How to open ports 5900 & 3389 on Express?

Question

How to open ports 5900 & 3389 on Express?

Replacing my Linksys with 2 AirPort Expresses (1 create wireless network and 1 extend wireless & music (for my 2ed floor)). Have them up and working but I have an iPad with Desktop Connect (VNC) and I need ports 5900(Mac Pro 192.168.1.108) and 3389 (PC 192.168.1.103) open so it will work like it did with my Linksys. I can't see how to configure this. Is this a limitation of the Express and you must have an Extreme or am I missing something?

Message was edited by: William Julien2

Mac Pro 2.8 8 core, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 2 AirPort Express 7.4.2

Posted on Jul 11, 2010 4:34 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

160,624 points

Jul 11, 2010 4:44 PM in response to William Julien2

You can open ports by using the AirPort Utility.

ref: AirPort Utility > Select the AirPort Express Base Station (AX) > Manual Setup > Internet > NAT > Configure Port Mappings

On the Port Mapping tab, click on the plus button to create a mapping. Choose "Custom" for the Service type, and then, create a mapping for the 5900 port, and then, repeat the steps for the 3389 port.

Reply

Answer 2

Jul 11, 2010 5:14 PM in response to Tesserax

When I click on Internet I have Internet Connection and TCP/IP tabs only.

EDIT: I may have found it. It looks like you must first select Connection Sharing: Share a public IP address for the NAT tab (and DHCP) to appear. Does this sound correct?

Under Service I have 15 choices but none are Custom. Is Apple Remote Desktop correct?

Message was edited by: William Julien2

Message was edited by: William Julien2

Reply

Answer 3

Jul 11, 2010 5:39 PM in response to William Julien2

Just trying to Update to Share a public IP address. When I hit Update I get the following 2 error messages.

Correct the 2 problems below before updating this AirPort device.

Item
DHCP Beginning Address 192.168.1.2
DHCP Ending Address 192.168.200

What o I need to change these to?

Also since there is no Custom choice for Service: what is correct choice (Apple Remote Desktop, Windows Sharing, Remote Logon - SHH or any other)?

Reply

Answer 4

Jul 11, 2010 6:04 PM in response to William Julien2

Forgot to add that it says:

The DHPC range you have entered conflicts with the WAN IP address of your AirPort wireless device.

Reply

Answer 5

Tesserax

Level 10

160,624 points

Jul 11, 2010 6:49 PM in response to William Julien2

EDIT: I may have found it. It looks like you must first select Connection Sharing: Share a public IP address for the NAT tab (and DHCP) to appear. Does this sound correct?

Yes, that is correct. You only have access to Port Mapping when the NAT service is enabled. Port mapping allows you to open ports in a NAT firewall. NAT is only enabled on the AirPorts when Connection Sharing = Share a public IP address.

Under Service I have 15 choices but none are Custom. Is Apple Remote Desktop correct?

Oops sorry, that option appears in the Windows version of the AirPort Utility. Apple Remote Desktop would give you at least one of the correct ports that you are looking for. The Service Types are just templates to make configuring port mapping easier. You actually do not need to choose any of them and just create the maps directly.

Reply

Answer 6

Tesserax

Level 10

160,624 points

Jul 11, 2010 7:08 PM in response to William Julien2

Ok, I think we need to backtrack a bit.

I believe your current network configuration consists of two 802.11n AirPort Express Base Stations (AXn) ... correct?

... and they are configured something like the following: Internet modem > Ethernet cable > AXn#1 >>> wireless >>> AXn#2. Finally, AXn#1 is configured to be extended, and AXn#2 is configured to extend AXn#1 ... correct?

If these are correct, then the AXn that we need to configure for port mapping is AXn#1. That is because AXn#2 will automatically be in bridge mode with all of its ports already opened. Were you trying to reconfigure AXn#2 when you got these errors?

Reply

Answer 7

Jul 12, 2010 4:08 AM in response to Tesserax

Thanks, but I'm getting the errors on the Wireless AirPort and not the AirPort configured for extended (the extended doesn't even allow you to change from bridge and is grayed out). Here is my setup.

AirPort1 802.11n named Wireless (set to Create a wireless network)
AirPort2 802.11n named Bedroom (set to Extend wireless network & also iTunes speaker)

Both are working fine until.....

On the Wireless (AirPort1) when I try to *switch on Internet: Internet Connection: Connection Sharing from Off (Bridge Mode) to Share a Public IP Address then hit Update I get the 2 DHCP (beginning and end) error messages. It looks like AirPort Utility wants me to manually change these numbers. What would I need to change them to or how do I find the correct values? They are now:

* Picture http://photos.imageevent.com/williamjulien/eastbayshirt/screenshot071.jpg

DHCP Beginning Address 192.168.1.2
DHCP Ending Address 192.168.1.200

Picture http://photos.imageevent.com/williamjulien/eastbayshirt/screenshot062.jpg

null

Reply

Answer 8

Jul 12, 2010 12:30 PM in response to William Julien2

I believe my problems relate to having to use the Linksys as the Internet connection. The AirPort and Linksys seem to be fighting or conflicting over who's in charge of what. I must have wired as well as wireless so I guess I can't just use the AirPort Express by itself. Tried connecting my cable modem to my ethernet 1000mb 6 way switch but it doesn't work (all the LED's start blinking super fast and no internet at any computer). I guess the raw internet signal sent over ethernet from the cable modem must be decoded/incoded or whatever to be sent over ethernet to each computer. Looks like I will have to get an Extreme to have both wireless and 1000mb wired.

Does this sound correct or at least plausible?

Reply

Answer 9

Jul 12, 2010 12:40 PM in response to William Julien2

I believe my problems relate to having to use the Linksys as the Internet connection. The AirPort and Linksys seem to be fighting or conflicting over who's in charge of what. I must have wired as well as wireless so I guess I can't just use the AirPort Express by itself. Tried connecting my cable modem to my ethernet 1000mb 6 way switch but it doesn't work (all the LED's start blinking super fast and no internet at any computer). I guess the raw internet signal sent over ethernet from the cable modem must be decoded/incoded or whatever to be sent over ethernet to each computer. Looks like I will have to get an Extreme to have both wireless and 1000mb wired.

Does this sound correct or at least plausible?

EDIT: As a side note: does this look like the way I need to configure my port mapping? Also it adds 3238 automatically, what is that port too?

Picture: http://photos.imageevent.com/williamjulien/eastbayshirt/screenshot_08.jpg

Message was edited by: William Julien2

Reply

Answer 10

Tesserax

Level 10

160,624 points

Jul 12, 2010 12:56 PM in response to William Julien2

On the Wireless (AirPort1) when I try to *switch on Internet: Internet Connection: Connection Sharing from Off (Bridge Mode) to Share a Public IP Address then hit Update I get the 2 DHCP (beginning and end) error messages.

What is upstream (between AX "Wireless" and the Internet) of AX "Wireless?" A modem, another router, or both?

Reply

Answer 11

Tesserax

Level 10

160,624 points

Jul 12, 2010 1:03 PM in response to William Julien2

I believe my problems relate to having to use the Linksys as the Internet connection. The AirPort and Linksys seem to be fighting or conflicting over who's in charge of what.

What is the model number of this Linksys device? Is the Linksys connected directly to the Internet modem, and in turn, the "Wireless" AX connected to the Linksys?

Reply

Answer 12

Jul 12, 2010 1:40 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks, but I just ordered an Extreme.

I have tried many combos but here is most basic setup.

Cable Internet> Cable modem Ethernet out> Linksys WRT300N (WiFi off) Ethernet> 6 port 1000mb Ethernet switch> (4 wired Ethernet devices) AirPort Express1 (Wireless), Mac Pro, HTPC and unRAID server all 4 connected by wired Ethernet. Wireless I have an iPhone 4, an iPad, plus an AirPort Express2 (Bedroom for extended and iTunes music).

Also in my picture does it look like I have the port mapping set up correctly (sans a typo extra 0 in first setting)?

Reply

Answer 13

Tesserax

Level 10

160,624 points

Jul 12, 2010 9:26 PM in response to William Julien2

Since you have a Linksys router upstream of the AirPort, you will need to open the ports on the Linksys as the AirPort would have to be reconfigured as a bridge.

In this case, you would need to use the Linksys' web-based administration to configure the appropriate ports to open on the Linksys firewall.

Sorry, I was led to believe that you had the AirPort directly connected to the modem.

Reply