Port Forwarding with bridged router

[Saint Grimm]

To start, this is my router set-up:

The internet is wired to the main router in the master bedroom. A PC is wired to that router. That router is bridged to a router in my office. My office PC is wired to the office router.

I'm trying to do port forwarding for plex media server, but have been unsuccessful on getting an answer on the plex forums, so I thought I'd try it out here where people actually know the process and can probably offer more help.

For those who don't know, with plex, you can turn on remote acess and you can access your media on plex from anywhere that you have an internet connection, which is my goal because I'm going out of town for over a week on Monday (so it's pretty important to me that I get this figured out before then)


I've read/watched countless tutorials, including some on the plex website, but none seem to work. I've followed every step by the letter.

I made my office PC's IP address into a static address, and when that didn't work, I changed it back to dynamic and made it a reserved IP in the router so that it's pretty much the same as static anyway (and is supposed to work better for plex than just making it static)

I went to port forwarding on my router, added the plex service with the correct ext and int ports (32400 for both), and set the internal IP address to my office PC (the reserved IP). This is all a person has to do with one router, however, with 2 the process is different....

Every guide I read about having multiple routers said I had to go into the settings of the 2nd router and I instantly knew that wouldn't work. With the routers bridged, it's impossible to enter an IP address into the adress bar and get to that specific router.

I finally found someone with the same issue - using bridged routers was causing port 32400 to be "not open or unreachable". The solution found was only following the tutorials for the 1 router port forwarding, except instead of making the PC static/reserved and setting it as the internal IP for the plex service (32400 port), that you make the bridged router the internal IP and make it static/reserved as well....

So I tried that. Reserved my office router's IP, set it for the internal IP address, but I am still unable to turn plex's remote access on, and PFConfig program still claims that port 32400 is unreachable/not open. The external port for plex is not required to be 32400 (but is advised to make it easier because the internal port HAS to be 32400) and I know something could already be using that port... So I tried 10 random #'s that were within the router's range and none of them worked.


Any and all help is highly appreciated.

Both the main and office routers and Netgear R6300V2's with latest firmware (can't remember the numbers, but when I looked it up, it was the latest one on PFConfig)

 

[VincentP]

On the office PC, run `ipconfig /all` from a command prompt.
The default gateway and DHCP server address should be the IP of the internet connected router.
If this is the case, the second router should be simply behaving as a layer 2 switch rather than an IP router.
The port forwarding rules in the internet connected router should work.

If the second router is acting as a gateway, you should be able to prevent this by disabling the DHCP server in this device. If it has a "WAN" port, don't use it.

 

[Saint Grimm]

I didn't set up the bridge myself, someone else did it, but all I know, is when I enter the IP address in the search bar, it takes me to netgear genie and wants me to set up the router because "I'm not yet connected to the internet", even though I'm sitting right here on the internet... lol


The gateway it gives IS the IP address for the main router, as is the DHCP.


Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Project-Odin
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : E0-3F-49-92-A0-B2
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Killer e2200 Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : D0-50-99-8B-13-4A
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1003:fe64:f96e:cd49%11(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.7(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, August 27, 2016 8:41:12 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, August 28, 2016 8:41:10 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 282087577
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1E-61-D9-43-E0-3F-49-92-A0-B2
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : ASUS PCE-N10 11n Wireless LAN PCI-E Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : E0-3F-49-92-A0-B2
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 4:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:9d38:6abd:15:1772:be00:6fd4(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::15:1772:be00:6fd4%9(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 251658240
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1E-61-D9-43-E0-3F-49-92-A0-B2
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{A6F18879-3B45-4944-ABC2-34FCCFC2B51E}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

 

[Saint Grimm]

Here's screenshots, this is the main router, as I said before the office one is not accessable through a web browser (not sure if getting into just it's settings is possible at all, have very little to no experience with bridging)

I'm not sure if this info will help any, but if you know what I need to screenshot for you to be able to help me, please let me know

 

[VincentP]

So 192.168.1.1 is the IP of the internet connected router?
What is the IP of the second router?
If you connect a browser to the second router, it is not internet connected because the internet settings in the router will be unconfigured.
This is what you would expect when a different router is being used for the internet connection.

 

[VincentP]

Check also that you have allowed port 32400 in the Windows firewall on your office PC.

 

[Saint Grimm]

But so why is my port forwarding not working correctly? PFConfig says the port is not open/unreachable and I'm not sure what to do about that if I do in fact have everything set up properly.


EDIT: It is allowed, in fact, I've fully turned off all virus and firewall programs for testing and it did not fix the issue. (I use avast and windows firewall)

 

[VincentP]

I've just noticed that on your port forwarding configuration tab, the service is shown as "FTP".
I'm not sure how this relates to the rules you have already configured, but port 32400 should be open for TCP and UDP.

 

[Saint Grimm]

Oh, it is. that has nothing to do with adding a new service. With that, I can only change between ftp, http and some other things, the "add" button on the other size of the ip address next to the "FTP" will add that IP as an ftp/http/etc.

Here's a screenshot from inside the service (by clicking edit service)

 

[Saint Grimm]

Here's an example, the very bottom one, when I leave it as FTP, fill "123" into the last box of the "server IP address" and hit add (just so you're fully aware of that specific function)

 

[VincentP]

Your settings look ok.
Your second router appears to be on 192.168.1.6 if you need to reconfigure it for any reason, but it shouldn't be causing any problems.

 

[Saint Grimm]

I'm unable to reconfigure it. When I type 192.168.1.6 into the address bar, this is the page I get:

I'm afraid that hitting manually configure would set the settings to default and I have no idea how to set up the bridge, so not really keen on risking that.

I've read that it's possible that something else is using the 32400 port. Do you know of any way I can check to see if something else is using it?

 

[VincentP]

I'm unable to reconfigure it. When I type 192.168.1.6 into the address bar, this is the page I get:

I'm afraid that hitting manually configure would set the settings to default and I have no idea how to set up the bridge, so not really keen on risking that.

I've read that it's possible that something else is using the 32400 port. Do you know of any way I can check to see if something else is using it?

If your internet connection is working, probably best not to touch the settings in this second router.
The Netgear wizard is trying to configure an internet connection on this router, which you don't want.
The "Saved router settings" option might show current settings, but I'm not sure.

 

[Saint Grimm]

it wants me to select a saved file that has saved settings, and there isn't one that I know of lol.

So that's it then? Done all I can do to get it working?

 

[Saint Grimm]

Hm. I came across this in the advanced settings... I'm not sure if they have anything to do with each other, but the remote access HAS to be 32400 for the plex thing to work, but the router's remote management is set to 8443... Should I change that to 32400?

 

[VincentP]

Remote management for your router has nothing to do with Plex. Leave it as it is.
You can see what ports your PC is listening on by opening a command prompt with "Run as Administrator" and running the command `netstat -b -a`.

 

[Saint Grimm]

[Plex Dlna Server.exe]
TCP 127.0.0.1:52254 Project-Odin:32400 ESTABLISHED
[Maxthon.exe]
TCP 127.0.0.1:52276 Project-Odin:32400 ESTABLISHED
[Maxthon.exe]


Maxthon is my web browser and plex is open in it... So I'll just assume that's why both plex and maxthon are using that port?

 

[Saint Grimm]

I hadn't noticed this before hand... I think it must be default, I haven't changed it... But the private server is in 32400. Could that be preventing the public server from connecting?

EDIT: I hadd unticked manual and tried retry with the auto-settings and that's what made the public 13176 instead of 32400... But the plex website says the port HAS to be 32400 for plex to work.... So I'm more confused now than before.

 

[little_me]

Sorry for the messy post, I hope it might help though.

Possible problem with internal IP addresses.
in earlier screenshots, your port forwarding is done to IP 192.168.1.7 for plex.
in that last one, to 192.168.1.13

Since you have two routers, I would first suspect that BOTH are using NAT/firewall and happen to use same IP subnet too. In short, 2nd router is not working as it should. (as indicated by the "not connected to internet" page at 192.168.1.6)

While basic internet browsing might work through double NAT, it would make port forwarding a total pain.
IF there is double NAT, you would need to do port forwarding twice and have separate IP subnet for both networks.
so 1st router as it is, at 192.168.1 and second at 192.168.0 (or 2 or 10)
Then forward port 32400 from 1st router to 2nd one (192.168.1.6) and from there to plex computer.

Or make sure that 2nd router is acting as a bridge and doesn't have DHCP enabled, both cases would need you to get to the manual setup side of it. (which should then allow you to access menu's like on the 1st router)
That or throw the router out and replace it with normal switch (or accesspoint if you require better wifi coverage)

Changing operation mode of router might reset it's IP/DHCP settings though, meaning it could mess up the network. Due to that I recommend unplugging the 2nd router from 1st router and leaving connection to it just to desktop while making sure that it's settings are as they should be.

Also as noted, the WAN port should not be used in bridged mode at all since it might or might not have hardwired NAT.

 

[Saint Grimm]

With the 2nd router bridged, there is only one NAT.



However, I've given up completely. We have hard drives hooked up to the PC in the living room that has all of our dvds/music/etc etc on them, and with my PC set as reserved IP, for some reason that pc is no longer accessable on the network.

I'm stumped as to why that would matter... I removed my PC from reserved IPs, and the pc was accessable over the network, I added my PC back to the reserved list, when trying to access the PC in the livingroom I got error code 0x80070035, the network path was not found. Removed my PC, was able to get into the living room PC again. Repeated the process one more time to make sure, and that is somehow affecting the network and making that PC unaccessable.

The living room PC was the one originally used to set up the router as a bridge before I set up my office and moved my stuff in here. Not sure if that would effect access when doing the stuff I'm doing, but the bedroom pc AND the office pc is unable to access that PC when the office PC has a reserved IP address. However, the bedroom and office PCs are able to access each other, just not the living room pc.

That's why my PC's ip changed from .7 to .13, in the final pic it was unreserved, and I was hoping to find a way around it, but after 2 hours and nothing and spending literally from the 8am yesterday until 2am trying to get this shit too work... I don't even care anymore and I'm not screwing with plex anymore.

If anyone knows of a program that is free and has remote access like plex, but is easier to use (like the auto-port usually works without port forwarding, etc) I'll give it a go... But as for now, I guess I'll just take my laptop and my personal external HDD with me to watch tv this week.



EDIT: I'd like to thank you both for your help and advice! But I've stopped looking for answers, and never actually got it working, so won't be able to choose any of the replies as the solution.

 

[VincentP]

After reserving the IP address, open a command prompt with Run as Administrator and run the following command on both computers:
ipconfig /renew all