New router, new question on port forwarding.

[ingeborgdot]

I just got a new router.  The port forwarding is so much different but it is supposed to be easier than my AT&T router was. 

Well, anyway, I am trying to port forward but I have some questions first before I go too far. 

In my ISY994, should I keep automatic and UPnP boxes checked?

The only thing I have filled in are the ip address 192...... and the http 80 and https 443 ports.  Also,  chunked decoding is set to default. 

I have port forwarded in my new Asus RT-AC86U with Merlin 384.19 firmware installed. 

I used a utility called Port Forward I have had for years.  It has the service name as PF1, external port as 443, no internal port, the internal ip address it listed is that of my computer and not of my ISY994, protocol is both, it has no source ip listed.  I know everyone has different routers, but I was hoping someone would have some insight on this.

Thanks.

[Geddy]

What brand and model router do you have?

First, and foremost, make sure you can talk to the admin console internally with the new router. Sometimes the ISY might have been setup with static IP address, but the new router has a new DHCP table (some routers use 192.168.0.1 while others might be 192.168.1.1 - or other internal IP table). If your ISY was setup with static IP it might not connect to the new router correctly so be sure to change the ISY to dynamic IP to connect to the new router then you can take the steps to change it to static if you proceed with the port forwarding on the new router.

 

Then watch this for some steps - it's old, but should still be mostly valid - https://youtu.be/VV7u771uX7E

Also reference some info here: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php

Finally, check out the ISY Cookbook (http://www.universal-devices.com/docs/production/The+ISY994+Home+Automation+Cookbook.pdf) to read about it there too.

 

I might suggest you NOT port forward if you have ISY Portal license. It is a little more secure to use the my.isy.io login as you aren't opening holes in your home router. The likely hood of hacking is low (as long as you have strong passwords), but why open holes in the router if other options are available. 

 

But the easiest way to get help is letting us know what brand router you bought and we can help directly for that.

 

[ingeborgdot]

Asus RT-AC86U with Merlin 384.19 firmware installed. 

[ingeborgdot]

I do have an isy portal license but use if for Alexa.

[ingeborgdot]

Okay, so one thing I did notice in the video from the link above, is that he has the ip address of the ISY instead of the main computer.  I was told many years ago to port forward using my ip address of my main computer.  But it looks like that has been wrong??  I should be using the ip address of the ISY?????

[Geddy]

Correct. The IP of the ISY is what you're port forwarding to. You're not trying to access the computer, but the ISY itself. 

What are you using to access the ISY while remote that you need the port forwarding for? And if you have ISY Portal then you don't just need to use it only for Alexa, but it's also able to be used for remote access to not have to port forward. 

The main reason is if your home IP changes and you aren't using a DDNS service then you would need to know your external facing IP number. 

If you use the my.isy.io remote access then you don't need port forwarding and you can just use the ISY Portal login information to access your ISY remotely. On the ISY Portal look at "Select Tool" -> Information -> ISY Information -> Admin Console URL

Use the Admin Console URL for your access while you're remote. Then use the ISY Portal user/pass to gain access to admin console while away from the home. 

 

[ingeborgdot]

So, I won't need to port forward at all?

[ingeborgdot]

So, if I want to go to my ISY994i, I just type in my.isy.io  ???

[larryllix]

4 hours ago, ingeborgdot said:

So, I won't need to port forward at all?

Correct. The ISY Portal provides a tunnel type access that is initiated by ISY from inside your LAN. Then your external access uses a fixed address via UDI's server that can send controlled access packets into your ISY. When your ISP IP address changes you don't have to track it or know it.

To me the security is less than port forwarding as you now have an account and password to access your ISY as well as UDI having access to it. It does work well, it's easy, and you can get international access that is static and considered safer by most.