I have a server PC I’m trying to get working on the internet for self-hosted sites etc.
I tested it initially, directly connected to my main router and using Wireguard running on Ubuntu Server. Through this, I could connect to the server PC directly via wifi hotspot, and access the sites/servers. With port forwarding purely inside the Torguard client area I could also access the server from a completely different network connection.
Since the hotspot was slow, I got a Netgear R8000 (now connected to my non-VPN router, then subsequently the server is connected through it) and installed DD-WRT. Using this, I can use the Wireguard config and the router works perfectly with the VPN. Anyone connecting to the R8000 is now using the VPN connection. I set up port forwarding again on TorGuard to the router.
However, using the R8000 connected to the VPN I cannot figure out how to get the server’s sites to be accessible from the internet. I also port forwarded on the router, but it does not appear to work. The ports are still supposedly closed, also according to port checker tools.
Am I taking the wrong approach and since it’s a VPN tunnel routed through one port, it should be a different setup? Any help would be very much appreciated, thank you!
It isn’t exactly clear where the breakdown is, or indeed what worked and what didn’t and what you’ve replaced.
Isolate the moving pieces. Even to the point of removing router if needed. Are you 100% sure that your isp is not blocking your use of the ports you are trying and testing? Without knowing this, and if you can even see an inbound request on something you control you’re groping at what written out at least is a complicated setup.
If you are confident in this - I feel like that might have worked pre-ddwrt but I’m not certain based on how you present the info - then try a super simple port forward on the ddwrt device - which is a pretty standard consumer router style interface. Forward it to something you can easily see and if needed sniff this conversation. Make sure that behaves as expected and then layer on the next bit of complexity.
Verbose logging. Sniffing. Keep in mind the impacts of NAT and that the handshakes all need to happen two ways. A path in and out of the end target is required, which may require route table entries.
This is what I am attempting. The first one works as the VPN is directly aware of my server itself, and I can port forward in the cloud purely with the IP for my server PC. Ideally I want to have the option of putting all devices within the same LAN as the server PC, so that I can use my local/internal 10G network instead of going via the internet, where it is bottlenecked by my 50Mb/s upload speed. I tested doing it a different way - using my server PC as a hotspot to share its own VPN. This worked, I could access the server both locally and through the internet, but some services didn’t work with this - such as the new Steam LAN file sharing system.
Port forwarding for the server PC on the dd-wrt router doesn’t seem to change anything, and I’ve been fiddling with NAT/routing settings but some of them completely remove the dd-wrt router from being anything more than a glorified network switch for my non-VPN internet connection. It keeps ending up needing a complete factory reset and I’m pulling my hair out doing trial and error. Is there any way I’d be able to ask you for more in-depth help maybe on discord, and I could maybe pay for assistance? I really need this to legally work where I am (tax office in Germany asked for proof that I’m setting up the services I said I am).
To note: My ISP forces internet sharing and blocks all port forwarding, which is why I’m using the VPN as a port opener in the first place. I know I should use a VPS because that’s cheaper, but the VPN also doubles as a VPN for other uses so I’d rather not pay for a VPN and a VPS separately. This VPN is the TorGuard cloud, and has unlimited port forwarding as part of the service.
I didn’t end up even trying to get this specific setup working, but actually I have since had a lot more experience with networking and have a few other comparable setups working now. What are you trying to do?
I actually have it working. Basically trying to see my Plex server from the outside. I am using Torguard VPN with port forwarding on the actual server, but I was hoping to run openvpn or wireguard on the router, instead but when it runs the Plex server can see the VPN interface / outside but not vice versa. But my setup is complicated because I use IPv6
