[Tfug] HALP! DynDNS nightmare, again...

[Jim March]

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 6:49 PM, Angus Scott-Fleming
<angussf at geoapps.com> wrote:
> On 23 Nov 2009 at 4:04, Jim March  wrote:
>
>> > or like this:
>> >
>> > Internet <-> ISP Modem/Router <-> Dlink DIR-628 <-> LAN
>>
>> Like that.  Coax Comcast line coming into a Motorola cable modem, then
>> Ethernet to a Dlink router, then WiFi to computer.
>>
>> Another thing...
>>
>> Jordan suggested an alternative to DynDNS.  But...I have a bad feeling
>> about that.
>>
>> See, if I go to the Windows machine and go to "whatismyipaddress.com"
>> I get a valid number (72.x.x.x - I forget the exact number).  Same one
>> the Dlink says is going on, at the router's console via 192.168.0.1.
>> On the internal LAN, the DLink is doing DHCP up through .199 by
>> default, so I have this computer set to .200 via static addressing.
>> And I have the DLink set to forward port 5900 and several other remote
>> console typical port numbers to the .200 address inside the router.
>
>> Great.
>>
>> I also have DynDNS set to do a "friendly name" sorta like
>> "userspecific.dyndns.com".  When I try and remote connect via
>> "userspecific.dyndns.com" it fails.
>>
>> BUT it also fails on 72.x.x.x - which means DynDNS isn't my problem,
>> is it?  Something else is going on!?
>
> Correct, DynDNS isn't your problem.
>
> If you temporarily enable WAN administration on the DLink, can you get to it
> from outside?

Ummm...didn't try that...

> If you hook the PC directly to the Internet, bypassing the router, can you
> reach it from the outside with UltraVNC?  You will need to power-cycle the
> cable modem to get it to provide an IP address to the PC's NIC, otherwise it
> will only provision the DLink.

Yeah, I know how that works, but it's a 50ft WiFi run to the router.
I could have moved the desktop PC involved (complete with 22"
flatscreen) I guess but...meh.  Too annoying.

> If you can reach the PC from outside, or if you can administer the DLink from
> outside, I would suspect something is wrong with the router's port-forwarding
> configuration.  If not that, then maybe there's something funky about the
> router.  Do you have another one you can drop in place temporarily?

No again, unfortunately.

Again, the weirdest part was, I could ping it from a Linux box, not
from another Windows box.

>> Looking at it again, Jordan suggests:
>>
>> https://secure.logmein.com/US/products/free/features.aspx
>>
>> ...which seems to use a different sort of protocol than uVNC.
>> So...yeah, worth trying, bigtime.
>>
>> I'd still like to know what went wrong with the conventional approach
>> though.
>
> Biggest problems with LogMeIn Free are (1) the lack of file transfer and
> printing services and (2) no business use.  If your client is at all savvy, he
> can use YouSendIt or DropBox or any one of the many free online storage
> locations to transfer files to himself.

Well, logmein DID work and is adequate for this task.  So...case
closed.  Esp. since the user is about a half hour out...and a bit of a
technophobe.

It works now, so...stick a fork in it, it's done.  I must say though,
logmein wasn't a bad answer.

Thanks Justin!

Jim