Port Forwarding on a Netcomm 3G Broadband Router

Port Forwarding on a Netcomm 3G Broadband Router 3G15Wn for Camera Online

This guide will walk you through the steps of port forwarding on the Netcomm 3G Broadband router 3G15Wn (Firmware L411-402NVM-C01_R10)

1) Open up your favorite browser and go to the router’s default gateway address.

 http://192.168.1.1 (Default Address)

2) Log in to the router.

Default Username: admin

Default password: admin

3) Once you have logged into your router go to the “Advanced” tab hover over “NAT” then click “Port Forwarding”.

4) Click on “Add” ad the bottom of the page.

5) Be sure to select the radio button “Custom Service” and choose a name for the service (small description eg. web, camera, xbox, etc..). “Server IP Address” is the Internal IP address that you want the port to be open on. Be sure you have “Protocol” set to “TCP/UDP” and “External Port” is the port you wish to open, “Internal Port” is the port leading to the machine on your home network. Apply/Save.

Once you save the settings you should now be able to test your port at www.portchecktool.com. Please keep in mind your ISP (Internet Service Provider) can be blocking certain ports such as port 80, 25 and 21. You can call and ask if they are. If you are still not able to see the ports check your firewall and anti-virus software on your computer.

An example configuration, you have a web cam that has the IP address 192.168.1.100 and it runs on port 80. You want to be able to access this camera from outside your network on port 8080. You would enter the below values into port forwarding page.

Custom Service = Small Description

Server IP Address = 192.168.1.100

Protocol = TCP/UDP

External Port = 8080

Internal Port = 80

Then to view the camera you would use your No-IP host of “somehost.no-ip.com” like this: http://somehost.no-ip.com:8080 to reach the webcam.

Port Forward Troubleshooting

If you are having problems with a port forward, try the following.

1. If you did not exactly follow the How can I forward ports with pfSense? guide, delete anything you have tried, and start from scratch with those instructions.

2. Port forwards do not work internally unless you enable reflection. Always test port forwards from outside your network.

3. If you're still having problems, edit the firewall rule that passes traffic for the NAT entry, and enable logging. Save and Apply Changes. Then try to access it again from the outside. Check your firewall logs to see if the traffic shows as being permitted or denied.

4. Use tcpdump to see what's happening on the wire. This is the best means of finding the problem, but requires the most networking expertise. Start with the WAN interface, and use a filter for the appropriate protocol and port. Attempt to access from outside your network and see if it shows up. If not, your ISP may be blocking the traffic, or for Virtual IPs, you may have an incorrect configuration. If you do see the traffic on the WAN interface, switch to the inside interface and perform a similar capture. If the traffic is not leaving the inside interface, you have a NAT or firewall rule configuration problem. If it is leaving the interface, and no traffic is coming back from the destination machine, its default gateway may be missing or incorrect, or it may not be listening on that port. For certain types of traffic you may see return traffic indicating the host is not listening on that port. For TCP, this would be a TCP RST. For UDP, it may be an ICMP Unreachable message.

Common Problems

1. NAT and firewall rules not correctly added (see How can I forward ports with pfSense?). Hint: You probably do NOT want to set a source port.

2. Firewall enabled on client machine.

3. Client machine is not using pfSense as its default gateway.

4. Client machine not actually listening on the port being forwarded.

5. ISP or something upstream of pfSense is blocking the port being forwarded

6. Trying to test from inside your network, need to test from an outside machine.

7. Incorrect or missing Virtual IP configuration for additional public IP addresses.

8. The pfSense router is not the border router. If there is something else between pfSense and your ISP, you must also replicate port forwards and associated rules there.

9. Forwarding ports to a server behind a Captive Portal. You must add an IP bypass both to and from the server's IP in order for a port forward to work behind a Captive Portal.

10. If this is on a WAN that is not your default gateway, make sure there is a gateway chosen on this WAN interface, or the firewall rules for the port forward would not reply back via the correct gateway.

11. If this is on a WAN that is not your default gateway, ensure the traffic for the port forward is NOT passed in via Floating Rules or an Interface Group. Only rules present on the WAN's interface tab under Firewall Rules will have the reply-to keyword to ensure the traffic responds properly via the expected gateway.

12. If this is on a WAN that is not your default gateway, make sure the firewall rule(s) allowing the traffic in do not have the box checked to disable reply-to.

13. If this is on a WAN that is not your default gateway, make sure the master reply-to disable switch is not checked under System > Advanced, on the Firewall/NAT tab.

14. WAN rules should NOT have a gateway set, so make sure that the rules for the port forward do NOT have a gateway configured on the actual rule.

Remote View Security Camera without Internet Access

Remote View Security Camera without Internet Access

Recently, I spoke to a business owner of a farm who wanted to setup IP security cameras in his barn (a large building on a farm) to keep an eye on his Garden. The farmer wanted to watch live video of the Garden from his house (which is located about 400 feet away from the barn). He also wanted to monitor his cameras when he was away from the farm using his mobile phone. The problem is that the barn does not have an Internet connection.

What is the wireless bridge?
Another option is using a wireless bridge. A wireless bridge connects two wired networks together over Wi-Fi. The wireless bridge acts as a client, logging in to the primary router and getting an Internet connection, which it passes on to the devices connected to its LAN Jacks.

How do you bridge two wireless routers?
1. Determine if your equipment is compatible. ...
2. Place both routers near your computer. ...
3. Set up your primary router. ...
4. Open the configuration page on the secondary router. ...
5. Enable Bridge Mode. ...
6. Specify the secondary router's IP address. ...
7. Enter a unique SSID. ...
8. Place the secondary router.

Using a Long Range Wireless Bridge with Cameras

The above picture provides an overview of how to use a long range wireless bridge to network two buildings (one with and one without Internet access) so that live video from an IP Camera can be remotely viewed from over the Internet. The building on the left represents the farmer’s barn (no internet access, but has power) and the building on the right represents the house. This particular barn was built to be very weatherproof and it is located in an area where there is very little moisture. For areas with more moisture or if the camera is going to directly exposed to more harsh weather elements, I would recommend an outdoor weatherproof camera.

Important note: long range wireless systems require a direct line of sight between the transmitting and receiving antennas. There can be no objects such as buildings and trees that obstruct the view between antennas.

Here is how the system work Long rang wireless systems, include a transmitter and receiver antennas.

1. Mount the transmitter of the wireless system on the outside of the building that does not have an Internet connection. In this case, the horse barn.
2. Drill a hole through the exterior wall to feed the power cable and a CAT-5 cable inside the barn.
3. Mount the camera and connect it to the wireless transmitter using the CAT-5 cable.
4. Connect the power supplies of the camera and WIFI transmitter to a power outlet.
5. Mount the wireless receiver on the house.
6. Drill a hole in the exterior wall for the CAT-5 and power cable for the receiver antenna.
7. Connect the CAT-5 cable to your network router.
8. Connect the power supply of the receiver antenna to a power outlet.
9. The transmitter / receiver pair are configured to form a wireless bridge over WIFI. They can be configured to only connect to each other so there is no interference from other WIFI equipment. The purpose of the wireless bridge is for the camera to communicate with the home network. The home network is connected to a high speed Internet connection such as cable or DSL.
10. Port forwarding is configured on the router so that the IP camera can be accessed from remotely over the Internet.
11. The live video from the camera in the horse stall can now be accessed from anywhere in the world from a web browser. You can require a user id and password for access. The camera can be accessed from Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS.

Some video servers and IP cameras support remote access from a web browser that works for Windows and Mac PCs.

More Video Surveillance Uses for Wireless Bridges

In addition to this single IP camera system explained above, here are some additional ways to use long range wireless systems with multiple security cameras.

Multiple IP Cameras

You can connect multiple IP cameras to a network switch in the building with no Internet access, then connect the switch to the wireless transmitter antenna. Now all of the cameras are connected to the network in the building with Internet access. All cameras can be made accessible over the Internet by setting up port forwarding for each of them.

CCTV Cameras Connected to DVR

You can use a wireless system with CCTV cameras if you have a DVR that is network-able. Here is how this works. The CCTV cameras are hard wired to a DVR using coax cable. The DVR is connected to the wireless transmitter with CAT-5 cable. Now the DVR is available on the network and can be controlled remotely using apps for iPhone, Android, Mac, and Windows. Users can view all cameras that are connected to the DVR.