Yet another remote connection issue thread

[Kol24 0]

So, I've got a baffling issue. I cannot remotely connect to the MB server I have running on a Windows 10 machine. I've tried all suggestions on the connectivity page. But even with the firewall temporarily off, I cannot connect. Local connections work fine. I don't have access to router settings due to the apartment complex having all the routers locked down (whitelist probably). But I even tried using my mobile hotspot and no dice. Canyouseeme reported no response on port 8096 or 8920 using either internet service. I even tried each connection again with a VPN (PIA) turned on on the host machine, though I didn't expect any good results from that.

[Kol24 0]

Before anyone asks, I've tried accessing from browsers on Windows, iOS and Android as well as the Android and iOS apps

[Luke 38500]

Hi there, I would suggest checking out our connection troubleshooter:

https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/articles/44001849007-connectivity

Please try the steps listed there and let us know which ones succeed and which ones do not. Thanks!

[Kol24 0]

I already told you what did and didn't work. I went through the same troubleshooter and everything local worked, but nothing from the remote section worked. I don't have access to my router to enable port forwarding because the apartment sucks. I also tried it with my computer connected to my own hotspot, but because port forwarding on that isn't an option either, I'm guessing I'm SOL.

[Luke 38500]

Ok yes if you can't open up ports then I'm not sure what you can do.

[pwhodges 1714]

Isn't this something a VPN could get around?  Setting up the VPN is presumably an outgoing connection, so should be possible, and if the VPN is one which can be set to allow incoming connections through it, then you're away.

 

<disclaimer> I don't use this type of VPN...

 

Paul

[Kol24 0]

Thanks for the replies. It was a shot in the dark to see if there was a workaround. and no, I've tried these steps using a VPN to no success.

[Ponyo 22]

Because a normal VPN would still require opening up a incoming port. If you don't have access to your router, the only option I can think of is setting up point-to-point VPN.

Set up a VPN server on some remote host (AWS, google cloud, pc at somebody else's house or whatever) and have a VPN client on your Emby server connect to that. On the remote host you can now set up the necessary routing to forward incoming connections (to the VPN server) to the Emby server (VPN client).

 

This will work because your Emby server is setting up the original (outgoing) connection when starting the VPN and all traffic will be routed back over that open connection, thus requiring no ports to be opened on the router because from the router's point of view there is no new incoming connection.

 

The downside is that its all a bit of a pain to set up and probably is going to cost you some money, especially if you end up using a lot of bandwidth.

[jordy 284]

hi, if all else fails, you might try a Domain with Reverse Proxy. I have one set up through Google Domains and Caddy (reverse proxy). It's not free but if you can't get anything else to work... There is a thread on this forum that will give you instructions better than I can, I'll see if I can find it for you. The cost is for Google Domains but it's fairly inexpensive.

 

Using a Domain name and a Reverse Proxy will get you past the router as connections are made via ports 80 and 443 which should be open on any router as they are common connection ports required by Windows. When set up, Caddy will re-route those external connections straight to your emby server.

 

good luck

 

EDIT: here is the forum thread

 

Edit 2: and the great benefit is - It's totally secure, SSL certified using LetsEncrypt

Edited March 27, 2020 by jordy

[Ponyo 22]

That won't make any difference because that proxy will still somehow need to access his server. That will not be possible because he can't set up port forwarding for incoming connections.

[Kol24 0]

Thanks again for the responses. I'm just gonna wait a couple weeks till I move and ask the new land lord if they'll let me forward a couple ports for a server I need to keep running. Any suggestions on non-threatening ways to phrase this to him/her when I need to?

Edited March 27, 2020 by Kol24