Possible port forwarding issue with D-Link DIR-825

[Mike Rubin]

I previously posted a question about internet access for two music servers connected by ethernet to a wireless bridge. However, I've explored the issue more and think that I may have asked the wrong question. Therefore, I'll take the liberty of posting a different question in this thread.

My two music servers are not receiving internet radio using the bridge, even though they used to receive it when I had a 2wire modem/router combination to which they connected wirelessly. I've concluded that the issue might be the failure of my new D-Link DIR-825 router to open ports 8000 and 8001 for the servers, precluding them from receiving shoutcast transmissions. I've tried port forwarding and creating virtual servers with those ports at the music servers' static IP addresses, but still no internet radio.

What alerted me to the possible port 8000 issue is that I also cannot enable my Buffalo NAS' web access function, which only requires UPnP to be enabled on the router or port 9000 opened. UPnP definitely is enabled because the setting is checked and because I can stream music and videos using UPnP to other devices. When I check the "use UPnP box" in Buffalo's web access setup page, I get a "UPnP-nogateway" error message. When I alternatively try to forward port 9000 to the NAS, I still can't get web access.

Like the NAS, which defaults to a static IP address, the music servers have static IP addresses (so that I can bookmark their web interface pages). I therefore have to wonder if my router has an issue with port forwarding to specified addresses or whether I am missing something obvious about port forwarding to these devices.

The router and bridge both are just beyond their RMA periods and otherwise are working really well, so I am not inclined to replace them. Worse comes to worst, I will just do without the internet radio and NAS web access, since those features are a lot less important to me than getting the rest of the network's devices playing nicely together, and I've accomplished that. However, I'd appreciate any suggestions that you might have or thoughts about why I am not having success with what I'd think would be a pretty easy thing to accomplish.

 

[stevech]

Port triggering is probably what's used, if the hosts are on you LAN and they initiate the session.

D-Link - would NOT be expected to do anything, or do it correctly, as advanced as port triggering. Look to a quality vendor.

 

[Mike Rubin]

Port triggering is probably what's used, if the hosts are on you LAN and they initiate the session.

D-Link - would NOT be expected to do anything, or do it correctly, as advanced as port triggering. Look to a quality vendor.

Thanks. It's funny, then, that the music servers had no difficulty in picking up internet radio when on my old 2wire's WLAN. I never figured 2wire technology to be more advanced than what I now have with my D-Link devices.

 

[thiggins]

Can you describe the interconnect and devices? What bridge are you using?
Can the devices connect if you take the wireless bridge out of the loop?

 

[Mike Rubin]

Can you describe the interconnect and devices? What bridge are you using?
Can the devices connect if you take the wireless bridge out of the loop?

I am using a D-Link DIR-825 router to which a D-Link DAP-1522 wireless bridge connects. (The DIR-1522 is in the same room of my house as is an EnGenius range extender on the same 2.4 ghz band.) The DAP-1522 connects to the router's 2.4ghz band, since I was not able to get it to connect reliably to the 5ghz. (Per the D-Link forums, this is a pretty widespread issue.) Connected to the DAP-1522 by CAT-5 are two Olive music servers. (These are the versions based on the Hifidelio servers, not the later versions developed by Olive on its own.) The music servers are connected, in one case, by RCA cable via analog out to my integrated amp and, in the other, connected by coax to a DAC.

The music servers use linux and their interface includes selection screens for wired and wireless connection. (They also can function as access points, but I've never tried them that way.) They also have 802.11g radios and antennas to enable them to receive the signal.

In the past, when I used a 2wire router and upgraded the antennae to Hawking extended range ones, the Olives were able to join a G-only, WPA-encrypted network and receive shoutcast stations. After I switched to the D-Link, they've been unable to join the 2.4ghz network wirelessly.

Because these Olive units are known to have issues with mixed networks that include N devices or any networks that use WPA-2 and AES encryption, I made sure that all the N devices are on the 5ghz band and that the 2.4ghz band is limited to G only and WPA and TKIP encryption. I also believe that all of the settings on my D-Link router for the g-band are identical to those I had on the 2wire, since I printed those out and replicated them when I set up the D-Link router.

In any event, the two Olives will NOT join the g-band wirelessly, even with a range extender added for signal boost. (I only added the range extender after being unable to get the Olives to join the network and the bridge only after the range extender did not help.)

Since these devices are in a hifi cabinet at the other end of the house, it is not practical to drag them down to the basement where I have my router. Therefore, I don't think I can test whether they'll pick up internet radio with a hardwired connection to the router.

FWIW:

(1) As most of the servers' base functionality (VNC, UPnP, Telenet, and web-based interface) are handled within the network, the only reason to have internet access enabled is for internet radio, to use the freedb.org database on those rare occasions when I load a new CD that isn't in the unit's own database, and, until recently, to check for firmware updates, a function that the developer has disabled because it wants to sell rather than give away the updates. Therefore, it's only internet radio that reliably lets me know if the units are seeing the internet.

(2) These units are known to be finicky about internet radio if you don't configure the unit's network settings properly. I variously have used my ISP's DNS settings AND the router's. Makes no difference now which I use.

(3) In another thread, someone suggested that I disable WLAN pinging. I don't know how to do that and, if it's what I think it might be, I would hate to lose the ability to ping devices on the WLAN. He also suggested that WPS might need to be disabled. While I don't really understand what WPS is, I would be reluctant to disable it if it impedes my ability to stream music, which is 90% of the reason I have such an extensive home network.

(4) Everything else in this network is really humming now, after a few attempts with other routers, so I really would prefer to keep the equipment I now have. If that means giving up the Buffalo Web Access and the Olives' ability to pick up internet radio, I'll gladly sacrifice those perks for the pleasure of having the devices work so well together within the network.

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer and let me know if you need more information. I appreciate your help.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for the details.

It doesn't sound like you need any ports opened on the router. That is needed only if something from the Internet has to connect to something on your LAN without the LAN device initiating the request.

Shut off the Range extender if you don't need it. At least temporarily until you get the problem sorted.

It sounds like the Olives are connected via Ethernet to the DAP-1522. So why are you trying to have them connect wirelessly?

To check the DIR-825 to DAP-1522 connection, connect a computer to one of its ports temporarily VIA ETHERNET and make sure you can get internet access.

Check the IP addresses on the Olive devices to make sure they make sense (are in the same subnet. Set them to get IP address info via DHCP.

 

[Mike Rubin]

Thanks for the details.

It doesn't sound like you need any ports opened on the router. That is needed only if something from the Internet has to connect to something on your LAN without the LAN device initiating the request.

Shut off the Range extender if you don't need it. At least temporarily until you get the problem sorted.

It sounds like the Olives are connected via Ethernet to the DAP-1522. So why are you trying to have them connect wirelessly?

To check the DIR-825 to DAP-1522 connection, connect a computer to one of its ports temporarily VIA ETHERNET and make sure you can get internet access.

Check the IP addresses on the Olive devices to make sure they make sense (are in the same subnet. Set them to get IP address info via DHCP.

I can see that I did not make myself clear at all, so thank you for your patience in trying to work this through with me. At this point, I am NOT trying to connect wirelessly with the Olives. To the contrary, I gave up on that after I could not get them to join the G-only 2.4ghz band, especially after I tried to extend the router's range so they'd have a better signal. When I gave up on a wireless connection, I bought the wireless bridge so I would not have to worry about these units' issues with wireless connections. So, at this point, I am content to use Ethernet to connect these units to the bridge, and then use the bridge to get them to the router. In fact, I've turned off their wireless radios, since I don't see a reason to try that connection method unless it somehow turns out to make a difference in seeing the internet.

I will disconnect the range extender to try anything you can suggest. It's working like a charm and getting the signal to parts of the house where it's never been before, but I have no idea of the variables it might be introducing.

I did connect a computer, with its wireless radio disabled, to the DAP-1522 before posting at D-Link and here, just to see if I could get an internet connection. Not only did I get one, I got a fast, rock-steady one. So, I am pretty sure there's no fatal bottleneck at the bridge.

Finally, the router, the range extender, the bridge, my NAS, and the two Olives all have static IP addresses outside the router's DHCP range. They see one another easily on the network and I can transfer files between both static and DHCP-assigned address devices at the moment. The router is 192.168.0.1, the range extender at .2, the bridge at .3, the NAS at .150, the first Olive at .152, and the second Olive at .153. Right now, the NAS and the two Olives are set to my ISP's DNS number rather than the router's, but, in the past, they worked fine with the router's instead. Further, at this point they won't get internet radio with either DNS setting I've tried.

Oh, and I also should mention, I've tried using the Olives with dynamic IP addresses, too, to see if that makes a difference for internet radio purposes. It does not, although they remained visible to other devices on the network. (It was just a pain in the butt trying to find them and tell them apart when trying to find them for VNC and their web-based controllers, so I reverted to static once it was apparent that I could not get an internet radio connection.)

So, in short, I am happy with the Ethernet connections to the wireless bridge and with the signal available to the wireless bridge. But you've raised an interesting question for me: Is this really a wired network and not a wireless network issue and, if so, did I post in the wrong place?

Thanks for your assistance!

 

[teknojnky]

some wireless bridges do not support multiple devices. ie they only support one mac adddress.

have you tried plugging only one device into the bridge and seeing if it works then?

 

[Mike Rubin]

some wireless bridges do not support multiple devices. ie they only support one mac adddress.

have you tried plugging only one device into the bridge and seeing if it works then?

Tek, yes, I have. One of the Olives is battery-powered; it's often disconnected from the grid completely and disconnected from the bridge; and the other unit still won't pick up internet radio.

 

[thiggins]

So the only thing not working on the Olives is Internet radio.

You either need to sniff Olive traffic, connect an Olive direct to the DIR-825 or bring back the 2Wire to see if the DIR-825 is the culprit.

 

[Mike Rubin]

The only thing I am certain is not working is the Internet radio, yes. (I don't know if the unit can reach the CD database on the web, as it's been quite awhile since I had a CD new enough not to be in the on-board database, and the developer has crippled the firmware update because updates no longer are free.) Thanks for these suggestions. Since sniffing the Olive traffic sounds like the potential solution that involves the least uninstallation, reinstallation, and uninstallation of equipment, I'd like to try that first. If you don't mind, how would I go about that?

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for these suggestions. Since sniffing the Olive traffic sounds like the potential solution that involves the least uninstallation, reinstallation, and uninstallation of equipment, I'd like to try that first. If you don't mind, how would I go about that?

That is much more involved and would require far more effort than moving gear or
temporarily running a real long Ethernet cable.

There are some articles here to get you started.

 

[Mike Rubin]

Moving gear, it is, then! Thanks for the suggestions. I will post what I determine.