[SOLVED] Can't Remote into NAS - Local works fine

[W.D. Stevens]

Hi all,

I've been setting up a NAS this week to have as a media server and I'd like to be able to access it wherever I have internet. I've got a DDNS server and added all the port forwarding in my router and it all works if I'm connected to my home network. If I go to the DDNS server name in a browser or FileZilla, I can access the files but I tested it with my phone hotspot and the connection just times out. I'm sure I'm missing something very basic. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[SamirD]

It depends on which nas and what exactly you've done to 'set it up'. We'll need some more details.

 

[W.D. Stevens]

It depends on which nas and what exactly you've done to 'set it up'. We'll need some more details.

No problem. I figured there would be more info needed but I wasn't sure what. It's a Thecus N3200. So yeah it's an oldie but has been working fine locally. I followed its own guide for setting up FTP but had to use some generic guides to fill in the blanks.

As for my setup, I turned off port blocking in my ISP's account settings, forwarded ports 21, 80 and 443 to the internal IP address of the NAS. Then I set up a DDNS with no-ip.com and added that in my router's settings. Filled in the domain, UN and password and it linked and updated the domain's IP just fine.

 

[SamirD]

I would do this for running it permanently until you've got it locked down better, but move it to the dmz and see if it works that way. If so, there's some more ports that need to be unblocked/forwarded.

 

[W.D. Stevens]

I would do this for running it permanently until you've got it locked down better, but move it to the dmz and see if it works that way. If so, there's some more ports that need to be unblocked/forwarded.

Okay, cool. Not familiar with this, I'm afraid but I've put the internal IP address of the NAS into the DMZ setting on my router. Still getting timeouts using the hotspot, though.

 

[SamirD]

Okay, cool. Not familiar with this, I'm afraid but I've put the internal IP address of the NAS into the DMZ setting on my router. Still getting timeouts using the hotspot, though.

Hmmm...okay so put it back.

It could be an issue with the hotspot network as a lot of cell networks have a lot of hidden natting and other things going on that breaks connections like this.

If you have an ftp server set up on it and want to PM me your IP, I have 3 different isp accounts that I can see if I can hit it with. If I can hit it with all 3, it's probably set up correctly and is just your cell hotspot.

 

[W.D. Stevens]

If you have an ftp server set up on it and want to PM me your IP, I have 3 different isp accounts that I can see if I can hit it with. If I can hit it with all 3, it's probably set up correctly and is just your cell hotspot.

That's a good idea. I'll send that through now.

 

[W.D. Stevens]

Okay, breakthrough. I managed to get it working as I wasn't aware I was supposed to be using WAN rather than LAN. Both were hooked up but I couldn't get them to both be on the same network without causing a conflict. I need to do another wired test I think, though, because the speed is far from stable. Before, I was getting speeds that would hover around a certain mark (say ~22MB/s) and now it will get there for a bit and then ramp down to about 10MB/s or I even saw it go down to 2MB/s and then back up again. It still seems to be enough to stream video which is nice but it'd be good if it could be a bit more consistent.

 

[SamirD]

So your isp upload speed is going to determine how well you'll be able to stream--this is where sometimes upping your plan helps, but you'll need to confirm that the upload speed improves as many times it does not.

Also, be cautious about exposing your nas to the Internet as Internet-facing nas units are a huge ransomware target these days.