Wake on Lan (WOL) Guidance Needed

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Wake on Lan (WOL) Guidance Needed

Need some help with using WOL to access my MacMini from my other IOS devices. I have researched and tried everything, but am hoping that I can find people who know networking with Macs who might be able to tell me where I'm going wrong. A couple of things to note:

1) My MacMini is connected to the internet by an Ethernet cable at my home.

2) I want to be able to wake it from a sleep state, not only on my own network, but when I'm away from my home on another wireless network or on my 4G iPhone connection.

3) I have set up a static IP address, Wake On Lan in the Networking area of System Preferences, and set up Port Forwarding on ports 7 and 9 on my Linksys router.

Anyone's help who has experience setting this up or in networking would be greatly appreciated. I have watched many videos, read many articles and forums, tried many different applications (TeamViewer, Mocha WOL, Fing, RemotBoot, etc.) and have had no luck even waking it up while on the same network.

Thank you in advance for any help!

Mac mini

Posted on Sep 29, 2015 10:38 PM

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Answer 1

lllaass

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Sep 30, 2015 12:46 AM in response to bohanigans

Can you do it via TeamViewer when the accessing device is connected to the same network? Trying to help find where the problem is

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Answer 2

bohanigans Author

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Sep 30, 2015 9:48 AM in response to lllaass

Illass,

Thank you for the reply. No, TeamViewer wouldn't work to wake it up, even when on the same network. Could it be that I was using Wifi on my iPhone/iPad, but the computer is connected by an ethernet cable?

I ended up trying calling Team Viewer's customer service, but they stated that using WOL from another network wasn't supported for Mac's. They just didn't seem helpful in general unfortunately.

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Answer 3

lllaass

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Sep 30, 2015 9:58 AM in response to bohanigans

Sounds like Team Viewer does not support waking a Mac from sleep. However, this says it does and gives instructions for how to to that

https://www.teamviewer.com/en/res/pdf/Teamviewer9-Manual-Wake-on-LAN-en.pdf.

It does not make any difference that Mac was connected by Ethernet and phone via wifi to the same network. To try again I would turn off cellular data on the phone to make sure you are connect tot the same network

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Answer 4

bohanigans Author

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Sep 30, 2015 10:10 AM in response to lllaass

Yea that was what I was using to initially set it up, which is why I too was confused why they were telling me it wouldn't work.

I can try calling again I suppose.

Do you think if I can get to work on the Local Network, I'd be able to figure out what the issue is to use it from a different network?

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Answer 5

lllaass

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Sep 30, 2015 10:13 AM in response to bohanigans

Yes, if yo can get Wake on Lan to work on same network it should work across the internet

Can you connect via Team Viewer if not sleeping?

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Answer 6

bohanigans Author

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Sep 30, 2015 10:59 AM in response to lllaass

I can connect if its not sleeping.

So you're saying if I can get the WOL to work on the same network, I can get it to work from anywhere, including another wireless network away from my home or 4G on my iphone?

Have you personally been able to get this to work?

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Answer 7

Linc Davis

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Sep 30, 2015 3:39 PM in response to bohanigans

About Wake on Demand and Bonjour Sleep Proxy

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Answer 8

bohanigans Author

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Sep 30, 2015 3:49 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thank for the response. I've reviewed this article before I believe. From what I understand, isn't Back to My Mac only able to be utilized on another Mac? I'm trying to turn it on remotely from my iPhone or iPad.

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Answer 9

Linc Davis

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Sep 30, 2015 4:18 PM in response to bohanigans

In order for wake on demand to work, you need a Bonjour sleep proxy on the local network. You don't seem to have one.

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Answer 10

bohanigans Author

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Sep 30, 2015 8:59 PM in response to Linc Davis

I have an AppleTV on the same network, and according to the article I should have Bonjour Sleep Proxy. How do I find out if its on or activate it?

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Answer 11

Linc Davis

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Sep 30, 2015 9:05 PM in response to bohanigans

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

dns-sd -B _sleep-proxy._udp local

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).

You may see some output below what you entered, like this:

Browsing for _sleep-proxy._udp.local
DATE: ...
... ...STARTING...
Timestamp A/R Flags if Domain Service Type Instance Name

Below that is a list of the Bonjour sleep proxies advertised on the network. The name of each proxy is at the end of the line. If you don't see any such output, no sleep proxy is available.

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Answer 12

bohanigans Author

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Oct 5, 2015 8:08 PM in response to Linc Davis

Ok, I did as you said, and unfortunately nothing came up after the "....STARTING...." message.

Do you know how I might obtain Bonjour Sleep Proxy availability?

Please let me know, and thank you for your help!

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Answer 13

Linc Davis

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Oct 6, 2015 7:31 PM in response to bohanigans

Either the sleep proxy isn't working, or your router doesn't pass the necessary traffic (likely.) It must be able to route IPv6 packets. Refer to the manufacturer's documentation to see whether there's a setting for that.

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Answer 14

bohanigans Author

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Oct 6, 2015 9:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hmmm I checked my router setup, and it looks like I do have the capability to set it up for IPv6 packets. Not sure how to set it up accordingly for Bonjour Sleep Proxy.

Do you by any chance know where I could find out how to set that up?

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Answer 15

Oct 7, 2015 2:33 AM in response to bohanigans

bohanigans wrote:

I have an AppleTV on the same network, and according to the article I should have Bonjour Sleep Proxy. How do I find out if its on or activate it?

I am presuming you have an Apple TV v2 or later i.e. a 'black' one. Although I don't believe it should be necessary it would do no harm making sure it has the latest software.

However possibly the main issue is how your WiFi and Ethernet are linked. If you have a WiFi basestation 'bridging' the two networks together it is more likely to work. If you are using an Apple AirPort Extreme it is also more likely to work as that itself can also act as a Bonjour Sleep Proxy. If you merely have a different brand with the WiFi and Ethernet on different IPv4 subnets then this maybe the problem.

If you only have a single router e.g. an Internet router connecting to the Internet and both Ethernet and WiFi these are typically running in bridged mode.

I have just done the test command listed by Linc Davis on both my work and home networks. As I expected my work network does not have a Bonjour Sleep Proxy, but my home has two Apple AirPort Extreme which are listed, surprisingly it did not list my Apple TV v3 running the latest software so this is consistent with your experience. As you will also have seen Apple's article says even if the Apple TV is sleeping it should still work. (My Ethernet and WiFi are bridged.)

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