Need Help on Setting Up FTP for ASUS N56U / N66U Router

[oric1]

I couldn't really find any information on this, so I'm posting here in hope that someone can help me with this.

I plugged an external HDD into my ASUS RT-N66U router. Recognition was no problem but now I'm a little stuck on how to get everything set up.

I wanted to make my HDD accessible from outside my home network, i.e. from the Internet via FTP but I can't seems to find a good documentation on how to do all these. The router manual is not very helpful and I did some trials and errors myself, but can't really get it to work.

I've already setup DDNS e.g. host.asuscomm.com
Enable the DDNS Client = Yes
Enable wildcard = No

I seem to have set up the FTP server correctly because I was able to FTP to the HDD within my LAN but I just can't seem to access the HDD from outside my home network.

I'm using Merlin's latest firmware 3.0.0.3.178.15.

Could someone point me into the right direction, please? Thanks!

 

[RMerlin]

I couldn't really find any information on this, so I'm posting here in hope that someone can help me with this.

I plugged an external HDD into my ASUS RT-N66U router. Recognition was no problem but now I'm a little stuck on how to get everything set up.

I wanted to make my HDD accessible from outside my home network, i.e. from the Internet via FTP but I can't seems to find a good documentation on how to do all these. The router manual is not very helpful and I did some trials and errors myself, but can't really get it to work.

I've already setup DDNS e.g. host.asuscomm.com
Enable the DDNS Client = Yes
Enable wildcard = No

I seem to have set up the FTP server correctly because I can FTP to the HDD within my the LAN but I just can't seem to access the HDD from outside my home network.

I'm using Merlin's latest firmware 3.0.0.3.178.15.

Could someone point me into the right direction to achieve all these, please? Thanks!

I haven't tested it, but try FTP'ing to port 2021 instead of 21 when outside the house.

 

[oric1]

I haven't tested it, but try FTP'ing to port 2021 instead of 21 when outside the house.

Thanks Merlin. I tried setting the port to 2021 but still can't access from the Internet. Please see screenshot, are the info correct?

 

[RMerlin]

Don't add a forward rule. There's a configuration field already for this taking care of things automatically.

 

[oric1]

Don't add a forward rule. There's a configuration field already for this taking care of things automatically.

I turned off the port forwarding & remove the rule but still can't connect from the Internet. Wonder what's causing the problem. Any clue? Thanks

 

[RMerlin]

Make sure your modem isn't also acting as a router, creating a double NAT issue, and blocking any packets before they even reach your Asus router. One way to test it is to enable WAN access to the web interface (on the Firewall page), then see if you can access the router's config page on port 8080.

 

[oric1]

Make sure your modem isn't also acting as a router, creating a double NAT issue, and blocking any packets before they even reach your Asus router. One way to test it is to enable WAN access to the web interface (on the Firewall page), then see if you can access the router's config page on port 8080.

Ok, I've enabled WAN access to the web interface (on the Firewall page) and was able to access the router's config page on port 8080 via the Internet. So does that mean I have doube NAT issue or not?

How should I proceed from here. Sorry I'm noob with networking, please bear with me.

Thanks Merlin

 

[RMerlin]

If the web interface is accessible, then you don't have any double NAT problem.

Now that I'm back home I actually tested it. It works for me, however it uses port 21 and not 2021 (not sure what that FTP port field is exactly for, I'll have to dig into the source code to figure it out).

So just enable FTP, then you should be able to FTP using your DDNS hostname, on the default port (21). No need to forward anything. Test result from a server outside my home:

ftp> open hostname.dyndns.org
Connected to hostname.dyndns.org
220 Welcome to ASUS RT-AC66U FTP service.
530 Please login with USER and PASS.
530 Please login with USER and PASS.
KERBEROS_V4 rejected as an authentication type
Name (hostname.dyndns.org:root): Merlin
331 Please specify the password.
Password:
230 Login successful.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> ls
227 Entering Passive Mode (24,25,26,27,67,146)
150 Here comes the directory listing.
drwxrwxrwx 13 0 0 4096 Aug 19 17:28 sda1
226 Directory send OK.
ftp> quit
221 Goodbye.

 

[oric1]

Ok, here are 2 different logs. 1 connected internally via LAN, the other via Internet.

When connected via Internet, I encountered timeout after after this statement "Here comes the directory listing."

Any clue? Thanks

Via LAN

*** CuteFTP 8.3 - build May 19 2010 ***

STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Getting listing ""...
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Resolving host name host.asuscomm.com...
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Host name host.asuscomm.com resolved: ip = 182.55.1xx.2xx.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Connecting to FTP server... host.asuscomm.com:21 (ip = 182.55.1xx.2xx)...
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Socket connected. Waiting for welcome message...
[25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] 220 Welcome to ASUS RT-N66U FTP service.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Connected. Authenticating...
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] USER admin
[25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] 331 Please specify the password.
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] PASS *****
[25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] 230 Login successful.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Login successful.
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] PWD
[25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] 257 "/"
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Home directory: /
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] FEAT
[25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Informational Message Only:
211-Features:
EPRT
EPSV
MDTM
PASV
ICNV
REST STREAM
SIZE
TVFS
UTF8
211 End
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] This site supports features.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] This site supports SIZE.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] This site can resume broken downloads.
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] REST 0
[25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] 350 Restart position accepted (0).
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] PASV
[25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] 227 Entering Passive Mode (182,55,1xx,2xx,215,205)
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] LIST
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Connecting FTP data socket... 182.55.1xx.2xx:55245...
[25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] 150 Here comes the directory listing.
[25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] 226 Directory send OK.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:48 PM] Directory listing completed.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:59 PM] Getting listing "/SHARED_HD"...
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:59 PM] CWD /SHARED_HD
[25/8/2012 9:08:59 PM] 250 Directory successfully changed.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:59 PM] PWD skipped. Current folder: "/SHARED_HD".
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:59 PM] PASV
[25/8/2012 9:08:59 PM] 227 Entering Passive Mode (182,55,1xx,2xx,96,134)
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 9:08:59 PM] LIST
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:08:59 PM] Connecting FTP data socket... 182.55.1xx.2xx:24710...
[25/8/2012 9:09:00 PM] 150 Here comes the directory listing.
[25/8/2012 9:09:00 PM] 226 Directory send OK.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 9:09:00 PM] Directory listing completed.

Via Internet

*** CuteFTP 8.3 - build May 19 2010 ***

STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:05:58 PM] Getting listing ""...
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:05:58 PM] Resolving host name host.asuscomm.com...
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:00 PM] Host name host.asuscomm.com resolved: ip = 182.55.1xx.2xx.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:00 PM] Connecting to FTP server... host.asuscomm.com:21 (ip = 182.55.1xx.2xx)...
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:00 PM] Socket connected. Waiting for welcome message...
[25/8/2012 11:06:01 PM] 220 Welcome to ASUS RT-N66U FTP service.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:01 PM] Connected. Authenticating...
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 11:06:01 PM] USER admin
[25/8/2012 11:06:01 PM] 331 Please specify the password.
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 11:06:01 PM] PASS *****
[25/8/2012 11:06:01 PM] 230 Login successful.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:01 PM] Login successful.
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 11:06:01 PM] PWD
[25/8/2012 11:06:02 PM] 257 "/"
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:02 PM] Home directory: /
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 11:06:02 PM] FEAT
[25/8/2012 11:06:02 PM] Informational Message Only:
211-Features:
EPRT
EPSV
MDTM
PASV
ICNV
REST STREAM
SIZE
TVFS
UTF8
211 End
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:02 PM] This site supports features.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:02 PM] This site supports SIZE.
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:02 PM] This site can resume broken downloads.
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 11:06:02 PM] REST 0
[25/8/2012 11:06:03 PM] 350 Restart position accepted (0).
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 11:06:03 PM] PASV
[25/8/2012 11:06:03 PM] 227 Entering Passive Mode (182,55,1xx,2xx,44,223)
COMMAND:> [25/8/2012 11:06:03 PM] LIST
STATUS:> [25/8/2012 11:06:03 PM] Connecting FTP data socket... 182.55.1xx.2xx:11487...
[25/8/2012 11:06:05 PM] 150 Here comes the directory listing.
ERROR:> [25/8/2012 11:07:06 PM] Timeout (60000 ms) occurred on receiving data from the server.
[25/8/2012 11:07:07 PM] 226 Directory send OK.
ERROR:> [25/8/2012 11:07:36 PM] Control connection closed.

 

[RMerlin]

So you do connect, only you have issues listing folder content. In that case that sounds more a firewall issue on your remote end. Try switching to PORT mode (instead of Passive), see if that helps.

 

[oric1]

So you do connect, only you have issues listing folder content. In that case that sounds more a firewall issue on your remote end. Try switching to PORT mode (instead of Passive), see if that helps.

Thanks Merlin.

The FTP client I'm using does not have Active mode, I selected Port instead, are they referring to the same thing, right?

I supposed there's no solution to my problem?

Via Internet

*** CuteFTP 8.3 - build May 19 2010 ***

STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:05 AM] Getting listing ""...
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:05 AM] Resolving host name host.asuscomm.com...
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:06 AM] Host name host.asuscomm.com resolved: ip = 182.55.1xx.2xx.
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:06 AM] Connecting to FTP server... host.asuscomm.com:21 (ip = 182.55.1xx.2xx)...
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:06 AM] Socket connected. Waiting for welcome message...
[26/8/2012 7:28:07 AM] 220 Welcome to ASUS RT-N66U FTP service.
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:07 AM] Connected. Authenticating...
COMMAND:> [26/8/2012 7:28:07 AM] USER admin
[26/8/2012 7:28:07 AM] 331 Please specify the password.
COMMAND:> [26/8/2012 7:28:07 AM] PASS *****
[26/8/2012 7:28:08 AM] 230 Login successful.
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:08 AM] Login successful.
COMMAND:> [26/8/2012 7:28:08 AM] PWD
[26/8/2012 7:28:08 AM] 257 "/"
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:08 AM] Home directory: /
COMMAND:> [26/8/2012 7:28:08 AM] FEAT
[26/8/2012 7:28:09 AM] Informational Message Only:
211-Features:
EPRT
EPSV
MDTM
PASV
ICNV
REST STREAM
SIZE
TVFS
UTF8
211 End
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:09 AM] This site supports features.
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:09 AM] This site supports SIZE.
STATUS:> [26/8/2012 7:28:09 AM] This site can resume broken downloads.
COMMAND:> [26/8/2012 7:28:09 AM] REST 0
[26/8/2012 7:28:09 AM] 350 Restart position accepted (0).
COMMAND:> [26/8/2012 7:28:09 AM] PORT 172,20,10,4,197,234
[26/8/2012 7:28:09 AM] 200 PORT command successful. Consider using PASV.
COMMAND:> [26/8/2012 7:28:09 AM] LIST
[26/8/2012 7:28:11 AM] 150 Here comes the directory listing.
ERROR:> [26/8/2012 7:29:12 AM] Timeout (60000 ms) occurred on receiving data from the server.
ERROR:> [26/8/2012 7:29:24 AM] Control connection closed.

This is the Port Forwarding log :

Destination, Protocol, Port range, Redirect to, Local port
ALL, UDP, 4672, 192.168.1.1, 4672
ALL, UDP, 4665, 192.168.1.1, 4665
ALL, TCP, 4662, 192.168.1.1, 4662
ALL, UDP, 51413, 192.168.1.1, 51413
ALL, TCP, 51413, 192.168.1.1, 51413

 

[RMerlin]

Yes, PORT is the same thing as "active", tho it's not called active mode.

You have no problem actually connecting to your FTP server, so I don't think it's a matter of configuration, otherwise you wouldn't even be able to log in.

Maybe try a different FTP client (such as Filezilla), otherwise I'm afraid I'm out of ideas, sorry.

 

[oric1]

Yes, PORT is the same thing as "active", tho it's not called active mode.

You have no problem actually connecting to your FTP server, so I don't think it's a matter of configuration, otherwise you wouldn't even be able to log in.

Maybe try a different FTP client (such as Filezilla), otherwise I'm afraid I'm out of ideas, sorry.

Thanks Merlin, appreciate your patience with me. I tried Filezilla but still no go

Let me give it a last shot. From my screenshot below, did I input the values correctly? Should the Local IP be 192.168.1.1 or some other range?

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks Merlin, appreciate your patience with me. I tried Filezilla but still no go

Let me give it a last shot. From my screenshot below, did I input the values correctly? Should the Local IP be 192.168.1.1 or some other range?

As I mentioned before, do not add a forward rule - forwarding rules are only for when you want to forward a connection beyond your router. In this case, the connection must terminate on the router.

 

[oric1]

As I mentioned before, do not add a forward rule - forwarding rules are only for when you want to forward a connection beyond your router. In this case, the connection must terminate on the router.

Ok, shall remove that and give it a final try. Thanks Merlin!

 

[Nightmare1980]

Workaround - WAN Access to USB Drive

After spending 3 days I finally have a solution to this problem.

First, credit is given to the comment at this website:
http://community.wd.com/t5/My-Book-Live-Duo/Please-enable-port-setting-for-FTP/m-p/556514#M4133

Major steps are given by (Asus Routers):

1. Forward an arbitrary Port Range (1000, for example) to Local Port 21. Local IP must be the assigned router IP (not a local machine). Protocol TCP;
2. Make sure that FTP is enabled at FTP Share (USB application, Servers Center);
3. Update all the changes;
4. Test WAN access to your files by typing ftp://[yourdomain].asuscomm.com:1000,
where 1000 is the selected port at Step 1;
5. If everything is working then you will have FTP over port 1000.

Quick tip: Try WAN on a cellphone with WI-FI turned off.

Hope it helps.