Remote connection via TCP/IP to home Mac suplied by FIOS broadband fiber?

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Level 1

9 points

Remote connection via TCP/IP to home Mac suplied by FIOS broadband fiber?

I can't seem to find or figure out how to remotely access my home G3/G4 computer which has Verizon FIOS internet service through a D-Link wi-fi router from my work G5. I can access files on my work G5 from home using normal afp with TCP/IP, but can't connect to my home computer from work. I called Verizon support and was informed that port 80 is blocked on residential accounts and that I should use Apple Remote Desktop. As that software is pricey for a single user I wonder if the rep was correct. Is there some simple router port transfer that would allow normal tcp/ip afp file transfer or other viable alternative? As I recall the rep also mentioned something unfavorable about the use of VPNs as well. I am not eager to resort to SSH as I know practically nothing about Unix and avoid the terminal application whenever possible. Thanks , Bill

G5 dual 2.3 ghz; B&W G3 upgraded to 500mhz G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) G5 has OS 10.4.4 installed

G5 dual 2.3 ghz; B&W G3 upgraded to 500mhz G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) G5 has OS 10.4.4 installed

Posted on Jan 24, 2006 6:53 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 24, 2006 9:10 PM in response to squidman

squidman,

A few more details would really help assess you situation. Please post the answers to the following:

1) Does your Verizon service give you a static IP address or does it assign a dynamic IP address using DHCP (I'm just not familier with Verison FIOS).

2) Have you configured your D-Link to either do port-forwarding or to place your home computer on it's DMZ.

Those questions should reveal your connection problem(s) and help forum posters suggest solutions. From the answers that the Verizon support person gave you I would guess that they are clueless.

The simple answer to your question is that "yes" you should be able to do SSH, AFP, HTTP (using a port other than 80), or Remote Desktop (free using VNC) to your home Mac. The complicated parts are that:

1) you need to resolve potential issues with your work's firewall,
2) ports may be blocked by Verizon,
3) you must know your home Mac's IP (either a static IP or via DDNS service),
4) you must configure your D-link to allow incoming connections to needed ports through,
5) you must enable and configure needed server processes on your Mac.

Post some more detailed information and I'm sure that someone on this Forum will be glad to help.

Tim

17 PB G4, Xserve G5x2, XRAID 2.5TB, 20 iMac G5, 17 iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

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Answer 2

squidman Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 25, 2006 8:28 AM in response to FishingAddict

Tim suggested I post the following additional info.
1. To my knowledge Verizon FIOS uses DHCP. If that can be changed I don't know.
2. I have done nothing to the router about port forwarding being clueless, aside from the Apple Knowledgebase list of port useage, as to what port(s) to chose.

As an aside, Port 80 is blocked for non-commmercial Verizon FIOS users. Further, the Verizon FIOS support page is virtually useless beyond the basic FAQs re: connecting to the internet and barebones router configuration.
I did obtain an IP address from the router which I connected to from my G4 at home, but I suspect it is the router address only, not mine or perhaps my wife's address since the account was set up on her Wintel XP box. I haven't discovered yet how to insure that I have my own personal ip address.

I did sucessfully ping the ip address I obtained, traced the route to the router, but was unable to find any information about using WHOIS nor learn what poerts were open using Port Scan in Network Utilities.

I think that is about all I can add by way of background now.

Thanks all.

squidman,

A few more details would really help assess you
situation. Please post the answers to the
following:

1) Does your Verizon service give you a static IP
address or does it assign a dynamic IP address using
DHCP (I'm just not familier with Verison FIOS).

2) Have you configured your D-Link to either do
port-forwarding or to place your home computer on
it's DMZ.

Those questions should reveal your connection
problem(s) and help forum posters suggest solutions.
From the answers that the Verizon support person
gave you I would guess that they are clueless.

The simple answer to your question is that "yes" you
should be able to do SSH, AFP, HTTP (using a port
other than 80), or Remote Desktop (free using VNC) to
your home Mac. The complicated parts are that:

1) you need to resolve potential issues with your
work's firewall,
2) ports may be blocked by Verizon,
3) you must know your home Mac's IP (either a static
IP or via DDNS service),
4) you must configure your D-link to allow incoming
connections to needed ports through,
5) you must enable and configure needed server
processes on your Mac.

Post some more detailed information and I'm sure that
someone on this Forum will be glad to help.

Tim

17 PB G4, Xserve
G5x2, XRAID 2.5TB, 20 iMac G5, 17 iMac G4 Mac
OS X (10.4.3)

G5 dual 2.3 ghz; B&W G3 upgraded to 500mhz G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) G5 has OS 10.4.4 installed

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Answer 3

Jan 25, 2006 8:25 PM in response to squidman

squidman,

Below are the steps you need to take to make it work. It would take a hugh post to cover all the details so I'll give you the summary so you can decide if you want to try it. If you are willing to give it all a try then take it one step at a time and ask for more assistance as needed:

1) Your router is likely assigned an external (Internet reachable) IP address by DHCP from your ISP. However, this IP can and will change. Therefore, to be able to even find your router on the Internet you need a reliable way refer to your router no matter what it's IP is. To do this you need to set up what is called Dynamic DNS (DDNS). To do so I recommend going to http://www.dyndns.com/, reading up on DDNS, then signing up for a free DDNS account and domain name, then downloading and installing the client, then setting it up on your Mac.

2) On your Mac, turn off your firewall completely while testing (to remove yet another layer of complexity). You can turn this back on after you get it all working.

3) On your Mac, turn on "Personal File Sharing" in the Sharing preference pane.

4) On your router, you will need to either put the Mac you want to reach on the "DMZ" or enable port forwarding to its private (internal) IP address for ports 548 and 427.

5) Lastly, I would disable the firewall on your router as well until you get it all working, then reenable it later.

Unfortionatly, making a remote connection to your home Mac's files through the Internet is not a trivial task considering all the steps needed. However, if you take it one step at a time I'm sure that you can get the help needed on this Forum.

Tim

17 PB G4, Xserve G5x2, XRAID 2.5TB, 20 iMac G5, 17 iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

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Answer 4

dhbwell

Level 2

230 points

Feb 26, 2006 6:35 PM in response to FishingAddict

"On your router, you will need to..."

Tim...

Any idea what kind of configuration is required if the home Mac is connected to the internet via an Airport Extreme basestation that has an ethernet connection to a Comcast cable modem?

Thanks...
Doug

G5 Quad Mac OS X (10.4.4)

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Answer 5

squidman Author

Level 1

9 points

Feb 26, 2006 7:45 PM in response to squidman

I can't seem to find or figure out how to remotely
access my home G3/G4 computer which has Verizon FIOS
internet service through a D-Link wi-fi router from
my work G5. I can access files on my work G5 from
home using normal afp with TCP/IP, but can't connect
to my home computer from work. I called Verizon
support and was informed that port 80 is blocked on
residential accounts .....

Following Tim's suggestions of a while back, I have suceeded in establishing connections both from my home computer to work and the reverse, using Apple File Protocol. The knucklehead from Verizon who installed the fiber optic connection boxes and then set up the router for my wife's WinXP box neglected to provide us with the D-Link wireless router manual! Fortunately I was able to download the proper one from D-Link. Their support section is vastly superior to that of Verizon FIOS, which is nearly impossible to find in the first place!! After reading through it carefully, Tim's "to do's" and how to do them became much clearer. In fact, I discovered that the supplied D-link router (DV 624 rev c) has a built-in option to use DynDNS for a static I.P. address. I established an account there (DynDNS) beforehand and then simply entered the new "static" ip address in the appropriate box in the router setup. I also downloaded and installed their "static i.p." updater for when Verizon changes the router I.P.

On another note of possible interest to OS X users with pre-Airport capabilities: Orangeware at http://www.orangeware.com/endusers/wirelessformac.html offers a PCI wireless card driver for Macs that works with a large number of cards that use the Atheron chipset by 3-Com(?). It cosys $15.00, but you get free 10 minute trial sessions for testing.

Thanks again Tim for your very essential points in the right direction.

Cheers, Squidman

G5 dual 2.3 ghz; B&W G3 upgraded to 500mhz G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) G5 has OS 10.4.4 installed

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Answer 6

Feb 27, 2006 4:35 AM in response to squidman

Hi Guys,

Can I come in on the side as I am trying to access my home office network whilst away in hotels etc using broadband.

Maybe there is somewhere else I should be looking, but I just felt you guys were doing what I was after.

I run my office from home with x3 macs via airport, connected to the internet via Netgear router. Latest OS on all machine.

I want to be able to get into my personal office machine from my laptop and broadband, to access Filemaker Pro database and my email in Mail ~ basically I want to run my office computer from the laptop. But as I only need it occasionaly ans a simple method I an trying to avoid expensive and 'complicated' software.

Help and advise will be really appreciated.
David E Melville
(Happy to supply direct contact details)

iMac 15, 17 & 20 plus 12 Powerbook. All linked by Airport Mac OS X (10.4.3)

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Answer 7

dhbwell

Level 2

230 points

Feb 27, 2006 12:57 PM in response to dhbwell

This is scary. Something must be wrong. I got it to work without a whole lot of hassle. 🙂

FWIW, I signed up for a free account on www.dyndns.com and followed their instructions. Downloaded their client updater application which notifies their server if your IP address changes. Changed the local Airport IP address on my home Mac to a static address per their tutorial. Added my account info into the client updater. On my PowerBook, I typed in the host name I got from www.dyndns.com in the connect to server window, and low and behold, I got a file sharing login dialog box from my desktop Mac. I could mount home volumes on my PB across the Internet using the www.dyndns.com host name.

I didn't have to make any changes to Airport or do any port forwarding, for some reason. I thought I was going to have to figure our what port forwarding was all about. All I did in the Airport utility was to make note of the Comcast DNS server IP addresses and enter them into the networking settings on my Mac when I changed the TCP/IP configuration from DHCP to Manual. And, I didn't have to do anything with my Comcast cable modem (not that I would have known what to do).

Maybe there's another shoe that's going to drop. But connecting my PB to my desktop via the Internt so far seem to not be as difficult as other posts made me think it'd be.

G5 Quad Mac OS X (10.4.4)

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