Internet Access via the RTE and RTE/FXO system.

 Now that you've been successful with your Ethernet connections and the local LAN, you'll want to move onto access via the Internet.This means that you must prepare your router.

Important: if you haven't logged on via the LAN, go back and get it working first. If it doesn't work over your LAN, it certainly won't work over the Internet.

Background: When you try to access your local network from the outside world, your router places all kinds of roadblocks in your way. This is to prevent unauthorized users from access. The RTE units have what is called a PORT. To communicate over the RTE you must use this PORT for all communications. Do not confuse the Ethernet ports with the COM ports on your PC. They are two different things.  The factory setting for the RTE is port 3001. When you set up CPRManager for the LAN communications, you entered the RTE local IP address and the port number 3001.

When a request comes in from the outside world, it comes via your PUBLIC IP address. To discover what that is, go to http://www.IPChicken.com  Write this down ... you will need it again. It is called your PUBLIC IP address and is really the address that was assigned to you by your service provider. Like a street address, it identifies where information will be sent. 

Now, open up CPRManager.exe again. Now, instead of putting the LOCAL IP address as you did before, replace it with the PUBLIC IP address (keeping the same PORT, probably 3001 unless you've changed it). 

You may test the connection in CPRManager by clicking on the COM xx TESTS (where xx is your COM port) tab and then hit OPEN.  If you have not set up your router yet this will probably fail. That is  because the router doesn't know what to do with requests coming from the outside and requesting port 3001 access yet.

So when you send "PUBLICIPADDRESS:3001" to your router, it won't know what to do with it and will block it. There are 3 basic ways of setting up the router shown below in order of increasing setup difficulty but increasing security.

Method1: DMZ routing

In general, this is the least secure and the simplest, but since the RTE is essentially a dumb device as compared to a PC, you may simply route ALL external port requests using a router setting called DMZ. If you're having trouble with port forwarding below, simply try enabling the router DMZ function. Forward to the RTE LOCAL LAN IP ADDRESS. This usually solves port issues.

If DMZ works and Port Forwarding port 3001 does not, your router is probably blocking UDP requests from the Internet. In this case, if you don't want to use DMZ, you must ALSO port forward UDP ports  30718, 43282 and 43283 to the same RTE Local LAN address. This is not always necessary with most unsophisticated routers.

 

Method2: Port Forwarding

All routers are different in their setup procedures, but the main idea is the same. Refer to your router manual for detailed and specific instructions. We cannot answer router-specific setup questions. 

By now, you should know your RTE or Watcher IP address on your local LAN. When accessing via the internet, your router must know how to handle such legitimate requests and to deny unauthorized requests. You must open a TCP port in your router and direct it to the default port (3001) of your Glentek unit. Usually, this is done by forwarding a PORT request to access port 3001 to the local IP address and port of your Glentek device. This is done under the PORT FORWARDING section (often called NAT/QOS). The RTE and Watcher devices use TCP protocols (as opposed to UDP).

Here's a link to a simple WIKI tutorial on PORT FORWARDING: HERE

 

So when a request comes over the internet for the internet to access PORT 3001, it will be forwarded to the RTE or Watcher for further processing. 

 Next, in your COM PORT REDIRECTOR  (or CPR manager) setup for your virtual COM port, you must change the COM PORT settings to direct all of the selected COM PORT access requests to your PUBLIC IP address. Set it to PORT 3001 also.

You can find out what your PUBLIC IP address is by going to the IPChicken.com website at http:\\www.IPCHICKEN.com   ... your IP address will be prominently displayed at the top of their website. 

That really is all there is to it. 

To look at this another way, if you're on the outside and you want to access something on your LAN, you need to point to your PUBLIC IP address. But you must also say what PORT you want to talk to. In the case of the RTE and  Watcher redirector programs, you want to point your remote software to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx :3001  where the x's are your Public IP address and the 3001 is the default port of the RTE and Watchers.

So now inside your router, when it sees a request from the outside world to access PORT 3001 on your LAN, it needs to know what to do with this request. So, using the PORT FORWARDING feature of your router

     Direct the incoming port 3001 requests (often called the FROM Port) to the LOCAL LAN IP address of your Glentek unit and to its Port 3001.   Specify the TCP protocol

 

Remember, you may change the port number of your unit by accessing the internal web server. All references to "3001" ports above would then have to be changed to the new port number.

 

Method3:

VPN (Virtual Private Network): for advanced users.

Many of the newer routers can function as a VPN. We won't go into the details since this involves setting up a router designed to do this (most are not).  Essentially, when you log onto your VPN from the outside, it is the same as if you were on your home LAN. You would then not need to change your redirector settings when accessing from the outside. 

If you have a Linksys router (such as WRT54G(L)), you may convert your router to act as a VPN for external access to your LAN.

A link to how to flash your router may be found HERE. This is not a simple process nor is this intended to be a tutorial, but if you have some expertise in this area, it works very well and the firmware is FREE. It is well worth the effort since operating from outside your LAN (via Internet) is the same as operating internally (after you log in of course). 

 We do not recommend software VPNs (such as Hamachi) since this defeats the purpose of PC free remote operating.

 STATIC PUBLIC IP ADDRESSES

Your ISP may change your public IP address periodically. For a fee, most ISPs will give you a static address. Or, you may subscribe to a service called DDNS Update Client that will assign you a URL address of your choice (for example you could choose fred.at_home for example).  Requests to that URL will be forwarded to your public IP address. (That's a number like 68.345.222.1). Should your ISP change it, a device inside your LAN will detect the change and contact the DNS service provider who will then link it to the new IP. If you have trouble setting this up, please don't call us ... call the folks providing the service.

Some information regarding Update Clients may be found  HERE

So what's the device? Many routers will provide this function. Check your router manual to see if it has a dynamic DNS service feature. Otherwise, you may load software onto any LAN computer that is running all the time. 

A partial list of routers that will support the DynDNS service (below) may be found HERE

There are many DDNS services to choose from ... see for example:

DynDNS.org

ZoneEdit.com

No-IP.com

easyDNS.com

TZO.com

Most of these companies offer free services.