890L Jetpack port forwarding
ScottDog
Newbie

I've got the new 890L Jetpack, and I'm trying to forward port 3389 so I can log into my machine from the Internet.  I've got the port forward rule defined on the router but it does not seem to be forwarding.  I know the port is open because I can log into the machine locally (from another machine), and my firewall is turned off.

Unfortunately, this router doesn't show it's external ip address, so I am relying on various web sites and no-ip.com to report my external ip address. 

I first tried testing this by logging into computer 'A' which is not using the Jetpack (or Verizon) for access to the Internet.  After successfully logging into this computer, I then tried to log into computer 'B' which uses the Verizon Jetpack to access the Internet from computer 'A'.  This failed.  I then went to a portscanning web site to test for this port to be open on computer 'B', and it shows it as closed.  I can login to computer  'B' from another computer on the same network as machine 'B', so I know the port is open.

Something is blocking this port, or the port is not being forwarded, or I've got the wrong external IP address.  I know nothing is blocking this port from inside the network (because it works), my firewall is not blocking the port from outside the network (firewall is off), and I'm presuming my external IP address reported to me by various web sites is correct.  That leaves only one possibility -- the port is not being forwarded properly.

Anyone else using port forwarding on this router successfully?

Thanks,

Scott

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Re: 890L Jetpack port forwarding
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

Scott,

Here is a diagram I drew when analyzing your post:

Comp A ----- {Internet / VZW} ------MiFi-----[Comp B -----Comp C]

From here it is easy to see that VZW's NAT firewall is blocking communication between Comp A and the local MiFi network.  We see this on every 4G LTE device that VZW has to offer. It is a feature that will not go away and cannot be configured around with Port Forwarding.  VZW IP Addresses are not truely public and thus any local devices that you have (Comp B and C) will not be accesible from a remote location (comp A).

Considering your scenario the best work around would be to establish a VPN connection for all the computers you wish to connect to each other.  With Comp A, B, and C all on the same VPN they will be able to bypass the VZW NAT and communicate as if they were on the same LAN.  This is what we do with our corporate VPN's.  Find a free VPN client and host to bounce off of and you will have no problems. 

Just be weary that the 890L will not allow you to configure the IP Addresses at this time to a different segment.  We discovered this limitation on a different thread.  Any use of a VPN will have to be on a segment outside of the 192.168.1.x IP range.

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Re: 890L Jetpack port forwarding
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

Scott,

Here is a diagram I drew when analyzing your post:

Comp A ----- {Internet / VZW} ------MiFi-----[Comp B -----Comp C]

From here it is easy to see that VZW's NAT firewall is blocking communication between Comp A and the local MiFi network.  We see this on every 4G LTE device that VZW has to offer. It is a feature that will not go away and cannot be configured around with Port Forwarding.  VZW IP Addresses are not truely public and thus any local devices that you have (Comp B and C) will not be accesible from a remote location (comp A).

Considering your scenario the best work around would be to establish a VPN connection for all the computers you wish to connect to each other.  With Comp A, B, and C all on the same VPN they will be able to bypass the VZW NAT and communicate as if they were on the same LAN.  This is what we do with our corporate VPN's.  Find a free VPN client and host to bounce off of and you will have no problems. 

Just be weary that the 890L will not allow you to configure the IP Addresses at this time to a different segment.  We discovered this limitation on a different thread.  Any use of a VPN will have to be on a segment outside of the 192.168.1.x IP range.

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Re: 890L Jetpack port forwarding
ScottDog
Newbie

John:
Hmmm, your response was my first thought as to the root cause, Verizon doing something with the packets.  Of course when I called Verizon, they denied they were blocking anything at all, and when I asked them how to get my external IP address they pointed me to the internal IP address.  STUPID!  That is when I turned to the forum, and your response sounds reasonable.  I like the VPN idea, and I've a VPN host at work I can test it with, and with two NIC's in this machine I should be able to access the local network as well, which is the main goal of this experiment.

Thanks for the response,

Scott

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Re: 890L Jetpack port forwarding
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

1st level VZW tech reps know little about the interworkings of thier network, they are best suited for technical troubleshooting on the devices themselves and ordering replacements.  You would have to get through to an upper level engineer to track down the exact reason / area where your communciation is getting blocked.  That experience is not going to be worth your time anyways because they wont change anything for you.  All 4G LTE devices suffer from the same limitation right now.

I'm confident the VPN solution will work for you considering you are only concerned about computers.  Other web devices like webcams, game consoles and VOIP phones have much fewer options available to them.

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Re: 890L Jetpack port forwarding
t891411
Newbie

Scott,

     I have just successfully implemented port forwarding on a Jetpack 890L. I was only able to do so after activating a Static IP address on the account line.

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