Emby Won't Connect Over WAN (the recurring topic)

[jprobins007 24]

Having worked beautifully for quite some time, I seem now to be unable to connect to Emby on PC or Android app outside the home network. On PC, I get a "Connection has Timed Out" error message. On Android, the "working" circle goes around for a while, then it asks me to choose a server. When I try to choose the correct server, the same sequence recurs.  I am attaching a log covering the time I was trying to connect.  I am afraid it will be of limited use as I don't think the connection is being refused, b ut rather is not reaching Emby at all.  This happened previously. In that instance, the router had reassigned port addresses and I had not noticed. Since then I have used a static address.  Port forwarding is also enabled. I am running Emby 4.7.14.0 on a QNAP NAS which runs QuTS Hero 5.1.2.2534. I have already gone through the instructions at https://emby.media/support/articles/Remote-Setup.html.  It appears that I am not subject to cgNAT issue. I have confirmed the port address. There is no firewall running that I can find.  I have not changed hardware or configuration. I would guess that there may have been updates to some software (including Emby and QuTS Hero) in the period since I know it was working. Any help troubleshooting this would be greatly appreciated.

11-19-23 embyserver.txt

[Luke 42079]

HI there, I would suggest checking out our Connection Troubleshooter:

Connectivity

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

[jprobins007 24]

Thank you.  Yes. I have gone through that page. The port verifies, so I assume the port is properly forwarded. I have verified the external address as suggested, but the original post describes the results when connecting by browser (ie., connection timeout).

[Luke 42079]

Hi, what do you mean by the port verifies?

[jprobins007 24]

I was referring to this troubleshooting test from the page you cited:

 

Verify Public Port

To test that your public port is accessible over the internet, try testing it from canyouseeme.org

If this test does not succeed, then it's an indication that your router is blocking the traffic and may need additional configuration.

[jprobins007 24]

Any ideas as to what else I might try?

[jprobins007 24]

Is there perhaps a way to configure Emby access via myqnapcloud? Grasping at straws at this point.

[Luke 42079]

On 11/19/2023 at 7:18 PM, jprobins007 said:

I was referring to this troubleshooting test from the page you cited:

 

Verify Public Port

To test that your public port is accessible over the internet, try testing it from canyouseeme.org

If this test does not succeed, then it's an indication that your router is blocking the traffic and may need additional configuration.

What did you enter into canyouseeme?

[jprobins007 24]

I used port 8096, the same as I am using for Emby.  However, I just repeated the procedure, and I might be misunderstanding something.  When connected to the local wireless network, the port can be seen.  When connected to a wireless hotspot from my phone, it shows a different IP address and the port CANNOT be seen.  I am attaching both screenshots.

 

P.S.--I tried to access Emby remotely over the weekend from hotel wifi and got the same negative results.

canyouseeme local.pdf canyouseeme cell.pdf

[ebr 16184]

17 minutes ago, jprobins007 said:

I used port 8096

That is the port you defined as the external port in the forwarding?  You are using plain http or https?

Can you show us your port-forwarding setup (blur out the external IP address)?

[jprobins007 24]

Yes, that is the non-ssl external port.  However, I did not notice that it was connecting to canyouseeme on https.  I ran it again with the ssl port (8920). Same result.  I am attaching screenshots.

Port Forward.pdf

Edited November 21, 2023 by ebr
removed image with public IP address

[ebr 16184]

Hi.  You can just paste images directly into this forum.  Using PDF attachments makes it much harder for us to see.

Thanks.

[jprobins007 24]

OK, more I do not understand.  canyouseeme cannot see the ssl port (8920) when on the local network either.  See attached.

canyouseeme https local.pdf

[jprobins007 24]

OK.  I will try to do so.

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by ebr
removed image with public IP address

[jprobins007 24]

[ebr 16184]

Are you sure your ISP allows traffic on those ports?  What if you try mapping to the standard external ports of 80/443 just as a test to see if canyouseeme works?

[jprobins007 24]

[redacted]

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by ebr
removed image with public IP address

[jprobins007 24]

It has worked on those ports for a more that a year, which does not mean that Astound did not lock them out recently.

[jprobins007 24]

I also had the same problem using hotel wifi in New Orleans this weekend.  Presumably a different ISP

[jprobins007 24]

I changed the port to 400 and everything connects!!!!! For some reason, I thought I had to use 8096 and 8920.  You hit it right on the head, when I was so frustrated.  Is any particular port no. better/safe than another? Thank you very, very much. I am very appreciative of you and this board.

[ebr 16184]

15 minutes ago, jprobins007 said:

Presumably a different ISP

Not at your server location - which is the one that must be blocking traffic on some ports.

Glad you got it figured out.

[pwhodges 2012]

4 hours ago, jprobins007 said:

Is any particular port no. better/safe than another?

Ports below 1024 are more likely to have an existing service attached - though not many in practice even so.  Aside from that the number is entirely arbitrary; it's like your ip address is the apartment block, and the port is the particular apartment (actually, that's a dreadfully inaccurate metaphor, but so what).

Avoiding 8096 and 8020 has the slight benefit that they won't get hit by people scanning for Emby servers on the "standard" ports.

Paul

[jprobins007 24]

Thanks

[jprobins007 24]

This exact problem seems to have recreated itself. After upgrading to 4.8.1.0, the port  numbers seemed to have reset themselves to 8026 and 8027, and I am unable to connect to the Emby server outside of the home network. I went through all the same troubleshooting as before. I did notice that the ports had rest themselves. I did then reset the port in the Emby server to 400 (I also tried 1025). However, this time resetting the port had no effect. To reset the port effectively, do I need to do anything except change it in the Network tab in Emby? Is there anything else I can try here? Is there anything else that the upgrade might have reset or changed?

[Happy2Play 9780]

Don't know anything about the device but have you verified the firewall settings?