off: The default server and IP Passthrough features are both disabled.
    Default Server: Allows the device to forward all externally initiated IP traffic (TCP and UDP protocols only) to a default host on the LAN. You might need this if you cannot anticipate what port number or packet protocol an in-bound application might use. For example, some network games select arbitrary port numbers when a connection is opened. Or you might want all unsolicited traffic to go to a specific LAN host.
    Passthrough: Allows the device's public IP address to be assigned to a single LAN client. There may be situations where Passthrough is not allowed.

It's set to passthrough. Is that bridge mode?

[zybex]

Yes, that's bridge mode - it exposes the selected PC directly to the internet, and basically removes it from your LAN. Dangerous unless you know exactly what you're doing. Set that to Off.
The Port Forwarding feature is something else. You need to tell the router to forward just port 52199 to your MC machine, there must be a menu for that.

That's some seriously messed up tech support your ISP gave you...

Here's an How to for your router:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbb5T9VWFZ8

[Mr Swordfish]

Yes, that's bridge mode - it makes your main PC completely visible to the internet. Dangerous unless you know exactly what you're doing. Set that to Off.
The Port Forwarding feature is something else. You need to tell the router to forward just port 52199 to your MC machine, there must be a menu for that.

That's some seriously messed up tech support your ISP gave you...

Here's an How to for your router:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbb5T9VWFZ8

Thanks for the pointer to the video.  I think I have configured it correctly:


NAT/Gaming Hosted Applications
Service    Ports    Device    Delete

Media Center 32    TCP/UDP: 52199   studyPC2


studyPC is the name of the desktop that holds the library on MC.

So, that part appears to be correct.

Any other ideas why this fails to work?

[zybex]

StudyPC or StudyPC2 ?

- After turning off that router setting, check that the PC now has a private IP address again (192.168.x.x)
- The LAN connection should work again
- Using a PC not connected to your LAN, try to connect to the MC library using the public IP address. This MUST work if there are no firewall issues.

You can also try to access MC Panel on a browser using these links - ALL of them should work:
- on the MC machine: http://localhost:52199/Panel
- on another machine/phone on your LAN: http://192.168.1.68:52199/Panel or http://studyPC2:52199/Panel
- from outside your LAN: http://99.8.xx.xx:52199/Panel

Make sure the IP addresses above are still correct.

[Mr Swordfish]

StudyPC or StudyPC2 ?

- After turning off that router setting, check that the PC now has a private IP address again (192.168.x.x)
- The LAN connection should work again
- Using a PC not connected to your LAN, try to connect to the MC library using the public IP address. This MUST work if there are no firewall issues.

You can also try to access MC Panel on a browser using these links - ALL of them should work:
- on the MC machine: http://localhost:52199/Panel
- on another machine/phone on your LAN: http://192.168.1.68:52199/Panel or http://studyPC2:52199/Panel
- from outside your LAN: http://99.8.87.177:52199/Panel

Make sure the IP addresses above are still correct.

Device name is studyPC2.  I called the library StudyPC in MC.  Sorry for any confusion.

I turned off the router setting, and the LAN connection works again.   It does not work for the laptop that is not connected to the LAN.


- on the MC machine: http://localhost:52199/Panel - this works
- on another machine/phone on your LAN: http://192.168.1.68:52199/Panel or http://studyPC2:52199/Panel  - this works
- from outside your LAN: http://99.8.87.177:52199/Panel  - this does not "The connection was reset" error.


Using Windows 10, and Windows Defender as the firewall.  Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Defender Firewall\Allowed apps lists the apps that can communicate through the firewall, and MC 32 is checked.  Not sure what else to check...

[zybex]

Well, it seems you (or the AT&T tech) managed to assign port 52199 to the router Administration page, and it's open to the internet!

https://99.8.xx.xx:52199

This works for me and opens your router Admin page, asking for login. Very dangerous. So, the connection to MC on port 52199 doesn't go through because the router itself is handling/intercepting it.

1 - Find the router page where the remote admin port is set, set it back to default (not sure what that is. Set it to 8443 if you must, anything other than 52199, 80 or 443)

2 - DISABLE the remote administration of the router, if there's an option for that. Some ISPs remove that option so that they can manage the router remotely. Administration should be allowed only via LAN/WIFI connection.

[Mr Swordfish]

I can't find anywhere in the UI to set the port for the remote admin access.

I've spent the last 90 minutes trying to explain to AT&T what the issue is.  They claim to have changed the port number, but I'm skeptical and the remote access for MC is still not working. 

Can you do your test again and see if you see the same issue? Thanks.

[zybex]

Can you check if your current public IP address changed?

[Mr Swordfish]

It's still 99.8.87.177

[JimH]

Well, it seems you (or the AT&T tech) managed to assign port 52199 to the router Administration page, and it's open to the internet!

https://99.8.87.177:52199

That just times out for me.

[zybex]

It now times out for me as well, so the port is indeed changed.

So, back to the other causes... There's still something blocking access. Is the port forward still in place? Try rebooting the router too.

[Awesome Donkey]

If need be you can change the port MC uses from 52199 to another one (preferably one not generally used) then disable/re-enable Media Network.

If you're trying to access it outside of your local network you'll have to forward the port. But be warned some ISPs completely block port forwarding and your only option would be to use a VPN that supports port forwarding in order to access it. This is what I have to do as my new fiber ISP blocks port forwarding so I have to use ProtonVPN (one of the few VPN services that has a port forwarding feature) and bind the port allowed by the VPN in MC in order to access it outside my network.

[Mr Swordfish]

It now times out for me as well, so the port is indeed changed.

So, back to the other causes... There's still something blocking access. Is the port forward still in place? Try rebooting the router too.

Port forwarding is still in place and I've rebooted the modem.  I'll try rebooting everything in the morning and trying again. Thanks for all your effort. Hopefully we can see this through.

[Scobie]

Also make sure you can resolve studyPC2 or that name is pointing to the correct address. Perhaps try putting in its IP Address instead.

[Mr Swordfish]

Port forwarding is still in place and I've rebooted the modem.  I'll try rebooting everything in the morning and trying again. Thanks for all your effort. Hopefully we can see this through.

Restarted everything this morning and I'm still basically exactly where I was when I started.  Media Center works fine when on the same LAN as the library, but can't connect from the outside.

Any ideas?  Port forwarding is in place, MC 32 is granted access to communicate through the firewall, the ip address looks right.  This was supposed to be "not that hard", but it seems to be quite difficult.  Is anybody else able to make this work?

[dtc]

I went through this a while ago. The problem was that Comcast has an Advanced Security feature which blocked the port forwarding. Once I turned that off, everything worked. Are there any security settings on your Gateway that you can turn off as a test? Grasping at straws.

[zybex]

Most people can get this to work, yes. There are however many ways to have networking issues, this is not an MC problem per se. MC is working as you can reach it via the local LAN address.

Did you manually assign IP 192.168.1.68 to your PC, or is it automatic (DHCP) ? If it's manually set (static) your router may be forwarding to the wrong IP address. Check the router to see if it knows StudyPC2 maps to 192.168.1.68.

At this point, unless you have some other security software installed, the most likely cause is still the router.

[Mr Swordfish]

I do not manually set the ip.

Here's what the router reports:

MAC Address   b8:ca:3a:95:21:8f
IPv4 Address / Name   192.168.1.68 / studyPC2
Last Activity   Thu Nov 21 10:36:27 2024
Status   on
Allocation   dhcp
Connection Type    

Ethernet LAN-4

Connection Speed    100Mbps fullduplex
Mesh Client   No
IPv6 Address   2600:1700:37af:b010::48
Type   dhcp
Valid Lifetime   2592000s
Preferred Lifetime   604800s
IPv6 Address   2600:1700:37af:b010:660:4d7a:8dc0:6bd8
Type   slaac
Valid Lifetime   3600s
Preferred Lifetime   3600s
IPv6 Address   2600:1700:37af:b010:c10c:5d77:7753:9aca
Type   slaac
Valid Lifetime   3600s
Preferred Lifetime   3600s
IPv6 Address   fe80::e9cc:7bb3:f6c6:ff65
Type   slaac
Valid Lifetime   forever
Preferred Lifetime   forever

[Mr Swordfish]

I went through this a while ago. The problem was that Comcast has an Advanced Security feature which blocked the port forwarding. Once I turned that off, everything worked. Are there any security settings on your Gateway that you can turn off as a test? Grasping at straws.

There's a section on the router UI for NAT/Gaming that turns on port forwarding, so one would expect that to turn on port forwarding. There's the firewall advanced tab which reports that all these are off:

Drop incoming ICMP Echo requests to LAN   
Drop incoming ICMP Echo requests to Device LAN Address   
Drop incoming ICMP Echo requests to Device WAN Address   
Reflexive ACL    
ESP ALG    
SIP ALG

I don't think I need to enable any of these.

[Mr Swordfish]

At this point, unless you have some other security software installed, the most likely cause is still the router.

Is there some utility I can run that is independent of MC that will determine if port forwarding is working correctly?  My understanding is that if the traffic makes it to the studyPC2 then MC will know what to do with it.  Something as simple as ping?

AT&T claims that there is no firewall stopping network traffic, but who knows if their techs really understand what's going on.
 

I'm not aware of any additional security software that might be installed, but the anti-virus providers really like to install their stuff without you knowing so there may be something, but I'm not seeing anything suspicious in the process list, although there are a lot of things running that I don't know what they are.

[JimH]

Uninstall any antivirus other than Windows Defender.  Configure it.

Are you sure JRiver's Media Network is running?   You could move it to another port.  52150, for example.

Firewalls are also a possible problem. 

Read Network Access on the wiki.

[zybex]

Which antivirus do you have?

You can try Mongoose web server:
- download from here: https://mongoose.ws/binary/
- forward TCP port 8000 from your router to your PC
- run Mongoose
- try to access it: LAN = http://192.168.1.68:8000 , WAN = http://99.8.xx.xx:8000
   Both links should show the contents of the Mongoose folder.

[JimH]

Our Android app called Bingo SSDP will find Media Server instances running on the LAN and can connect to them.

Double check the IP address of the server.

[zybex]

@Jim:
LAN works.
WAN does not.

[JimH]

I saw that.  Thanks.

It looks like forwarding on the router isn't successful.  Is it set up correctly?

[Mr Swordfish]

Which antivirus do you have?

You can try Mongoose web server:
- download from here: https://mongoose.ws/binary/
- forward TCP port 8000 from your router to your PC
- run Mongoose
- try to access it: LAN = http://192.168.1.68:8000 , WAN = http://99.8.87.177:8000
   Both links should show the contents of the Mongoose folder.

Did the test with mongoose.exe and it connects via the LAN but not the WAN.  That implies to me that it's not an MC issue but either a router/port forwarding issue or a firewall issue on the PC.

I suppose the next step would be to try to get the AT&T techs to figure out why port forwarding isn't working.

Unless you have another takeaway.

I've checked the PC for other firewalls or anti-virus software and have not found anything other than Windows Defender.

[zybex]

Can you attach screenshots of your port-forward config on the router?

Also... do you see your WAN address on the router status page? It should display the 99.8.xx.xx address there. The reason I ask is that perhaps your ISP is only providing you with a IPv6 address, and the IPv4 is actually added on their side. This IPv4-over-IPv6 tunneling is common, I had to ask my previous ISP to allocate me an IPv4 address to be able to remotely access my network.

[JimH]

Did the test with mongoose.exe and it connects via the LAN but not the WAN.  That implies to me that it's not an MC issue but either a router/port forwarding issue or a firewall issue on the PC.

That helps and you're correct.

I suppose the next step would be to try to get the AT&T techs to figure out why port forwarding isn't working.

Or try another machine while you wait.  If it also didn't work, then the problem is with network configuration.  If it did work, then the problem is probably the firewall. 

You could try removing MC32 from the firewall exceptions and then see if the firewall warns you.

I've checked the PC for other firewalls or anti-virus software and have not found anything other than Windows Defender.

Windows Defender could block access.

[Mr Swordfish]

Can you attach screenshots of your port-forward config on the router?

Also... do you see your WAN address on the router status page? It should display the 99.8.87.177 address there. The reason I ask is that perhaps your ISP is only providing you with a IPv6 address, and the IPv4 is actually added on their side. This IPv4-over-IPv6 tunneling is common, I had to ask my previous ISP to allocate me an IPv4 address to be able to remotely access my network.

Screenshot attached.

[Mr Swordfish]

Can you attach screenshots of your port-forward config on the router?

Also... do you see your WAN address on the router status page? It should display the 99.8.87.177 address there. The reason I ask is that perhaps your ISP is only providing you with a IPv6 address, and the IPv4 is actually added on their side. This IPv4-over-IPv6 tunneling is common, I had to ask my previous ISP to allocate me an IPv4 address to be able to remotely access my network.

I don't see the WAN address on the status page.  Screenshot attached:

[zybex]

And the Custom Service definition for MC32?
For the WAN IP, check perhaps the "broadband" or "system info" tab. Or that "More Info" button.

[Mr Swordfish]

And the Custom Service definition for MC32?
For the WAN IP, check perhaps the "broadband" or "system info" tab. Or that "More Info" button.

There's no more info about the Custom Service definition.

The WAN IP is under broadband: