Back To My Mac times out

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Level 1

1 points

Back To My Mac times out

I'm running Mountain Lion on one MacPro and Mavericks on the second MacPro (however had the same issue when both MacPros were on Mountain Lion). The first issue is that when I try to connect and screen share it takes about 4 - 5 minutes for the connection to finally occur and I see the log-in screen of the other MacPro. I begin working remotely and everything is fine. However after about 20 minutes I will lose connection and see the Reconnecting dial spinning away. If I wait about 10 minutes it will resolve and I will be back in the log-in screen on the remote MacPro (as if I had logged out). I will then continue to work for another 20 minutes and once again it will time out and I will be back to the spinning dial.

I have an Airport Extreme at both locations, both MacPros have "Wake on LAN" turned on, both have been set to not fall asleep ever.

Is this a common issue or is there any help someone can provide me?

Thank you very much.

Posted on Dec 17, 2013 8:55 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

sterling r

Community Specialist

Dec 19, 2013 2:55 PM in response to Jeki

Hey there Jeki,

It sounds like you are running into an issue where after some time the connection over Back to my Mac is timing out. I recommend these troubleshooting steps from the article named:

OS X: Using and troubleshooting Back to My Mac with your iCloud account

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4907

Troubleshooting Back to My Mac

If Back to My Mac is not working as expected, try the troubleshooting steps below, if they apply.

Update all your Macs to OS X Lion v10.7.3 or later (OS X Lion v10.7.4 or later is recommended).

Choose System Preferences from the Apple () menu. Open iCloud System Preferences and check that Back to My Mac is enabled. See if any diagnostic messages are provided under the Back to My Mac section to assist you with troubleshooting and resolving any connection issue.

Toggle Back To My Mac off and back on by deselecting and then reselecting Back To My Mac in iCloud System Preferences.

Make sure the computer you are trying to connect to is not sleeping and is set to Wake on Demand. For more information about Wake on Demand, see this article.

If you are using an AirPort base station, make sure your firmware is up-to-date (open AirPort Utility 6.0 or later).

Check your network for a multiple NAT setup and reconfigure your network as needed.

Make sure NAT-PMP or UPnP is enabled (if you are using an AirPort Extreme Gigabit Ethernet base station, click here for information about AirPort Extreme Gigabit Ethernet and NAT PMP).

Ensure TCP port 5354 and UDP ports 4500 and 5353 are open on your firewall. To learn more about ports used by Apple products, click here.

And this if needed:

If you still are unable to use Back to My Mac reliably

Contact iCloud Support. Be sure to provide the following information:

A detailed description of your network setup for each computer, including router types or models and modem brands.

The details or screenshots of any diagnostic messages provided in the Back to My Mac System Preferences pane. (For assistance with screenshots, see this article for OS X Lion or this article for OS X Mountain Lion.)

The results of the traceroute performed on each computer when checking for a multiple NAT setup. (For assistance with capturing the traceroute, see this article for OS X Lion or this article for OS X Mountain Lion.)

The Computer Name and Local Hostname of each of your computers.

Any other troubleshooting steps you have performed.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Take care,

Sterling

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Answer 2

Jeki Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 26, 2013 1:26 PM in response to sterling r

Thank you for your response Sterling. I double checked all of my settings and they do meet the requirements mentioned in the article. I will follow up with iCloud Support. Thank you for the help.

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