Port Forwarding – How to Host a Server if ISP Blocks Incoming Requests

port-forwarding

I have a home network with a 3G Modem that provides internet. I just put in some security cameras and I'd like to access them remotely. The camera system comes with a free DDNS service and I've got is all set up (at the provider, in my camera system, and port forwarding set up in my router). But, when I tried to access it using the DDNS address, I started to realize that my ISP is blocking traffic from outside to inside. I went to http://mypublicip.com and got the IP. I tried pinging the IP and got no replies:

PING 186.2.136.123 (186.2.136.123): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2

HOWEVER, I also have some WeMo devices in the house that I can control remotely. I think the WeMo devices are somehow calling out to a remote server to maintain a connection in order to receive commands.

So, my question has two parts:

  1. Is there a way to make my port forwarding and DDNS solution work with my security system even though my ISP wants to make it hard for me to do?
  2. If not, is there a way to do what I want to do that might be somewhat similar to how the WeMo devices work remotely?

Best Answer

First, Ping drops don't mean that your provider is blocking you. This means that ICMP is turned off (in your router or theirs), being blocked, or being dropped. A timeout indicates either a drop or ICMP is off. You may want to check settings in your router to see if you have ICMP shut off. Next, you could build a VPN server in your network. Using the IP address to get back to the VPN server, any computer that connects would look like a computer IN your network to your network.

Giving you instruction in how to build a VPN server is outside the scope of an answer. There are MANY sets of instruction all over the web. A good source of direction for VPN tunnels, SSH tunnels, and proxies is Hak5. They give directions in how to do these things for both Windows and Linux.

Just because ICMP traffic doesn't work doesn't mean that all in bound traffic is blocked.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

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