Trying to access my home network over the internet

[macgrl]

I am trying to access my home network over the internet. When I enter the public ip address I am asked to put in a password and user name. Is this my isp username and password or my router username and password or something completely different as I have tried both to no avail. My aim is to be able to access a network hard drive that I have attached to my network over the internet, which would be great to access files when I am away from home.

Any advice very much appreciated.

 

[macgrl]

I have worked out that it is the password that I set up on the router for the gateway. I can now access the router from the internet but know need to figure out how to access a network drive on the network?

Having done a little search through google I have read a few things and am wondering whether I need to set up a vpn connection? Is this the correct / easiest thing to do to be able to access files on my network drive via the internet?

Thanks, it is quite complicated, well to me anyway lol

 

[swiftaw]

It depends on what you are trying to do.

I assume that you have a router at home and all your devices are connected to the router either wired or wirelessly.

Your public ip address will get you to the router, to get beyond the router to the devices behind you need to set up port forwarding on your router. Thus, when a signal arrives at the router it knows which device connected to the router the signal should be sent to.

 

[macgrl]

Thank you for your reply, yes all my devices are attached to the router, wirelessly and wired.

I have used the public ip address to access the router.

Now what I would like to do is to access an external hard drive that is attached to my time capsule.

The time capsule is not the router but is attached to my home network via a wireless connection

I would like to access files - word docs etc on that hard drive from away from home.

How do I set up port forwarding / what ports do I need to forward to.

What can I do if my public ip address keeps changing i.e my ISP hasn't assigned me a static address (apparently it is not common to assign a static address?)

Thank you very much for your help

 

[swiftaw]

Three things

1. Find the IP address that your time capsule has been assigned by your router. You should be able to get this from airport utility

2. In airport utility turn on file sharing over WAN

3. Go into your router setup, find the port forwarding setup and forward the appropriate ports to the IP address you found in step 1. I'm not sure what the appropriate ports are. Maybe 548.

 

[macgrl]

Thank you for that. I have a problem now that I do not have a static ip address to access the router over the Internet. So without being at home and able to access my router locally to discover the public ip address I can't access the network accross the Internet. Is there a way I can get around not having a static ip address? Or find the ip address of my network away from home?

Thanks so much

 

[twoodcc]

Thank you for that. I have a problem now that I do not have a static ip address to access the router over the Internet. So without being at home and able to access my router locally to discover the public ip address I can't access the network accross the Internet. Is there a way I can get around not having a static ip address? Or find the ip address of my network away from home?

Thanks so much

this is what you need. let us know if you need help with it

 

[macgrl]

this is what you need. let us know if you need help with it

Thank you for that. Much appreciated. Yes I need help. What is it that I need from that service you pointed me too. I am thinking that I need something that will give me a static ip address?

Is there any other way of doing what I want thanusing this kind of service? I don't mind at all just curious

 

[twoodcc]

Thank you for that. Much appreciated. Yes I need help. What is it that I need from that service you pointed me too. I am thinking that I need something that will give me a static ip address?

Is there any other way of doing what I want thanusing this kind of service? I don't mind at all just curious

that site has a service for free where you pick a domain name that they have, and give it your dynamic ip address. then, when you go to the domain name that you created, it will go to your computer at home.

example:

let's say you make yours mac.serve.net and your public ip address is 65.38.254.32

when you go to mac.serve.net, it's the same as going to 65.38.254.32

and they have a mac app that will auto sync your ip address to it when your dynamic ip changes, so it's always the right address.

i hope this helps. here is a more appropriate link

 

[lgmac]

Free Service at logmein.com

Go to http://www.logmein.com and set up a free account. You can get to any computer behind any firewall using this service.

I help my parents, (dynamic IP) who are a bit older and have trouble with basic computer skills. I live in Maine and they live in Michigan. I can share their computer screen or take control of their computer. I've run adaware, and installed Quicken for them while I'm miles away. I just ask them to load the cd, and I do the rest, or I download what I need from the Internet.

Anyway.... I've used this for several years now and it works great.

 

[macgrl]

thank you for your replies. I am going to try to set something up today

How do you find out which ports you need to open to access a particular machine?

Also what's the catch so to speak why are these free and are they secure ? Thanks

 

[macgrl]

"2. In airport utility turn on file sharing over WAN"

I can't seem to be able to do this! I feel a bit stupid really

 

[twoodcc]

after reading what you wanted to do again, you might want to take a look here

 

[macgrl]

Thanks for that I will have a look later / tomorrow. I have been playing around with it for a few hours and need a break now lol

Thank you so much for you input.

 

[twoodcc]

Thanks for that I will have a look later / tomorrow. I have been playing around with it for a few hours and need a break now lol

Thank you so much for you input.

no problem. let us know if you get stuck

 

[GregE]

You leave your router running, right? My ISP doesn't give me a static IP address either but my router is always on so it just keeps renewing the address. I should always have my current one as long as everything keeps running. If I have a power outage, then I may end up with a new one but my computer would shut down anyway. When it comes back on I just have to see what the adderss is.

I access my iMac from work PC using VNC over a VPN. I can also access my work PC from my iMac with VNC over the VPN. I haven't tried to access any files this way though. I was looking for a way to control either the PC or iMac remotely. I could always e-mail files back and forth this way. Before I went Mac, I used pcAnywhere and would transfer files thru that. One thing I still want to do is find VPN software for my MacBook Pro to be able to connect to my iMac when I am gone. The free software I found I had trouble connecting to my SonicWall and the pay software was too expensive.

 

[macgrl]

I got it too work yeay!! I am sooo happy, that guide was superb. I used the guide that said how to connect to a mac server and not the one on how to connect to a time capsule. This shouldn't matter should it? I mean it works after all. Now my question is how secure is this?

 

[GregE]

Click the question mark in the upper right corner and type sharing. Open Sharing and you should see the different services on teh left. Make sure File Sharing is on and high light it. Click the Options button, That's where you will see if the sharing via AFP is on.

 

[twoodcc]

I got it too work yeay!! I am sooo happy, that guide was superb. I used the guide that said how to connect to a mac server and not the one on how to connect to a time capsule. This shouldn't matter should it? I mean it works after all. Now my question is how secure is this?

glad you got it!

just make sure you aren't sharing your files with everyone, and you should be okay

 

[macgrl]

Thank you so much for your help.

How do I ensure that I am not sharing files with everyone?

Also how would I connect to the server via the internet using a windows pc?

In mac you just go to Finder and click go> go to server

It would be nice if I could do the same with a pc. Is this possible?

Do i need to add the dns update utility that I have added to my macbook pro to each computer I want to access the remote server from?

 

[macgrl]

Now it won't work! The ip address from my isp has changed and now it won't connect remotely. I had thought that the DynDns updater that I had download was supposed to sort out any changes in my ip and route it to a static one that they fixed? I have the free service I haven't paid for anything. Do I need too?

 

[twoodcc]

Now it won't work! The ip address from my isp has changed and now it won't connect remotely. I had thought that the DynDns updater that I had download was supposed to sort out any changes in my ip and route it to a static one that they fixed? I have the free service I haven't paid for anything. Do I need too?

now you do have the dyndns updater running on the server on your network, correct?

and you put in your username and password into it? i believe it also comes with a widget, and i like to use that, instead of running the app all the time

 

[macgrl]

now you do have the dyndns updater running on the server on your network, correct?

and you put in your username and password into it? i believe it also comes with a widget, and i like to use that, instead of running the app all the time

No I have the dyndns updater on my Mbp that I use to access the server (my time capsule). I can't see a way of putting the updater on to the tc.

It works again now even though the ip address has changed

How come in the airport utility when I select my time capsule and then the internet option I only an internet connection tab and no others, also I cannot change the connection sharing? It is there but it cannot be changed.

 

[macgrl]

I have sorted out a picture of what I mean

 

[twoodcc]

No I have the dyndns updater on my Mbp that I use to access the server (my time capsule). I can't see a way of putting the updater on to the tc.

It works again now even though the ip address has changed

How come in the airport utility when I select my time capsule and then the internet option I only an internet connection tab and no others, also I cannot change the connection sharing? It is there but it cannot be changed.

well, for this to work, you have to the updater on some computer on your home network.

but you say it's working now?

i'm not sure about the options for the time capsule, i only have an airport extreme