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MA10's avatar
MA10
Aspirant
Jun 18, 2021

Remote desktop and WOL through orbi

Hi everyone

 

I'm reaching out in the hopes of finding a solution.

 

I need to allow connections to an RDP session on my orbi network from the internet and it's not connecting. 

 

Here's my setup :

 

- I have a modem and router combo from my ISP before the orbi (if that makes a difference, it's a virgin canada valerie modem, same as the bell canada 3500 modem from what I'm told).  It's connected to the orbi (orbi is in router mode) through an ethernet cable.

- My ISP modem/router has a DMZ setup directing to the Orbi router IP.  DHCP, DLNA, UPnP,  etc on the ISP router is NOT disabled.

- RDP is authorized on the computer I'm attempting to connect to

- RDP works from the LAN

- Firewal exception is set up for RDP on the computer server

- Port forwarding is set up on the orbi

- The RDP port I'm using is open when I scan my ports online

- I have a DDNS forward set up (not on the router) but I'm using the direct IP address to do my tests before moving on to testing with the DDNS URL (I obviously use the WAN IP adress for the tests - my WAN IP rarely changes, if ever)

 

I have the same setup for WOL which also works locally but not through the internet (UDP ports 7 and 9 are open).

 

Any help to resolve this would be appreciated as I couldn't get it working and I'm at a loss.

 

Thanks.

6 Replies


  • MA10 wrote:

    - I have a modem and router combo from my ISP before the orbi (if that makes a difference, it's a virgin canada valerie modem, same as the bell canada 3500 modem from what I'm told).  It's connected to the orbi (orbi is in router mode) through an ethernet cable. Yes, this does make a difference because it creates a "Double NAT" which will block connections before they reach the Orbi router.

    - My ISP modem/router has a DMZ setup directing to the Orbi router IP.  DHCP, DLNA, UPnP,  etc on the ISP router is NOT disabled.

    This is one of the methods used to handle the Double NAT.  (I prefer to put the ISP device into "bridge" or "passthrough" mode so that the Orbi is the only router.

    - RDP is authorized on the computer I'm attempting to connect to

    - RDP works from the LAN

    - Firewal exception is set up for RDP on the computer server

    - Port forwarding is set up on the orbi

    - The RDP port I'm using is open when I scan my ports online

    Those internet "Is my port open" sites only work if some device accepts the connection.  They have to receive some sort of return packet.  When "nothing happens", they mark the port closed.

    I have the same setup for WOL which also works locally but not through the internet (UDP ports 7 and 9 are open).


    What this sounds like is the RDP port forwarding is working correctly but there is an issue with the authentication.

    Wake on LAN sounds fascinating. I am not entirely certain that Orbi supports forwarding packets to the broadcast IP address.

    (See this article: https://www.howtogeek.com/192642/how-to-remotely-turn-on-your-pc-over-the-internet/ )

    • MA10's avatar
      MA10
      Aspirant

      Hi there.

       

      Thanks for the reply.

       

      When you say 

      What this sounds like is the RDP port forwarding is working correctly but there is an issue with the authentication.

      that's also what I believe.

       

      Since the RDP works from the LAN however, trhis tells me its properly set up on the server side so I deduct that something is blocking it on the router set-up and I'm at a loss as to what that might be.

       

      I also unfortunately can't set my ISP router as a brigde or a passthrough from what I see in their config web app.  I *could* do the reverse and set the orbi in AP mode and let the ISP router take over the main router duties and let the Orbi act strictly as the wifi network but that's not my preferred scenario.

       

      Anything else I might be able to check to resolve this ?


      • MA10 wrote:

        Anything else I might be able to check to resolve this ?


        There is always a chance that Windows is logging the connection attempt.  Alas, my knowledge of RDP is pathetic.  How about

        http://woshub.com/rdp-connection-logs-forensics-windows/ 

        (it was the first hit on my search for Windows RDP Log)

         

        Since the Windows computer is connected to the Orbi, it should be possible to capture the actual packets going to/from the Orbi & Windows box.  Orbi's debug page has a facility to capture WAN/LAN traffic and produce pcap files that can be analyzed with Wireshark.

        (http://orbilogin.net/debug.htm)  This might confirm that the packet got through the Orbi and the Windows machine acknowleged it.  RDP is almost certainly encrypted, so the contents of packets will not be visible.

         

        I would look at Windows log files first.