Port forwarding and Connecting to FileMaker on my home MacBook from external network

[jbmoore]

Here's all of the details:
I have a Motorola cable modem, a Time capsule, and a MacBook Pro. The time capsule is plugged into the modem. All the devices in my house connect to the wi-if provided by the time-capsule.
I know my external ip, the internal ip to my modem, the internal ip to my time capsule, and internal ip to my laptop. I know how to get to the port forwarding screen in airport utility.
I'm not real sure how to set up the port forwarding though. I've tried, but it doesn't seem to be working. It ask for public TCP port, private IP address, and private tcp port.
I don't see anywhere on the Motorola page to change any configurations, I can only view them.
The ip for the modem starts with 192.168
The ip for the time capsule starts with 10.0
And of course the external ip is completely different.
Once I turned on web publishing in FileMaker, it said for users to connect via 10.0.x.x which is the ip assigned to that computer.
(I'm using 3 words to talk about the same device, computer, MacBook, and laptop.)

I've checked my firewall settings, I am allowing connections to FileMaker as well as a few other things like screen sharing. I went to portCheckTool.com and tried a couple different ports, it says unable. Reason: No route to host

Could somebody please walk me through the steps that I should be taking to set this up properly?

Thanks.

 

[belvdr]

Did you have it scan your external IP? If so, what is your external IP? It sounds like it may not be a publicly routable IP address.

 

[jbmoore]

Did you have it scan your external IP? If so, what is your external IP? It sounds like it may not be a publicly routable IP address.

Yes, it auto fills in the external ip and all I have to enter is a port number. The ip started with 173. Is it safe to give out the full ip on here?

I set up a webcam a couple years ago here with the same ISP, same computer, modem, and router. That use to work but the camera was junk and I threw it away.

Why would it not be a publicly routable IP address? I haven't heard of that before. Do I have to contact my ISP and have them change something?

 

[belvdr]

If your external IP starts with 173, you are good.

You might try another port scan tool as well. Are you able to load the page internally?

Also what values did you place in the fields for the port forward? It should be 80 for the public and private port and the internal IP address for the private IP address.

 

[jbmoore]

If your external IP starts with 173, you are good.

You might try another port scan tool as well. Are you able to load the page internally?

Also what values did you place in the fields for the port forward? It should be 80 for the public and private port and the internal IP address for the private IP address.

Ok. I'm traveling right now, I'll have to try another port scan tool when I get back home.
Yes I can load the page from another device in the same network. (My iPad). I just type in the local ip of my laptop. 10.x.x.x (i didn't have to type a port number if I remember right) and my FileMaker database shows up in my browser.

FileMaker has registered port 591 as an internet web publishing port with who ever that authority is that keeps a list of ports. So I tried 591. I think I also tried 80 but I can't remember for sure. Does the exact port number really matter? Oh I guess it does to the firewall.
So now when I'm outside the local network, should I type the external ip, a colon, and the port number like this 173.x.x.x:80 but with numbers instead of x's.?

I am able to screen share using a program installed on both devices while away from home. It's just a little slow.

 

[belvdr]

Ok. I'm traveling right now, I'll have to try another port scan tool when I get back home.
Yes I can load the page from another device in the same network. (My iPad). I just type in the local ip of my laptop. 10.x.x.x (i didn't have to type a port number if I remember right) and my FileMaker database shows up in my browser.

FileMaker has registered port 591 as an internet web publishing port with who ever that authority is that keeps a list of ports. So I tried 591. I think I also tried 80 but I can't remember for sure. Does the exact port number really matter? Oh I guess it does to the firewall.
So now when I'm outside the local network, should I type the external ip, a colon, and the port number like this 173.x.x.x:80 but with numbers instead of x's.?

I am able to screen share using a program installed on both devices while away from home. It's just a little slow.

These days, browsers default to port 80, so you only need to type the external IP. As you stated, ports do matter to the firewall, so those need to be accurate. If you put 8080 in the public port and 80 on the private port, then you'd need to put 173.x.y.z:8080 in your browser to access it.

Of course, this all assumes FileMaker isn't trying to redirect you to the internal IP. Some webapps attempt that, which won't work through a NAT device without configuration.

 

[jbmoore]

These days, browsers default to port 80, so you only need to type the external IP. As you stated, ports do matter to the firewall, so those need to be accurate. If you put 8080 in the public port and 80 on the private port, then you'd need to put 173.x.y.z:8080 in your browser to access it.

Of course, this all assumes FileMaker isn't trying to redirect you to the internal IP. Some webapps attempt that, which won't work through a NAT device without configuration.

Thank you for all of your help, I did finally get it working. I think it was because I was trying to use ports other than 80 and they were probably blocked by my firewall. It's all working now. Thanks again.