attempting to connect to my web server (Win VNC) remotely and through a Linksys wireless router AP switch

[Rhodent]

I installed and setup win VNC on a PC on my network at home. it is connected wirelessly to a Linksys wireless router. From this remote location I hoped to be able to connect to and have full control over that machine useing the winVNC software. I was able to connect to the PC useing win VNC from another PC on my network at home so the program is running correctly.
I am however not able to make that same connection remotely.
I do have access to remotely change my settings on my linksys router useing the IP and specified port.
The win VNC program says to go to http://(PC's IP)ort#VNCspecified
From home I am able to do that.
From the remote location I am able to go to (Cable Modem IP)ort#routerspecified and change my router settings.

In those settings I have tried making that specific PC a DMZ host and then I attempted connecting to the PC useing
http://(cable Modem IP):VNCPort#
and
http://(PCLanIP):VNCPort#
I also tried setting port forwarding in my router settings to pass anything to the VNC port on to the IP of the PC on that lan and then attempted
http://(RouterIP):VNCPort#
Is there something I have missed here or is this just not going to work unless the PC was hookd directly to the modem?
I am not familiar enough with Ip's to know if its possible for me to link to it in some form useing
http://routerIP:RouterPort,PCIP:VNCport or something of that nature (such as a double IP so to speak.
Of course my above notation was to not give out my Ip's and port numbers to the world but just makin sure you know I entered the values the respecive components said to use and I did not use any parentheses.
Any help is much appreciated.

 

[Goosemaster]

actually, you need tol specify only the ip of the machine and the desktop (xwindows) that you will be using....usually http://ip snoopy:# of desktop


EX:


192.168.2.69 snoopy:2

 

[Rhodent]

The documentation tells me I can use the name ie snoopy or use the machines IP address. I tried the name from another pc at home and it found nothing where the IP got me right on. From here I tried the IP with no results. I assume because that name snoopy isn't listed anywhere in the world on any DNS server. Correct me if I am not thinking of that wrong. Also it says to enter a port number when useing a web browser as the viewer. I don't want to state the port number here but its large and you simply add to that port number according to which desktop you are useing. ie 0 is what I am trying
To make sure thats clear if the port was 4100 which its not and you want desktop 2 then use the IP:4102 I am trying desktop 0 however. Hope that helps further.
Also just as I read yor reply I did try http://routerliveIP snoopy:0 Although I don't rememer it even asking me to give the machine a name and I made no effort to locate that setting since I connected fine with the IP. thanks and any more help is appreciated.

 

[Rhodent]

I just noticed
Please excuse the smiley faces above. I didn't even think of that when I was typing : P ort

 

[WarSong]

It does work through a router. Are you trying to use the vnc client or the web base client? There are different ports for each. If you are using the client it will have a port that like 59XX and you don't put http:// in front of the ip. If you are using web base then you use the port 58XX and you do need to put the http:// in front of the ip for it to work.

 

[Rhodent]

I am running the server in what is known as app mode and connecting through a web browser. So i am useing the http. It will connect to the same running server whether I use their viewer client or the browser as I have tried that from home. and yes I am useing the correct port #. It simply will not connect. It also reads in the documentation that if I am now behind a proxy that I wont be able to connect into it. Is there anything I can check to see if I am behind a proxy or not as I am not sure? That is the last possible thing I can think could be causing the problem.

 

[Rhodent]

Any more ideas are appreciated.

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: Rhodent

In those settings I have tried making that specific PC a DMZ host and then I attempted connecting to the PC useing
http://(cable Modem IP):VNCPort#
and
http://(PCLanIP):VNCPort#

In my opinion, most people misunderstand what DMZ host does. I believe the second usage should work only if PCLanIP is a routable public IP address.

I also tried setting port forwarding in my router settings to pass anything to the VNC port on to the IP of the PC on that lan and then attempted
http://(RouterIP):VNCPort#

Port forwarding is the correct way to do things in this case (and in general for most servers behind SOHO routers). This should work as long as the RouterIP is the public IP assigned by the cable Internet provider. However, you seem to distinguish between Cable Modem IP and RouterIP. Why?

 

[Rhodent]

You are correct in saying I possily don't know what DMZ and such actually do. I am simply guessing and trying diff things with the little bit of information I can find.
I agree it does not make sense to use the Lan IP but I was out of other guesses. On that note I am somewhat confused.
Since the server program sees its own ip in the 192. xx range then even with forwarding the port how does the program know to initialize itself once it receives the signal because the signal it receives includes an IP in the 66.xx range (Router).
Last, I did not purposely distinguish between the cable modem IP and the router IP. Those as far as I am familiar with are the same.
Any further help appreciated.

 

[Rhodent]

Can anyone point me to a ebsite with very detailed instructions for running a server behind a router. I only seem to find ones with basic setup and DHCP connections. I need one xplaining all this port forwarding and such and possibly I can figure this out. thanks

 

[Rhodent]

Update: I disabled a router setting that is called Block WAN request. I am guessing this is a setting that helps to prevent hacking by only allowing data in that was initiall requested from within the LAN. However what I am trying to do would not be requested from within. I turned that off and now attempting to connect with http://RouterIP:VNCPort It says Opening page Router IP and then connecting to Router IP and it takes up until the browser times out it seems and during this time it sits with a blank white screen and finally it will go to a page unavailable screen. Does this help any

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: Rhodent

Since the server program sees its own ip in the 192. xx range then even with forwarding the port how does the program know to initialize itself once it receives the signal because the signal it receives includes an IP in the 66.xx range (Router).

The way port forwarding works is that the incoming packets destined for 66.x.x.x:VNCPort are rewritten to 192.168.x.x:VNCPort. Thus, a limitation of port forwarding are that you can only have one internal host per forwarded port (which is usually okay). The main problem with port forwarding as a general solution is that the user has to determine which port(s) to forward. This can be a little difficult for new router users, esp. when there's a whole range of ports to forward (and the software provider does not clearly document the ports involved).

Usually, DHCP is recommended for ease of use, but is there any chance that the IP of the VNC server host is changing in your network? If so, you might want to statically assign its IP so that your port forwarding rules apply to the desired host.

I'm not sure what else to suggest. Port forwarding is a pretty straightforward procedure, and it definitely works okay with VNC (by default port 5901 is used I think). I do not own a Linksys router, so I can't give specific advice on its features. By and large, most SOHO routers are pretty similar.

Based on your last message, perhaps you're getting closer. It sounds like maybe you're trying to connect to the VNC server with a Web browser? Usually, that is not correct; you would connect with a VNC client. If the browser is taking a while to time-out, that suggests to me that the port is successfully being forwarded; but obviously the VNC server does not speak HTTP to your web browser. The VNC server "speaks" its own custom protocol to VNC clients. (The exception to this is that a Java VNC applet exists that can connect to the VNC server; Java applets by design are invoked from a web page within your browser).

For documentation, I'm not sure what good stuff is out there, but I highly recommend the Linux Net HOWTO. While it is geared to Linux, it's a good comprehensive introduction to TCP/IP networking. You can skip all the Linux and hardware-specific sections.

Finally, I know you're still in the testing phase but you should disable access to your router from the Internet (allowing access only from internal LAN connections).