Connecting to the 6600 remotely using DishNet

Jeff W7NEE

I am looking to the community for help! I have a 6600 and have been trying to connect using smart link. I can connect remotely inside my home with my iPad or iPhone. Once I go outside my home network I can not get connected to my 6600.

 I have been successful with all setup until it comes to testing my network connection. I get the dreaded red light. I am using a Linksys EA7300 Router. My ISP is Dishnet. After suggestions by Dudley today I reached to Dishnet to have them Bridge the router. However Dishnet is NOT using a router, they claim that there system is only using a modem (HughesNet DishNet HT1000 Gen 4 Satellite Modem) and the port is wide open with no restrictions. I have actually called and spoke with 2 different technical support agents that seemed very willing to help. I have tried using the automatic connection feature which is using the UPnP. This does not work so I disabled the UPnP in my router and setup the port forwarding... 22000 to 4400 TCP and 23000 to 4300 UPN. (These numbers are provided in the Manual connection boxes of smartlink) Still no luck. I have tried anything that was suggested. Any one else ever dealt with this issue using this particular or similar setup? Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Gary w8vi

Jeff, I can understand your frustration.

2 years ago I had a variety of connection and latency issues when trying to use Hughes Net Gen 4 with my remote station. Ended up using my smart phone as a Hot spot and now when traveling in the car I also have a prepaid mobile hot spot. Both work very well on the AT&T network with the Maestro, laptop and Ipad in to the Flex. Usage rates have been reasonable and the quality / reliability factors have been very good.  

73, Gary   

Eric-KE5DTO

Jeff,

I would probably try to simplify things as much as possible to get to the root of the problem.  In your router, I would modify it to forward TCP port 4994 (External) to 4994 (Internal).  Then forward UDP port 4993 (External) to 4993 (Internal).

Make sure and enter these same settings in the SmartSDR SmartLink Setup form (and click Save).

With things setup this way, run the Test.  If it turns Green, you are good to go.  If it is red, copy down the part under Forwarded Ports and let us know what it says.

Jeff W7NEE

maybe this is where I am going wrong...

I am forwarding  22000 external to 4994 internal TCP  and 23000 external to 4993 internal UDP. I got these numbers from the smart link screen of the radio under setup manually since the UPnP (automatic) did not work. Is this not correct!

Eric-KE5DTO

Jeff,

This is all fine.  Especially if you are familiar with networking.  If this isn't your wheelhouse though, I would just keep it as simple as possible (4994->4994 TCP, 4993->4993 UDP).  You may also want to double check that the IP that these ports are being forwarded to in your router.  It should be the same IP as that shown on the SmartLink Setup form.

If you continue to have trouble getting this to work, don't hesitate to open a helpdesk ticket where we can work with you more directly to get this figured out.

Ria

My ISP is Dishnet

Are you on satellite? I strongly suspect, in fact I am almost positive that you don't have an actual public internet IP. Instead, you have what is called "carrier grade NAT." You get a private IP, not a public one. I believe Dishnet does supply public IPs if you request a static IP but it costs extra. The same applies for 4G LTE (at least over IPv4, I think for IPv6 they aren't doing NAT). 

SmartLink will only work if you have a public IP routable over the Internet. 

See here:

hughesnet-networking-faq

It's the 4th question down from the top. 

Jeff W7NEE

Thanks for you response Ria. That is exactly what I have discovered. I would not have a problem contacting Dish and possibly paying a little more (depending). My question is now that I am deeper into this... is it worth it  as I am hearing that there is a possibility of a lot of Latency issues. What is your thoughts on that?

Jeff W7NEE

Yes, I am on Dishnet (Hughes with an HT-1000 Modem). we have discovered that I have a private IP.

Ria

Since you are on satellite, I suspect you don't have a whole lot of options. Latency may be bad, but not unusable but this is a guess at best. I knew in the early days satellite was unusable for pretty much everything except web browsing and e-mail. This may have changed. I don't know.

If you have land based Internet available such as cable or fiber, or even a terrestrial wireless ISP that will be much better - but make sure you can get a static IP from them as many of them also NAT you. Terrestrial wireless ISPs (not 4G LTE cellular, that won't work) are actually not too bad. I helped a fellow Alpha team member set up his SmartLink on his fixed wireless internet and it works well enough. 

Either way let us know how it works out.

Ria

I have a good way to assess the latency - do you know someone with a SmartLink they can let you log into? If not, I may have one available for you but after this weekend. Try it from your home on satellite internet and see how it plays. If the latency is good enough, chances are it will work well both ways. If not, then you have your answer.

BTW what are your upload and download speeds? That also factors in.

Jeff W7NEE

Hello Ria,

Thank you for all of your help. I have read the article you sent and spent a while on the telephone with Dishnet. They are unable to provide me with a public IP for my system. We will be eventually relocating in closer to town and at that time I will have access to Fiber and Cable. I will have a new feature to look forward to using when we move. 

Again, Thank you for all your help!

BTW: I watched your SDR presentation Youtube video last weekend! Very well done and informative!!

Ria

Hi Jeff, thank you. Sorry I couldn't be of further assistance to you, but I guess Mike Walker's rule applies - you generally don't have good HF where you have good Internet, and vice-versa. 

I'll be talking about SmartLink at Dayton at K6UFO's remote forum, Room 2 at 9:15AM on Friday. If you're coming out, be sure to stop by. (goes for anyone). 

Ria

Also - all may not be lost. I've done point to point VPNs for people in your same situation but the connection is initiated on the radio end. But this requires the remote end to have a public IP available. Something to keep in mind to keep the dream alive. 

Ria