Remote Access Using Touch Without Prism

Not up on port forwarding etc. but am trying to setup remote access without using the reflector.
So far I have setup a dns service to point to my modem but am confused about the port forwarding on my old Westell 6100 modem.

I assumed the IP I need to enter with the dns service would be the primary dns IP of my modem, and the port I need to forward
on the modem would be 1176 and the IP of the Indigo server?

Assuming I can get it working is it possible to use the same remote Touch server locally as well?

Any help greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Carl

Anyone know what the base port should be for Indigo or if I have the correct range?

Thanks,

Carl

[jay (support)]

That's the default port number for Indigo Touch and IWS (web pages). That can be changed in the server settings dialog. If you want to connect with the Mac client then you'll also want to open port 1176.

Thanks, so the base port should be 8176 as well?
I don't need access to the client..yet

Carl

Getting the same DNS entry to respond properly both locally on WiFi as well as outside the network via the internet is possible, but it will be very dependent on your network setup. I do this for both indigo and my security cameras... though my method requires that you are using OS X Server on your network:

1. Setup the DNS service on the MacMini OS X Server; it will pass through DNS entries that it doesn't understand, but allow "overriding" those that it knows about.
2. Capture whatever URL you are using with your dynamic DNS service and point it to a local IP address
3. Set your router to direct clients to the OS X Server's IP for DNS

So in my case, I would point my mobile devices to indigo.example.com for the server. On my Dynamic DNS service this would point to my router's public IP address. On my MacMini I have that entry setup with a local network address. I am able to easily transition between local WiFi and 4G (or another WiFi somewhere) without any issues.

Not sure what you mean by "using OSX server on the network." Would that be the Indigo server?

So far I've setup a dns service with Dyn.com from the Mac mini the Indigo server is running on.
The address shown there when choosing the host name I assume would be the correct
public address?

I logged into my modem and setup a port forward for 8176 and pointed it to Indigo's
server IP...192.168.1.xx

The Indigo server is connected thru wifi using an Airport Extreme in bridge mode
if that enters into it.
I've set the Indigo server to accept all incoming connections.

Maybe it's because I'm a graphics guy but this stuff seems as much voodoo as science.
So when I do have things setup properly the server info I enter into Touch format would be:
myhost.homeip.net:8176 or some variation?

Tried most everything but still no go.

edit: I used the "open port tool" on the dyn site and it shows the port is open ok.

Appreciate all the help!

Thanks,

Carl

Tried connecting away from my local network and it worked fine.

Halfway there it seems.

Thanks,

Carl

Maybe need to set something up in the network prefs DNS to get it to work locally?

Thanks,

Carl

Hard to diagnose remotely, but I in general what happens in a case like yours is that when you setup the dynamic DNS for myhost.homeip.net you set it to your public IP address (which you did) and so it works great on the public side of the network -- which is of course, not on your local WiFi network. So this part, from your post, sounds to be up and running and setup as expected.

What happens when you hit the myhost.homeip.net address from INSIDE your local network is that your DNS entry sees it as the public IP address, but most of the time it will not loop back because you are already behind the NAT (i.e. already behind the public IP address). What you want is, from your local WiFi, for that same address to resolve to your 192.168.1.x Indigo address. To do this you will need something essentially "intercepting" the DNS request on your network.

How I addressed this was that I am running OS X Server version on my MacMini... there are two version of Mountain Lion for the MacMini -- OS X Server is an optional upgrade when purchasing it. It provides a DNS host so basically I can respond however I want to a DNS lookup and pass along those that I don't want to deal with. I am assuming here, then, that you don't have the server version.

Going on that assumption, you will need to find another way to serve the local DNS entry. I don't believe that the AirPort is capable of this, but I am not positive as I don't own the device. I can ask our network admin at work if he has any ideas... but perhaps someone else on the forums has already addressed this in a different way than I have and can offer advice...

Adam

Thanks,.. thought for a minute there this may be easy.
My Indigo server is running on an old 10.5.8 mini which is not a server version.

...back to researching.

Very much appreciate all the help.

Carl

Well, at the very least you have your outside access configured; prior to my having had time to setup the network how I wanted I had to have an "External" and "Internal" entry for any application that need to access both (specifically my security camera app and bookmarks for accessing Indigo's control pages). It works but is a bit clunky.

I'll let you know if our network guys have any ideas off hand.

Adam