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Airport extreme disk access over WAN

Hi,


I tried all recommended procedures to make usb disk connected to my AEBS working over the WAN I have found at the internet in last two weeks.


I have a static IP address. My ISP does not block the ports 445 and 548. I do not have a MobileMe account.


In my LAN it works. Could someone be so kind and help me to set my AEBS in order to access my usb disk over the WAN?


Thanks a lot


Lukas

Airport Extreme-OTHER

Posted on Jul 4, 2011 8:52 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Jul 4, 2011 12:27 PM

Ok, so let's go over the basic steps to see if anything was missed.


  1. Start the AirPort Utility > Select the AEBSn, and then, note the IP address shown.
  2. Select Manual Setup.
  3. Verify that Connection Sharing = Share a public IP address is selected on the Internet > Internet Connection tab.
  4. Select Disks, and then, select File Sharing.
  5. Verify that both the "Enable file sharing" and "Share disks over WAN" options are enabled.
  6. Verify that Secure Shared Disks = With a disk password. (Recommended)
  7. Verify that AirPort Disks Guest Access = Not allowed. (Recommended)
  8. Select Advanced, and then, select the Port Mapping tab.
  9. Click the plus sign to add a new port mapping.
  10. For Service, select the "Personal File Sharing" option. (Note: This option would only allow Mac clients to access the AirPort Disks. If you want both Macs and PCs to connect, you would need to leave this field at its default value and enter the appropriate SMB ports to the mix of ports to be opened.)
  11. In the Public UDP Port(s) and Public TCP Port(s) boxes, type in a 4-digit port number (e.g., 8888) that you choose. In the Private IP Address box, type the internal IP address of your AEBSn that you wrote down in step 1. In the Private UDP Port(s) and Private TCP Port(s) boxes, type 548. Click Continue.
  12. In the Description box, type a descriptive name like "AirPort Disk File Sharing," and then, click Done.
  13. Click on Update.


To connect to the shared AirPort Disk from a remote location using a Mac:

  1. From the Finder > Go > Connect to Server.
  2. Enter the DynDNS-provided Domain Name or Pubic (WAN-side) IP address of the AEBSn, followed by a colon and the Public port number that you choose in step 11 of the previous procedure. For example: afp://www.mydyndnsdomain.com:8888 or afp://123.456.789.123:8888
  3. Click Connect.
  4. You should be prompted for your user name and password. The user name can be anything you like; the password should be the Disk password for the AEBSn that you created in step 6 previously.
  5. Click Connect.
13 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jul 4, 2011 12:27 PM in response to Lumic

Ok, so let's go over the basic steps to see if anything was missed.


  1. Start the AirPort Utility > Select the AEBSn, and then, note the IP address shown.
  2. Select Manual Setup.
  3. Verify that Connection Sharing = Share a public IP address is selected on the Internet > Internet Connection tab.
  4. Select Disks, and then, select File Sharing.
  5. Verify that both the "Enable file sharing" and "Share disks over WAN" options are enabled.
  6. Verify that Secure Shared Disks = With a disk password. (Recommended)
  7. Verify that AirPort Disks Guest Access = Not allowed. (Recommended)
  8. Select Advanced, and then, select the Port Mapping tab.
  9. Click the plus sign to add a new port mapping.
  10. For Service, select the "Personal File Sharing" option. (Note: This option would only allow Mac clients to access the AirPort Disks. If you want both Macs and PCs to connect, you would need to leave this field at its default value and enter the appropriate SMB ports to the mix of ports to be opened.)
  11. In the Public UDP Port(s) and Public TCP Port(s) boxes, type in a 4-digit port number (e.g., 8888) that you choose. In the Private IP Address box, type the internal IP address of your AEBSn that you wrote down in step 1. In the Private UDP Port(s) and Private TCP Port(s) boxes, type 548. Click Continue.
  12. In the Description box, type a descriptive name like "AirPort Disk File Sharing," and then, click Done.
  13. Click on Update.


To connect to the shared AirPort Disk from a remote location using a Mac:

  1. From the Finder > Go > Connect to Server.
  2. Enter the DynDNS-provided Domain Name or Pubic (WAN-side) IP address of the AEBSn, followed by a colon and the Public port number that you choose in step 11 of the previous procedure. For example: afp://www.mydyndnsdomain.com:8888 or afp://123.456.789.123:8888
  3. Click Connect.
  4. You should be prompted for your user name and password. The user name can be anything you like; the password should be the Disk password for the AEBSn that you created in step 6 previously.
  5. Click Connect.

Aug 12, 2012 8:05 AM in response to ipad iphone

I have a follow up question to Lukas's original question. I have ane xternal HDD connected to the Airport extreme, connection to the sever works great. I have also downloaded a software that updates the IP adress since myne is a dynamic one. I have a domain address XXXXX.mine.nu as connect to the server and to mount my HDD on to the extreme.


Is there anyway I can access this HDD connected to the domain over the internet from work over a windows (XP) computer??? I have looked all over and cannot seem to find a reasonable answer....

Sep 25, 2015 8:13 AM in response to Tesserax

I have a AEBS Model A1470. I plugged in a GoFlex 1.5 TB drive to the USB port on the back. Then I went to the Airport Utility and the AEBS to edit. Under Disk tab, I expected to see the drive, but it never sees it and there does not appear to have a way in the AEBS software to add the drive.


What I am ultimately trying to do is set up a disk that can be used to FTP over WAN.


The drive that I have connect is Seagate's FreeAgent GoFlex. It has only a USE connector, expecting power from whatever it plugs it USB into. This may be the problem but am not sure. I plugged it in and at seemed to light everything up and the disk started up. But, now I went back down and the light was off and the drive stopped. I unplugged it and brought it back up to my office and plugged it into my Macbook Air and it is running just fine.


Is it possible that the AEBS won't continuously power this type of drive? Do I need to get a drive that has it's own power source? Or am I missing something?

Sep 25, 2015 8:50 AM in response to LD34

Chances are good that if the AirPort Utility does not recognize this drive, it's either not supported or the base station cannot provide it with enough power to operate it properly. To verify, whether or not, the GoFlex is not faulty try connecting it directly to your Mac or PC. If it works then another option would be to get a powered-USB port. Plug this port into the AirPort's USB port, and then, plug the GoFlex into powered-USB port.

Sep 25, 2015 9:06 AM in response to LD34

I plugged in a GoFlex 1.5 TB drive to the USB port on the back. Then I went to the Airport Utility and the AEBS to edit. Under Disk tab, I expected to see the drive, but it never sees it and there does not appear to have a way in the AEBS software to add the drive.

Two possibilities......


1) The AirPort Extreme USB port will only support a drive that is formatted for Mac in Mac OS Extended (Journaled), or in a Windows format of FAT16 or FAT32.


Unless you purchased a drive that specifically states that it is formatted for Mac, you likely have drive that was formatted for one of the more common Windows formats of NTFS or exFAT, neither of which are supported by the AirPort Extreme. If that is the case, then you will need to reformat the drive using Disk Utility on your Mac first, before you connect it to the USB port on the AirPort


2) The AirPort Extreme USB port, actually it is USB 2.0....not the newer and faster USB 3.0.....is not a high power port, like you would typically find on a computer. So, if you have the drive formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled)....strongly recommended....and the drive still will not show up when you check in AirPort Utility, you may need use a powered USB hub.....even if your drive has its own power supply.


I unplugged it and brought it back up to my office and plugged it into my Macbook Air and it is running just fine.

The Mac supports more formats than the AirPort Extreme, so if your drive is set up as NTFS or exFAT, the Mac can read the drive. The AirPort Extreme cannot.


Finally, some drives that are formatted correctly and used with a powered USB hub just don't work at the USB port of the AirPort Extreme for unknown reasons. Apple does not provide a compatibility list, so that makes things difficult. About all that you can do in this case is try a drive from another manufacturer.

Sep 25, 2015 12:46 PM in response to Tesserax

I tried to follow your recommendations on making this drive accessible over WAN for use as my FTP server, but just can't get this to work right. My version of Airport Utility is 6.3.5 and some of my Tabs don't look like what you have described.


I want to be able for myself and maybe a couple other people to be able to ftp files to and from this drive. If possible, I would like it so they each would have their own folder, but with me as administrator, be able to move things into or out of their folders. We work on programs often that are the same program name, but for different customers and do not want to mix them.

Sep 25, 2015 1:32 PM in response to LD34


My version of Airport Utility is 6.3.5 and some of my Tabs don't look like what you have described.

The (correct at the time) instructions that Tesserax provided were posted over 4 years ago.


Much has changed in the last 4 years. Let's give Tesserax an opportunity to update the steps to track with the newer version of AirPort Utility.

Sep 25, 2015 2:16 PM in response to LD34

LD34 wrote:


I tried to follow your recommendations on making this drive accessible over WAN for use as my FTP server, but just can't get this to work right. My version of Airport Utility is 6.3.5 and some of my Tabs don't look like what you have described.


Apple do not support FTP protocol in the airport.


You must use something like a NAS plugged into the airport which does..


The access protocols supported are SMB and AFP. And only AFP is opened to the outside world. People do work arounds with SMB but it is not good.. SMB is not secure and should only be used on local network or via vpn tunnels.


FTP is not supported at all.. Try it in the local network.. you cannot reach an airport connected disk by ftp.

Sep 25, 2015 4:55 PM in response to LD34

I tried to follow your recommendations on making this drive accessible over WAN for use as my FTP server, but just can't get this to work right.

The AirPort User Tip that I provided does not cover accessing via FTP, only via AFP, as the instructions are for providing remote access to a file server ... not an FTP server.

My version of Airport Utility is 6.3.5 and some of my Tabs don't look like what you have described.

You are correct for Method #3 in my tip. I will work on getting this updated soon. Thx!

Airport extreme disk access over WAN

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