Need help opening ports on router

[Nikomajor 2]

Hey everyone!

Just got Emby Premiere a while back and can't view my server from outside my home WiFi.

I've added the ports 8096 & 8920 to my router's virtual server settings (from I could gather online, this is how I'm supposed to open ports) & activated UPnP but the ports are still closed when I check via https://www.canyouseeme.org/ .

I managed to get a brief result via the remote IP address but the page would stay black and now I can no longer access that either.

From the router setting's page->

From the server settings page->

 

[Abobader 2947]

Hello Nikomajor,

** This is an auto reply **

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[Luke 37113]

Hi, what page is staying black?

[Nikomajor 2]

The remote access IP page. It doesn't connect now but it briefly did by returning a full black page and the server name as the Chrome tab name.

[rbjtech 4287]

Turn OFF uPNP - and reboot the router.  It might be conflicting.   As you are doing it manually, no need for uPNP and it's safer/more secure that way anyway.

Config on the router looks reasonable from what I can see - assuming your emby server is on the LAN IP listed.

btw - assume you have 'Allow Remote Connections' in emby ..

Also remember you may need to test via a 4G/External connection - testing on the same LAN may not work with the router you have.

 

Edited April 24 by rbjtech

[Nikomajor 2]

Turned off uPNP and rebooted with no luck.

Remote connections is turned on from what I remember. I'll check again later and retest with a client device on another network.

Are there any other settings I should look out for and edit?

[Luke 37113]

1 hour ago, Nikomajor said:

The remote access IP page. It doesn't connect now but it briefly did by returning a full black page and the server name as the Chrome tab name.

Are you inside your local network when testing this?

[Q-Droid 654]

Source ports should be blank/empty.

[Nikomajor 2]

4 hours ago, Luke said:

Are you inside your local network when testing this?

Initially when checking the remote access page, yes.

All tests afterwards were on a mobile device using mobile data (4G/5G) on check.

[Nikomajor 2]

2 hours ago, Q-Droid said:

Source ports should be blank/empty.

My router does not accept the source port fields being empty. I can switch the protocol to TCP/UDP and will try that.

[Nikomajor 2]

Switching the port protocol to TCP/UDP seems to have fixed it to some extent. I can open the remote access page when on mobile data but it's not a stable connection and jumping through the timeline of a video immediately brings it to a halt (might be due to my terrible network reception at home).

I'll test it again when connected to a friend's/my workplace WiFi while the server remains on my home network.

Would connecting the server via WiFi affect the performance? It's in the same room as the router.

[Luke 37113]

Quote

Would connecting the server via WiFi affect the performance? It's in the same room as the router.

It might affect the amount of data that can be streamed but should otherwise work just fine.

[rbjtech 4287]

8 hours ago, Nikomajor said:

Switching the port protocol to TCP/UDP seems to have fixed it to some extent. I can open the remote access page when on mobile data but it's not a stable connection and jumping through the timeline of a video immediately brings it to a halt (might be due to my terrible network reception at home).

The fact that even a single packet worked, means you have remote connectivity.  canyouseeme should also now say the port is open.

btw - make sure you used the port forward option, not the port trigger option (if it has it).

8 hours ago, Nikomajor said:

Would connecting the server via WiFi affect the performance? It's in the same room as the router.

It's really not ideal, but it should work, but for reliability/performance reasons especially as it's in the same room - I would invest in a suitable wired ethernet connection.

[Q-Droid 654]

10 hours ago, Nikomajor said:

My router does not accept the source port fields being empty. I can switch the protocol to TCP/UDP and will try that.

As I read the "help" text on your router page my guess is it's a language translation mixup. Possibly meant to say destination, not source port.

[rbjtech 4287]

1 hour ago, Q-Droid said:

As I read the "help" text on your router page my guess is it's a language translation mixup. Possibly meant to say destination, not source port.

Agreed - it's very odd terminology on the router GUI.

If 'External Start' and 'External End' Port means 'source' - then you can maybe add 1 as the Start and 65535 as the End. (in other words 'any'), or maybe leave those empty/blank.   Destination port is the key one (as that is what emby is listerning on) - these need to be 8096 or 8920, but the source port is generally any port.

Edited April 25 by rbjtech

[Q-Droid 654]

6 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

Agreed - it's very odd terminology on the router GUI.

If 'External Start' and 'External End' Port means 'source' - then you can maybe add 1 as the Start and 65535 as the End. (in other words 'any'), or maybe leave those empty/blank.   Destination port is the key one (as that is what emby is listerning on) - these need to be 8096 or 8920, but the source port is generally any port.

Right. Maybe if the OP can share the page where that info is entered, "Add" button. It might be a little clearer there. 

 

[Nikomajor 2]

22 minutes ago, Q-Droid said:

Right. Maybe if the OP can share the page where that info is entered, "Add" button. It might be a little clearer there. 

 

Adding in  a screenshot of the "Add" page. I've circled how I navigated to this particular page.

31 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

Agreed - it's very odd terminology on the router GUI.

If 'External Start' and 'External End' Port means 'source' - then you can maybe add 1 as the Start and 65535 as the End. (in other words 'any'), or maybe leave those empty/blank.   Destination port is the key one (as that is what emby is listerning on) - these need to be 8096 or 8920, but the source port is generally any port.

I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

4 hours ago, rbjtech said:

The fact that even a single packet worked, means you have remote connectivity.  canyouseeme should also now say the port is open.

btw - make sure you used the port forward option, not the port trigger option (if it has it).

I can't find the Port Forward option no matter where I look. I found Port Filtering and am not sure if it accomplishes the job.

canyouseeme reports that it cannot see the service (Reason: Connection timed out). I was able to see the server from my workplace but only rarely and no media was streamable. 

4 hours ago, rbjtech said:

It's really not ideal, but it should work, but for reliability/performance reasons especially as it's in the same room - I would invest in a suitable wired ethernet connection.

Okay, I'll move the device and connect it via Ethernet. It's a NUC so moving it around isn't a hassle.

[Q-Droid 654]

That's better. 

External is router Wan IP and ports. 

Server IP and port are LAN. 

I don't think you need to change anything for now. Perhaps reboot everything then try the connections again. The problems could be network and/or service quality and stability. 

Scratch that. Not ready to make that assumption and perhaps leave external IP and start port empty and only use the end port. 

Again, the wording is a bit confusing. 

Do reboot everything though. 

Edited April 25 by Q-Droid

[Q-Droid 654]

It's much easier to navigate NAT and port forwarding when the terms used are clear, like source and destination. 

Edited April 25 by Q-Droid

[Nikomajor 2]

30 minutes ago, Q-Droid said:

Not ready to make that assumption and perhaps leave external IP and start port empty and only use the end port. 

Again, the wording is a bit confusing. 

Do reboot everything though. 

Okay so this is what my permissions look like now. Still can't see it via canyouseeme. I can't leave the external IP, external start port empty.

22 minutes ago, Q-Droid said:

It's much easier to navigate NAT and port forwarding when the terms used are clear, like source and destination. 

Agreed. My Netgear router used standard terms but died recently (after I bought Emby lol). I'll speak to the manufacturer's help team tomorrow and see if there's another method that I just can't find (it's currently 7.30pm for in my region, +5.30 GMT).

 

Edit: Just realized I should share my router model. It's a Digisol DG-GR6821AC.

Edited April 25 by Nikomajor

[rbjtech 4287]

50 minutes ago, Nikomajor said:

 

How that UI got through QC I'll never know - but on the assumption that 'Source Port' actually means 'Server Port aka Destination Port' then I don't see any configuration issues.

I'm also assuming other devices on the same LAN (192.168.1.x) can get to emby ok ?   ie the local firewall on the emby 'server' is allowing traffic through ?

[Lessaj 65]

Based on the screenshots you've provided so far "Source Port" in the table view should be "Server port" in the configuration view. As it stands currently I believe you've basically told it that any incoming port request should be forwarded to your server's http port so it should be:

• External IP Addr - Empty (which should allow all)
• External Start Port - 8096
• External End Port - 8096
• Protocol - TCP
• Server IP Address - 192.168.1.52
• Server port - 8096

If this configuration still doesn't work, do you have a device in front of this one (ISP provided modem/router aka gateway) or does it handle the modem capabilities as well? Have you checked if your connection uses a CGNAT?

[rbjtech 4287]

22 minutes ago, Lessaj said:

Based on the screenshots you've provided so far "Source Port" in the table view should be "Server port" in the configuration view. As it stands currently I believe you've basically told it that any incoming port request should be forwarded to your server's http port so it should be:

• External IP Addr - Empty (which should allow all)
• External Start Port - 8096
• External End Port - 8096
• Protocol - TCP
• Server IP Address - 192.168.1.52
• Server port - 8096

If this configuration still doesn't work, do you have a device in front of this one (ISP provided modem/router aka gateway) or does it handle the modem capabilities as well? Have you checked if your connection uses a CGNAT?

The FR below never went anywhere (surprise, surprise..) - CGNAT may well be the issue here - such a simple test to warn the user it may be an issue - it would take a few lines of code to check once the user checks the 'Enable Remote Access' box ... 

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/122255-cgnat-built-in-test-when-enabling-remote-access/

Edited April 25 by rbjtech

[Nikomajor 2]

3 hours ago, rbjtech said:

How that UI got through QC I'll never know - but on the assumption that 'Source Port' actually means 'Server Port aka Destination Port' then I don't see any configuration issues.

I'm also assuming other devices on the same LAN (192.168.1.x) can get to emby ok ?   ie the local firewall on the emby 'server' is allowing traffic through ?

Other devices on the same LAN can access it without a problem. I made an exception to the firewall 

2 hours ago, Lessaj said:

Based on the screenshots you've provided so far "Source Port" in the table view should be "Server port" in the configuration view. As it stands currently I believe you've basically told it that any incoming port request should be forwarded to your server's http port so it should be:

• External IP Addr - Empty (which should allow all)
• External Start Port - 8096
• External End Port - 8096
• Protocol - TCP
• Server IP Address - 192.168.1.52
• Server port - 8096

If this configuration still doesn't work, do you have a device in front of this one (ISP provided modem/router aka gateway) or does it handle the modem capabilities as well? Have you checked if your connection uses a CGNAT?

Tried the settings shared and no luck. There's no other device in front of this one as it handles the modem capabilities as well.

I looked into the possibility of a CGNAT and whatismyipaddress reports that it's most likely a static IP. I can't find anything online suggesting that the network portion belongs to a CGNAT.

[Lessaj 65]

Okay if it's the only device and you're not within a CGNAT it's possible your ISP may restrict common ports or ports under 10000 so you could try 28096 as the external port instead for example. And you're certain the server IP is 192.168.1.52? In your earlier screenshot it was 51, I can imagine it changing after rebooting the device because it may lose all the DHCP leases but you should really set a static address for this device if it's using DHCP.