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Need help getting remotely located R6700AX router added to my phone Nighthawk app "products"
This is like a comedy of errors. (1) ISP uses CGNAT, so port forwarding on the router does not work. I am in California and remotely connect to the computer in Florida using RealVNC which require...
Ok. I have emerged victorious.
As I described previously, I bought a second R6700AX and had it shipped directly to me in LA so that I could pre-configure it properly using both the Nighthawk app on my phone for "wizard" features available to the app, as well through the web browser UI for the more complex configuration required (i.e. static IP, as well as MAC address reservation for a fixed LAN IP address, as well as port forwarding to that fixed LAN IP address for RealVNC), for its eventual home in Florida running under Hotwire Communications.
The pre-configuration also includes declining any subscription or trial period for Armor, as well as checking "do not bother me ever again" to get rid of it permanently.
And I also set up a refund for the first R6700AX so that when the second one arrives and is swapped in, the net cost will only be for the one final router.
So just yesterday the pre-configured second router finally arrived in Florida and was swapped in. WORKED PERFECTLY! And today the first router was dropped at a nearby UPS store and I've already received the refund.
And, in fact I am now able to connect directly to the router in Florida through my phone in LA using the Nighthawk app:
And furthermore, the No-IP DUC client once again works perfectly, not that Armor is not blocking the No-IP URL:
Case truly closed!!
DSperber wrote:
Forgive me for diving on here without going through all the long and painful saga. (You have my sympathy.) Is the idea that you want to add your new router to your existing account so that it shows up the screen Nighthawk App screen above?
Have you tried adding it? Out if the box Anywhere Access is enabled. If you add the new router to your account it should be available in the same app screen as your R7800.
For example, I see this in the screen that you show.
Have you added the new device to the same MyNetgear account as your R7800? If you do that Security (Armor) will show up in devices that support it.
As you know, that doesn't include the R7800.
For more help on Armor, have you tried the section given over to that?
NETGEAR Armor - NETGEAR Communities
Your issue isn't really related to the router so much as a generic one with Armor.
(1) I know I can add additional routers to my own phone's Nighthawk app. But I must be local to that router to do it, and I'm in California while this router is in Florida. There's no other way to get it added to my phone. The routers managed by the Nighthawk app on a given phone must have been configured while the phone is local to that router's wifi network and I was not when the router was installed (by a friend in Florida).
(2) Similarly since my own R7800 is currently the only router on my phone's Nighthawk's product list, there is no Security tile since Armor isn't supported by the R7800. Anywhere Access is enabled, but it only works for the routers in the product list for the given phone... which currently is only my R7800.
(3) I actually didn't know there was a separate Armor forum. Sure, I could investigate over there for additional support. But I've already decided what I'm going to do (see my next post).
So I give up, with Netgear and Bitdefender and Armor. It looks like Armor is still functioning, and is interfering with No-IP DUC client trying to communicate with the No-IP web site, both at program launch to retrieve the host name list for my account, and also hourly when sending out the "phone home" numeric IP update message.
Yes, I do realize that with the "static IP" that I now have from Hotwire Communications because their use of CGNAT is incompatible with port forwarding on any router, I actually don't even really need to be running the No-IP DUC client at all! It's a static IP address, and there's no need to use a dynamic DNS service which needs an hourly "phone home" update to provide the current IP address.
But it's the concept. I really want the No-IP DUC client to be able to work as it always has, even if the IP address sent never changes. It is Armor that is causing the failure, and it never failed until I installed the R6700AX router last week and accidentally activated the 30-day trial period for Armor.
And also, I really do want Anywhere Access to the router in Florida, which will never happen as things stand because I am in California.
So here's my new plan to solve all of these objectives:
(1) I am going to buy a new R6700AX and have it shipped to me in California. I will set it up on my own Spectrum internet service, temporarily swapping out my R7800 for the R6700AX. This will allow me to add this second R6700AX to the Nighthawk app on my own cell phone so that I can forever more get to it through Anywhere Access. I will set it up temporarily for DHCP (which is how my own Spectrum internet service works), and everything else as if it were going to truly replace my R7800. I will absolutely not activate any trial period for Armor, choosing to "don't display this message again" if offered. I don't know if the Security tile on the Nighthawk app will appear even if Armor is not activated on the router, but I will find out when my hands are on the router in California.
(2) Then I'm going to disconnect the second R6700AX, box it up, and ship it to Florida.
(3) I am also going to initiate a return of the first R6700AX currently installed in Florida (with its unknown Armor status) to Amazon. The physical dropoff of this first router at a UPS store for Amazon refund will not happen until the second router (which I've mostly pre-configured in California and then shipped it to Florida) actually arrives in Florida.
(4) Once the second router gets to Florida, my friend will swap it with the current first router. And I will walk him through a repeat of the local web browser UI configuration for "static IP" and port forwarding to the local IP address of the laptop computer on which RealVNC client and No-IP DUC client both run. I of course will have verified that No-IP DUC client works on my Spectrum DHCP world and with no Armor running on the second R6700AX. I feel confident that it will continue to work in Florida even after "static IP" is configured on that router. As long as Armor is not active I'm sure everything else should be fine and No-IP DUC client should have three green checks even though I realize I don't need to run this program as I have "static IP" implemented.
I believe this is the only way to accomplish all objectives, including most importantly being able to get to the Florida router through Anywhere Access on my own phone and Nighthawk app.
And there will not be any Armor to contend with. All should be well... hopefully.
So the new R6700AX router arrived yesterday (at my home in California). Today I unboxed it and temporarily replaced my R7800 with the R6700AX on my Spectrum DHCP internet connection, so that I could use the Nighthawk app on my phone (which previously had just my existing R7800 showing in my "products") to then set up everything for its eventual actual "production environment static IP" configuration with Hotwire Communications in Florida.
And now that I knew what to look for, it absolutely was true that Armor is simply available and ACTIVE out-of-the-carton for a 30-day free trial period. I didn't make a mistake and accidentally enable the trial period on the original first R6700AX that was shipped directly to Florida. That's simply how Netgear packages it, so that it's ON by default and you have to OPT-OUT (by DISABLE'ing it during the first 30-days) or declining the expected sign-up/renew option (at the monthly or annual subscription price) when the 30-day trial period finally expires.
I am also convinced that even though Netgear manually terminated my 30-day trial period for Armor on the first router, it must still actually be functioning and is not truly DISABLE'd. That clearly is why the No-IP DUC client continues to fail, even though my 30-day trial period is truly terminated early. Armor is obviously still actually running ENABLE'd on the router. It can only be DISABLE'd using Nighthawk on a phone.
So it really wouldn't have mattered even if I could have have "whitelisted" the problematic No-IP URL for the Armor-blocked outgoing message from the No-IP DUC client. That would have at least temporarily removed the blockage. But I still would not have wanted to pay any money ongoing for Armor under any circumstances.
So that's what I was now able to do since I had the new second R6700AX available for configuration via Nighthawk on my California phone. So the 30-day trial period is still "active", and theoretically I can re-ENABLE Armor if I want to play with it during the trial period (which I don't). It is now DISABLED and non-functioning.
And sure enough, with Armor DISABLED there is now ZERO PROBLEM for the No-IP DUC client to work correctly, both at program launch (when it successfully retrieves the host list for my account) as well as hourly sending "phone home" messages out to No-IP. No problems whatsoever, and three green check marks in the GUI.
I will now box it back up and ship it to Florida. I've already pre-configured the "address reservation" for the Florida laptop and its MAC address, as well as the proper "port forwarding" rule to that laptop so that I can remotely connect through RealVNC... while living inside the "static IP" setup of Hotwire (in order to overcome their default CGNAT configuration which inhibits port forwarding).
Everything is set to go, with nothing for them to do in Florida except literally just disconnect the three wires going to the current physical R6700AX, swap out the old R6700AX and swap in the new R6700AX, reconnect the three wires to the new R6700AX, power things up and start Windows.
And we should emerge victorious. I will have the ability to manage the Florida router via Anywhere Access from Nighthawk on my California phone for functions that can be done that way. And I will also have available a remote RealVNC connection to the laptop to use the standard local web browser UI into the R6700AX for that class of functions.
Armor is simply available and ACTIVE out-of-the-carton for a 30-day free trial period. I didn't make a mistake and accidentally enable the trial
did you use the Setup Wizard to initially setup the router?
or register it with Netgear during setup?