Maybe It Just Can't Be Done

[LosTraxx]

I think I may be trying to do something that is not possible. All I am doing is trying to do a simple, short-term test.

I am updating a 20 yo solution that ran on FMS5 connected directly thru a fixed IP address.

I have a dedicated Mac as my FMS15 Host. I am using FMP15 Client on different Mac. Both are behind my router. Local access to hosted files is 100%.

I want to test host access via internet. I set my router IP address to fixed. My host Mac IP is fixed.

I enter the router IP address in the Launch Center, I get nothing most of the time. Once or twice after an obscurely long wait I have gotten a dialog where I can enter the address again and account name and password. Still no connection success.

Am I tilting at windmills here, or do I need to move the host from behind the router, or do something else that is not obvious to me?

Thanks.

[schamblee]

You need to setup port forwarding on your router. Port 5003 needs to be forwarded to your server.   Then go to a website such as https://whatismyipaddress.com/  You will use your public ip address to access your sever.

 

[LosTraxx]

Thanks. I went for static IPs on both the client and server, both using a business cable modem, and all is fine, except, now I just have to stop local traffic access. 

From what you said that is probably a port issue too.

I no longer have a router in the setup, and the ISP can't block cross talk between computers using the same modem.

At the moment, I see one set of files on the Server via the IP address and another set of files on the local computer.

Still looking here.

Thanks.

[Rick Whitelaw]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding but you can't set your public ip to be static. Either your ISP does it or you can use a service like noip.

[LosTraxx]

Sorry for the confusion. It, static IPs, has been done by my ISP, they just can't stop the two computers communicating as though they were on a local network. 

I may have to see if I can stop the local side of FMS by using the built-in OSX App Firewall.

I think I have the right question now. What ports to I shut down on the server in order to allow only internet access?

[Wim Decorte]

4 hours ago, LosTraxx said:

 they just can't stop the two computers communicating as though they were on a local network. 

 

 

I don't quite understand what you are saying with this.  Most modern ISP modems are routers/firewalls too.

What is it that you are seeing that you want to stop?

[LosTraxx]

When I open my FMP Client on the system that does not host the FMS files, I see the list of hosted files locally, as I would if I had my own local network.

If I enter the server IP address in the FMP Client too, I can see the list of Internet hosted files via the internet connection.

When I click on the Internet hosted files, the local versions open, not the Internet versions, as can be distinguished in the window titles.

I want to shut off the local file access, I only want to access the files via the Internet.

[webko]

Aren't they the same files though? What does it  matter which link they're opened through?

[LosTraxx]

The main testing needs to be via the internet as that is how it is being deployed.

[webko]

And? Test from home, tether your computer to your phone or a wireless hotspot.... 

[Wim Decorte]

Agreed.  Modern routers are smart enough to know that you are on the same network as the destination so they don't actually go out to come back in.  If you want to really test what it is like from the outside then go outside.

If your main concern is to test with bigger latency then just use a network throttle to simulate a slower connection.  There are various options for that.

 

http://www.soliantconsulting.com/blog/2014/08/performance-tool-network-link-conditioner