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Forum Discussion
Port forwarding with Comcast
I am putting my Comcast XB7 modem/router in to bridge mode and connecting to an Orbi 370
I am doing this to avoid the Comcast router not doing port forwarding even though I set that up in the Xfinity app
The XB7 has several Ethernet ports. I have one that goes to a Verizon micro-cell and another that goes to some old vintage commercial computers. So I want to put a simple Net Gear switch at the main Orbi's Ethernet port. Is that going to be a problem? I need the three Orbis to be upstairs, so I have a long cat 5 to the vintage equipment in the basement.
So 1) Is there any issue anyone is aware of to put in a port forward to ports 22 and 23 with a switch in-line?
2) Can I have one vintage computer be port forwarded to via two different ports?
3) Is anyone aware of Comcast "features" such as their "advanced security" getting in the way of this?
3 Replies
Typically when the Internet Service Provider device (Comcast XB7) is put into bridge mode, it expects to connect to one device with one hardware MAC address.
This configuration does not appear to be compatible with bridge mode.
Port forwarding is a "one to one" situation. Packets addressed to one specific port on the Public IP address are forwarded to one specific port on one specific IP address on the LAN.
Thus, it is certainly possible to forward ports 22 and 23 through the router to the same computer
The articles that come up on the internet about forwarding ports through the XB7 mention disabling Advanced Security. Perhaps that is why it is not working?
It is often helpful when discussing network options to have an idea of:
- What are the goals?
i.e. port forwarding implies a need for remote devices to connect to devices on the LAN. Ports 22 (ssh) and 23 (telnet) are commonly used to connect to a command line interface on a computer.
since each port can be forwarded to a single IP address on the LAN, it would be cumbersome to use port forwarding to allow ssh access to multiple computers. One tactic might be to
o forward port 22 to IP xx.xx.xx.x01 port 22
o forward another port (maybe 222) to IP xx.xx.xx.02 port 22
o forward another port (maybe 233) to IP xx.xx.xx.03 port 22
etc. etc. Obviously, this quickly becomes a nightmare keeping track of which public port goes to port 22 on which computer. - What is the physical wiring layout?
Where are the XB7 modem/router, the Orbi 371 router, the three 370 satellites, the switch, and the vintage computers located?
i.e. what is in the basement and what is "upstairs"?
- What are the goals?
When using Port Forwarding, be sure to disable uPnP. Also disable any security features like Armor as well.
