Netgear RP614 - Connecting remotely using multiple ports

[lobster1071]

This is a seemling simple problem, but has me completely stumped.

Very simply I just would like to allow users to remotely connect to two
(or more) different workstations on site using the the Netgear RP614
(v3) router...

I have done this many times before, and this is very easily
accomplished using a Linksys router by entering in the appropriate
information in the "UPnP" section. I would simply enter in an external
port, internal port, select TCP, and the internal IP address.

For instance, if I to connect remotely (using Remote Desktop, all
Windows XP PCs) from the outside world to a computer behind the
firewall/router, I would enter in the following information in the UPnP
section:
External port - 3391
Internal port - 3389
IP address - 192.168.1.50

Let's say the site's public IP was 70.68.45.12, someone on the outside
would connect to 70.68.45.12:3391
The "3391" port would indicate a connection to the workstation with the
IP address of 192.168.1.50.

Simple right? And it works like a charm using Linksys routers, but I
don't see any way to set this up in the UPnP section of the Netgear
router. The "UPnP" section doesn't even allow you to enter this
information in, although the headers on the empty table in that section
shows the information I need to enter.

Is this even possible using that router? I know the simple solution is
to use what I am familiar with (the Linksys product), but to make a
long story short, this is not the best solution for this site.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Simple if the router supports that, ie. port redirection...

If port redirection is not available your only choices may be to...

* Use different listening ports on the different PCs in order to access them
and port forward those through the router
* Use a VPN or SSH tunnel to access multiple PCs by only opening one port on
the router (this is my personal choice)
* Replace the Netgear router with a router that does do port redirection

Have you checked to see if a newer firmware release might offer port
redirection as an option?

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[lobster1071]

Thank you for the reply Al.

So basically I just have to find out if the router supports port
redirection? (which I suspect it doesn't)

If not, I suppose I could try your first suggestion of changing the
listening ports for each workstation. I would think MSKB article
#306759
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306759) would
do this for me. Maybe change one workstation to 3390 and then forward
the port to that IP address? (which i can do in the port
forwarding/triggering section) Then change the next workstation to
3391, etc.

Forgive my stupidity, but I'm not sure how I would accomplish your
second suggestion (your VPN choice). Maybe you could at least give me
a hint and point me in the right direction.

As for the third suggestion, that isn't an option at the moment, but
one I would like to do, and that is use a Linksys router, which I know
will work.


Thanks a lot for your reply.

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

SSH is pretty easy to setup and use. Use a *strong* password or a
private/public key pair protected with a strong passphrase.

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.org/Ssh/SecureShell.html

OpenVPN links...OpenVPN is a bit more complicated to setup but it does work
well...

http://theillustratednetwork.mvps.org/OpenVPN/OpenVPN.html

The built-in Windows XP PPTP VPN server/client. This method requires GRE
Protocol 47 traffic to be enabled through the router. That can be
problematic with some consumer grade routers. See the Cable Guy article for
a test procedure detailed in the "PPTP Ping" and "VPN Traffic" sections.

http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn_server.htm
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0105.mspx

Otherwise, and as you noted, opening multiple ports for multiple PCs does
work...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q306759
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q304304

--
Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...