Please report UPnP port forwarding results

[Opus4]

As of beta v4.1.11, SageTV can use UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) to forward an external port on your router to the SageTV server on your network, and automatically keep the forwarded port open so that the Placeshifter client will continue to be able to connect to your server from remote locations.

Since this is a fairly recent addition, please go to Setup -> Detailed Setup -> Advanced -> Configure Placeshifter Internet Connection. SageTV will take a few seconds to search for UPnP capabilities. Once that search is done, you will be able to use the Configure Placeshifter Connection button to go through the port forwarding configuration process.

If no UPnP device is found, please make sure that the UPnP option is enabled on your router and that the router's firmware is up to date.

We would like to know how UPnP is working for you. Let us know your results in this poll, and if you have any problems with it, please let us know and file a bug report. Thanks!

- Andy

[Opus4]

There have been a couple poll responses saying that UPnP configuration did not work, but no bug reports have been received.

If you've tried SageTV's UPnP configuration & it didn't work, please submit bug reports or else there can be no follow-up and fixes.

- Andy

[waltraud]

I like to revoke my 'It doesn't work' ....

My router wasn't properly configured

[SHS]

Andy are you ref to UPnP Forwarding or Local UPnP there are two part to this.

UPnP Select Enable to allow UPnP communication between the Router and the computer that is UPnP compliant.

UPnP Forwarding can be used to set up public services on your network.
When users from the Internet make certain requests on your network, the Router can forward those requests to computers equipped to handle the requests. If, for example, you set the port number 80 (HTTP) to be forwarded to IP Address 192.168.1.2, then all HTTP requests from outside users will be forwarded to 192.168.1.2. You must disable the Router's DHCP function to utilize port forwarding.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by waltraud

I like to revoke my 'It doesn't work' ....

My router wasn't properly configured

So it works now? That's good, and I changed the numbers on the poll.

Was UPnP just not enabled on your router? It is also good to know what people had to do for it to work.

Originally Posted by SHS

Andy are you ref to UPnP Forwarding or Local UPnP there are two part to this.

UPnP Select Enable to allow UPnP communication between the Router and the computer that is UPnP compliant.

UPnP Forwarding can be used to set up public services on your network.
When users from the Internet make certain requests on your network, the Router can forward those requests to computers equipped to handle the requests. If, for example, you set the port number 80 (HTTP) to be forwarded to IP Address 192.168.1.2, then all HTTP requests from outside users will be forwarded to 192.168.1.2. You must disable the Router's DHCP function to utilize port forwarding.

You don't need to disable DHCP. Once UPnP is configured, SageTV will keep track of the router's UPnP settings for SageTV's port(s) and keep it updated in case the local IP address changes, or the router gets restarted & clears its UPnP settings, etc.

It can't enable UPnP on the router in the first place, so that has to be enabled by the user.

The configuration wizard for this sets the external port that is shown on the wiz screen (which you can customize, if need be) to be forwarded to the local IP address for the SageTV server. Once that is done & you are satisfied with it (the connection test passes), the core will monitor the UPnP setting.

On the other hand, if you manually configure port forwarding on the router, you may have to assign a static IP address for your SageTV server if it doesn't get the same address all the time from DHCP.

- Andy

[waltraud]

Originally Posted by Opus4

So it works now? That's good, and I changed the numbers on the poll.

Was UPnP just not enabled on your router? It is also good to know what people had to do for it to work.

- Andy

UPnP was enabled but the default config of my router is not to allow configuration changes via UPnP. I just had to enable this.

[Wheemer]

UPNP has been known to cause serious security risks... many internet security experts strongly recommend not enabling it at all...

Taking the time to setup the ports manually and avoiding UPNP is the best choice...

[briands]

Worked fine for me... But I have one related problem... I have tried to use placeshifter from work and it cant locate my server. I assume this is an issue with certain ports blocked at work. Niels webserver works on the default port. Is there a way to test what ports will work???

[gplasky]

You need port 31099 open and use the locaterID from your server.

Gerry

[cmaffia]

This UPNP in Sage setup is really flakey.
Whenver I shutdown or reboot sage it says it can't find the router, I then have to go in the basement and reset the darn thing. I know it is not the router as I have 6 other ports forwarded through it and they work fine.. just Sage. Why can't this UPNP be disabled by choice? It is SO much more reliable to enter in an IP address and port and that's it!

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by cmaffia

This UPNP in Sage setup is really flakey.
Whenver I shutdown or reboot sage it says it can't find the router, I then have to go in the basement and reset the darn thing. I know it is not the router as I have 6 other ports forwarded through it and they work fine.. just Sage.

Please file a bug report w/details of the hardware & so on.

Why can't this UPNP be disabled by choice? It is SO much more reliable to enter in an IP address and port and that's it!

You can set it to manual in the same place where you set it to use UPnP in the first place -- Detailed Setup -> Advanced -> Configure Placeshifter Internet Connection.

- Andy

[cmaffia]

That's the problem, when my router can not be detected in UPnP mode, the manual setup doesn't work. I have to run to my basement, restart my Linksys WRT54G, run upstairs and then Sage says it detects the Linksys then I can test placeshifer successfully. My router is fine because when sage can't detect the linksys, all of my other forwarded ports (including Nilem's webserver) are still functioning.

Originally Posted by Opus4

Please file a bug report w/details of the hardware & so on.

You can set it to manual in the same place where you set it to use UPnP in the first place -- Detailed Setup -> Advanced -> Configure Placeshifter Internet Connection.

- Andy

[Opus4]

I don't know why a manual configuration wouldn't work -- when set to 'manual', SageTV shouldn't be doing a thing via UPnP; it is up to you to manually configure port forwarding on the router in that case. You wouldn't need to go to the PS internet config screen for anything.

- Andy

[cmaffia]

The manual configuration does not work for some reason if the router is not automatically detected.
And even though it passes the Test Placeshifter Connection while it says it can not detect UPNP, I can't connect via Placeshifter.. while Sage is in this state I can go and connect to Nielms webserver and I can connect to every other port forwarded device on the router... if I go and reboot the router then go back to sage.. it finds my linksys router and I can placeshift... something is not right. Seems like something that supposed to make things easier for non technical users is making this more complicated... and not working correctly in this case. Why can't the placeshifter setup be like every other program on the planet? ENTER ROUTER ADDRESS - ENTER PORT...don't understand... :-)

Originally Posted by Opus4

I don't know why a manual configuration wouldn't work -- when set to 'manual', SageTV shouldn't be doing a thing via UPnP; it is up to you to manually configure port forwarding on the router in that case. You wouldn't need to go to the PS internet config screen for anything.

- Andy

[Opus4]

I'm still missing something: what has SageTV got to do with you logging into your router's control page & manually forwarding the port to the SageTV PC's IP address? That process has nothing to do with SageTV at all & it doesn't matter whether SageTV is running or not at the time you configure your router. I may not yet understand the issue, but you also don't need to go to SageTV's PS internet configuration screen when you manually configure your router -- for a manual configuration, SageTV does absolutely nothing with or to the router.

- Andy

[cmaffia]

It has nothing to do with it.
My router is configured correctly.
I guess I am not explaining correctly.

My router is pointing to the static IP of my address of my sage box using port 443.

Sage Placeshifter works all the time when sage can detect the linksys router via UPNP.

For some reason after maybe closing sage and restarting sage for some unrelated reason.. placeshifting doesnot work...
so i check the setup of placeshifter.. and the first thing that pops up is that UPNP autodecting is not working...

I believe that is a problem within sage.. not my router.. nothing has changed on my router at that point.. everything else works through the router.. but not sage.. I have to reset my router for Sage to detect the router through upNp.. and placeshifter works again... until the next reboot or shutdown that is...

Originally Posted by Opus4

I'm still missing something: what has SageTV got to do with you logging into your router's control page & manually forwarding the port to the SageTV PC's IP address? That process has nothing to do with SageTV at all & it doesn't matter whether SageTV is running or not at the time you configure your router. I may not yet understand the issue, but you also don't need to go to SageTV's PS internet configuration screen when you manually configure your router -- for a manual configuration, SageTV does absolutely nothing with or to the router.

- Andy

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by cmaffia

It has nothing to do with it.
My router is configured correctly.
I guess I am not explaining correctly.

My router is pointing to the static IP of my address of my sage box using port 443.

Sage Placeshifter works all the time when sage can detect the linksys router via UPNP.

For some reason after maybe closing sage and restarting sage for some unrelated reason.. placeshifting doesnot work...
so i check the setup of placeshifter.. and the first thing that pops up is that UPNP autodecting is not working...

I believe that is a problem within sage.. not my router.. nothing has changed on my router at that point.. everything else works through the router.. but not sage.. I have to reset my router for Sage to detect the router through upNp.. and placeshifter works again... until the next reboot or shutdown that is...

Maybe I'm missing something here too. I do not configure Placeshifter with uPnP. I tested it to see if it worked. (It did) So all you need to do is define in your firewall rules to allow any source from your WAN to a destination on your LAN of with the IP start range of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (your sage server)using the TCP protocol and a port range of 31099. I've set mine to allow always. This is all you have to do to manually allow your Placeshifter to connect. Mine will connect using either the locater ID or the IP address of the WAN (68.xxx.xxx.xxx). This is not configuring a port to be forwarded but opening the port in your firewall on your router.

I forward the port for neilm's webserver to the Sage server IP, port 8080. It's also known as virtual server on my router.

These two are not the same and defined in two different places.

Gerry

[cmaffia]

And here is the problem...

Let me simplify it.
My placeshifter ONLY works when I use Automatic UPNP detection.
And what messes with my head is I have the port (443) forwarded to the sage server (which is a static address) on my linksys router.

And the problem one step further...after Placeshifting works for a while.. all of the sudden.. it stops.. so I go to the placeshifter setup.. and it tells me it can not detect UpNp Device! .. when it is in this state.. I test the placeshifter configuration and it says it passes... however placeshifting doesn't work... what fixes it? Rebooting my router... then going back and all the sudden it works.. and all the sudden the placeshifting configuration detects a UpNp device...
It isn't my router because this router forwards 5 other ports to other network devices and they are all working when Sage placeshifting isn't.

I am explaining my problem the best I can :-)

Originally Posted by gplasky

Maybe I'm missing something here too. I do not configure Placeshifter with uPnP. I tested it to see if it worked. (It did) So all you need to do is define in your firewall rules to allow any source from your WAN to a destination on your LAN of with the IP start range of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (your sage server)using the TCP protocol and a port range of 31099. I've set mine to allow always. This is all you have to do to manually allow your Placeshifter to connect. Mine will connect using either the locater ID or the IP address of the WAN (68.xxx.xxx.xxx). This is not configuring a port to be forwarded but opening the port in your firewall on your router.

I forward the port for neilm's webserver to the Sage server IP, port 8080. It's also known as virtual server on my router.

These two are not the same and defined in two different places.

Gerry

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by cmaffia

And here is the problem...

Let me simplify it.
My placeshifter ONLY works when I use Automatic UPNP detection.
And what messes with my head is I have the port (443) forwarded to the sage box which is a static IP address on my linksys router.

And the problem one step further...after Placeshifting works for a while.. all of the sudden.. it stops.. so I go to the placeshifter setup.. and it tells me it can not detect UpNp Device! .. when it is in this state.. I test the placeshifter configuration and it says it passes... however placeshifting doesn't work... what fixes it? Rebooting my router... then going back and all the sudden it works.. and all the sudden it detects a UpNp device...
It isn't my router because this router forwards 5 other ports to other network devices and they are all working when Sage placeshifting isn't.

I am explaining my problem the best I can :-)

But did you open port 31099 in your router's firewall? Not forward the port, but open it in your firewall on your router? You don't have to touch the Placeshifter configuration. I configure nothing for Placeshifter except a user name and password. You router has a firewall configuration, correct?

Gerry

[cmaffia]

I am not using 31099.. I am telling Sage to use port 433.. this allows me to view at work. It allows you to forward to another port other than the default (31099) The problem isn't that I can't get it to work.. the problem is for some unknown reason.. it stops working and when it stops working.. it just so happends that Sage can not find my linksys router via upnp

Originally Posted by gplasky

But did you open port 31099 in your router's firewall? Not forward the port, but open it in your firewall on your router? You don't have to touch the Placeshifter configuration. I configure nothing for Placeshifter except a user name and password. You router has a firewall configuration, correct?

Gerry