"Configure Router" what???

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:44:29 Z

I just dont know what is going on with my WHS.

I set it up a few days ago and it has been working great......until now.

I tried to access the WHS remotely from work today and got the error msg

"Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage"

even though my router has been configured correctly (ports correctly forwarded) as it has been working for the past two days.

I have not changed anything, i went into the WHS console->settings->remote access. After a few seconds the msg next to the router said "configure router" instead of "working".

What has happened?? could it be due to the fact i switched the server off, and the IP address has changed?? I dont have a static IP address, can i set this?

Many Thnaks

"Configure Router" what???

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:35:38 Z

Hi,

In all probability, yes. If your router has been off, it's possible that it's IP address has changed. That means the port forwarding will be out of sync.

The two options available are, fixed IP for the server, or a 'reserved' IP for the server. The preferred option is the reserved one, as it then automatically sets up DNS servers etc.

However, if you need a fixed IP address, you will need to remote desktop into your server, and then use the Control Panel Network Settings option to access your network card settings.

As an aside, if your server address changes, it is possible that the Clients won't be able to open their Console connection. If that has happened, you need to go into the Windows Home Server folder in the Client's Program Files and run 'discovery.exe'. This will search your network for the server, and re-apply the appropriate settings.

Colin

"Configure Router" what???

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:46:56 Z

Another possible reason:

Sometimes also the WHS will not be properly registered at homeserver.com. This can happen, if the router looses connection to the Internet for a short time, connects again and gets a different IP address assigned.

Thats a good reason, to have a secondary chance, i.e. a dyndns.org account, if the router allows the configuration.

So you would have a secondary way in, if homeserver.com still points to an outdated IP address.

Best greetings from Germany

Olaf

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:27:32 Z

Ok so here is where im at....

I have a BT HomeHub which i have configured correctly to forward the relevant ports (ie 4125,443,80) by following another post on this forum.

I still CANNOT get remote acces to work outside my home network.

Why is this? The 'settings' in the WHS Console for my router is not successful and reports me to 'Configure my router' but ive already done that!

Ive also tried to turn off the router firewall and windows firewall, that doesnt help either?

Any ideas i could try Please?

Thanks

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:59:45 Z

ImranAdam wrote:

Ok so here is where im at....

I have a BT HomeHub which i have configured correctly to forward the relevant ports (ie 4125,443,80) by following another post on this forum.

I still CANNOT get remote acces to work outside my home network.

Why is this? The 'settings' in the WHS Console for my router is not successful and reports me to 'Configure my router' but ive already done that!

Ive also tried to turn off the router firewall and windows firewall, that doesnt help either?

Any ideas i could try Please?

router and PC are in the same physical network?

Is the address you get on the server in a cmd prompt by entering ipconfig /all the same, which you manually have configured for forwarding too?

Especially with addresses assigned via DHCP it can happen, that they change after a downtime.

Can you access the yourname.homeserver.com from within your home network?

Turning off the firewalls on router and Windows is the worst idea you could have, since this exposes your PCs and server to direct virus attacks from the Internet very fast.

Can you ping your homeserver.com domain?

Is it the same IP address as your router shows for its external interface?

Best greetings from Germany

Olaf

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:59:20 Z

Thanks for replying.

Yes my router and PC are on the same physical network, i can ping the homeserver.com domain from inside my network. Internally EVERYTHING works

From my home network, i can access;

http://SERVERNAME/home and

https://SERVERNAME/remote

This works fine from inside my home, but this does NOT work from inside my home network http://SERVERNAME.homeserver.com/ and https://SERVERNAME.homeserver.com/ dont work either.

These however DO NOT work from OUTSIDE my home;

http://SERVERNAME.homeserver.com/ and

https://SERVERNAME.homeserver.com/

I have forwarded ports correctly, but cannot gain access remote

Do you think the ports 80,443,4125 are being blocked at the ISP level??

Thanks

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:14:52 Z

What happens if you...

1. From a PC on your LAN go to the http://www.whatismyip.com site
2. From a PC on your LAN run the nslookup SERVERNAME.homeserver.com command.

Are the reported public IP addresses the same?

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:19:05 Z

You also might try resetting the router as a fix of last resort, ie. set the router back to the factory default conditions.

One way to check port forwarding is to go to the http://www.canyouseeme.org site and test. Many ISPs block TCP Port 80 (IIS) because running a web server violates the TOS for residential accounts.

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:05:49 Z

Al Jarvi wrote:

://www.canyouseeme.org site and test. Many ISPs block TCP Port 80 (IIS) because running a web server violates the TOS for residential accounts.

that would not explain why it did work before, as mentioned in the initial post.

The question is really: Is yourdomainname.homeserver.com being resolved to an IP address, and is it identical with the current external IP address of your router?

Best greetings from Germany

Olaf

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:08:10 Z

Thanks for all the replies guys, i really appreciate it.

I have tried using nslookup on a PC on my LAN, this reports the SAME external IP addrress as the site www.whatismyip.org.

I have contacted my ISP and they say they do NOT block port 80, 443, so thats not a problem

Finally both my router and myDomain have IDENTICAL IP addresses, i have checked.

Any more ideas??

Thanks again

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:14:05 Z

Check the log files of IIS on the server, if those are showing connection attempts.

Can be found in sub folders here: C:\WINDOWS\system32\LogFiles

Can you reach the server via IP address from outside?

Best greetings from Germany

Olaf

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:30:52 Z

Thanks for your reply

The log files you are referring to, is it C:\WINDOWS\system32\LogFiles\HTTPERR ??

I cannot reach the server using my ip address from outside my home network (page cannot be displayed error)

Thanks

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:04:57 Z

In C:\WINDOWS\system32\LogFiles\W3SVC1 (or similar named folders) you find logs for each day. Connnection attempts are usually look like this one (who ever tried to connect to my WHS herem I didn't):

2008-08-27 21:34:21 W3SVC1 192.168.0.225 GET /Default.htm - 80 - xxx.yyy.zzz.nnn Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+NT+5.1) 200 0 0

(This is of course an example of a functioning remote connect...)

Best greetings from Germany

Olaf

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:19:24 Z

Hi,

Have you tried what Al suggested?

Al Jarvi wrote:

Also, in the Settings page, of the Console, when you go to the Remote Access settings, what do the entries for Router and Domain Name say?

Colin

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:33:36 Z

ImranAdam wrote:

Thanks for all the replies guys, i really appreciate it.

I have tried using nslookup on a PC on my LAN, this reports the SAME external IP addrress as the site www.whatismyip.org.

I have contacted my ISP and they say they do NOT block port 80, 443, so thats not a problem

Finally both my router and myDomain have IDENTICAL IP addresses, i have checked.

Any more ideas??

Thanks again

That's all well and good but test to make sure. Again, as I noted earlier, go to the http://www.canyouseeme.org site and run the test for TCP Port 80 and TCP Port 443. The test should pass if the ports are not blocked by your ISP or your router.

That is good that the nslookup and the whatismyip test report the same IP.

"Configure Router" what???

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:40:28 Z

ImranAdam wrote:

This works fine from inside my home, but this does NOT work from inside my home network http://SERVERNAME.homeserver.com/ and https://SERVERNAME.homeserver.com/ dont work either.

This should work. If it doesn't that would point still to the port forwarding not intact. Does your router have the latest firmware?

I have forwarded ports correctly, but cannot gain access remote

I assume you have doublechecked, that still the correct IP address is forwarded.

For testing you could also forward port 3389 to the WHS or another machine which allows Remotedesktop connections (and open the firewall on that machine to support remotedesktop for computers from including Internet)

Best greetings from Germany

Olaf

"Configure Router" what???

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:58:02 Z

Thank you everyone for all your replies.

After much head scratching and reading forum posts, i gave up and reset the BT HomeHub. It all works well again, I had to forward all the ports again though!

If anyone else is having similar problems, try reseting your HomeHub as a last resort.

Thanks

"Configure Router" what???

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:04:01 Z

ImranAdam wrote:

If anyone else is having similar problems, try reseting your HomeHub as a last resort.

yes, sometimes we underestimate the influence of the router, be it due to a bug, which is not well visible, or may it due to being hacked.

Never forget, that there runs also only software on it, and stay aware to keep the software up to date.

Best greetings from Germany

Olaf