SmartAX MT882 not allowing IP address access

Bubble · 07-14-2007, 09:41 AM

Hi all.

We are struggling with TalkTalk / SmartAX MT882 modem/router /
sharing files between machines on the Internet.

Various members of our family around the country have Apple Macs
connected to the Internet. We run Mac OS X 10.4, 10.3 & 10.2.

To help them configure their machines properly, we sometimes connect
via the Internet from our (OS X 10.4) machine to theirs by a simple
'connect to server' command from the Finder. (Typing Command-K
(Connect to Server), entering the family member's IP address and then
using a user name and password to log on. At that point, we can access
their home folder and do any basic maintenance work (such as moving
files around, renaming folders, etc.)

We realise something like Apple's Remote Desktop program would be
really useful here but that won't work if we can't even get as far as
connecting to the IP address from Finder as we used to.

Our problem now is this: family members are now upgrading to TalkTalk
broadband using a SmartAX MT882 modem/router via Ethernet and we
can no longer connect to their IP address. Mac OS X reports
"Connection Failed: The server may not exist or it is not operational at
this time. Check the server name or IP address and try again."

We suspect a firewall is hiding the machines and are not sure how to
switch it off (OS X has a built-in firewall anyway so we'd prefer to use
that instead of the hardware one). We've been reading up on possible
solutions (including Network Address Translation (NAT), port forwarding,
etc.) but are getting confused. As most family members have a dynamic
IP address, we are using the services of http://www.dyndns.com/ to link
their ever-changing IP address to a fixed address (eg.
iamhere.getmyip.com) but this doesn't equate to a fixed numeric IP
address (so we can't just forward ports to a fixed numeric IP address.)

OS X on their machines reports via the sharing system preference that
"Other Macintosh users can access your computer at
afp://192.168.1.3"... which won't work as this is a local address. Going
to a page like http://www.ip-adress.com/ reports their ACTUAL address
(e.g. 82.45.23.456) but this still can't be accessed over the Internet,
probably, again, due to the SmartAX MT882's firewall.

Can anyway guide me? All I want is to figure out how to configure
family members' system to allow connections over the Internet
(obviously via a username & password to avoid hackers!)

Thanks!

07-14-2007, 09:41 AM	#1 (permalink)
Bubble Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1 OS: Mac OS X	SmartAX MT882 not allowing IP address access Hi all. We are struggling with TalkTalk / SmartAX MT882 modem/router / sharing files between machines on the Internet. Various members of our family around the country have Apple Macs connected to the Internet. We run Mac OS X 10.4, 10.3 & 10.2. To help them configure their machines properly, we sometimes connect via the Internet from our (OS X 10.4) machine to theirs by a simple 'connect to server' command from the Finder. (Typing Command-K (Connect to Server), entering the family member's IP address and then using a user name and password to log on. At that point, we can access their home folder and do any basic maintenance work (such as moving files around, renaming folders, etc.) We realise something like Apple's Remote Desktop program would be really useful here but that won't work if we can't even get as far as connecting to the IP address from Finder as we used to. Our problem now is this: family members are now upgrading to TalkTalk broadband using a SmartAX MT882 modem/router via Ethernet and we can no longer connect to their IP address. Mac OS X reports "Connection Failed: The server may not exist or it is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and try again." We suspect a firewall is hiding the machines and are not sure how to switch it off (OS X has a built-in firewall anyway so we'd prefer to use that instead of the hardware one). We've been reading up on possible solutions (including Network Address Translation (NAT), port forwarding, etc.) but are getting confused. As most family members have a dynamic IP address, we are using the services of http://www.dyndns.com/ to link their ever-changing IP address to a fixed address (eg. iamhere.getmyip.com) but this doesn't equate to a fixed numeric IP address (so we can't just forward ports to a fixed numeric IP address.) OS X on their machines reports via the sharing system preference that "Other Macintosh users can access your computer at afp://192.168.1.3"... which won't work as this is a local address. Going to a page like http://www.ip-adress.com/ reports their ACTUAL address (e.g. 82.45.23.456) but this still can't be accessed over the Internet, probably, again, due to the SmartAX MT882's firewall. Can anyway guide me? All I want is to figure out how to configure family members' system to allow connections over the Internet (obviously via a username & password to avoid hackers!) Thanks!