Connect to TP-Link remotely

A few things to consider:

1). Are you trying to connect using HTTP or HTTPS? It should be the latter.

2). Is 255.255.255.255 is the subnet mask of the network you're trying to reach? For connecting to an internet-facing device you don't need to specify a subnet mask - just its public IP address, and port number if it's not 443 (the default for HTTPS connections).

3). Is your TP-Link configured to allow remote management from the internet? Many routers, even domestic-class ones that provide the facility, have to have remote management from the WAN side explicitly enabled, as it's turned off by default.

4). Configure your router to accept HTTPS management connections on a non-standard port below 10000, for example 4433. It doesn't really matter what number you choose provided that it's not associated with a well-known service. This will prevent your work router from intercepting the traffic on 443 meant for your home router.

Thanks and I will be more accurate with you.
My work place router is tp-link WR940N v2/WR941ND v5 the ip address i connect to is 192.168.1.1 the DHCP range is 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.199 this router connect to nanostation M2 the ip address is 192.168.0.20.

The home router is same model and the ip address is 192.168.0.1 and the DHCP is 192.168.0.100 - 192.168.0.199 also connect to nanostation M5 but these tow location have different ISP.

Thanks

There seems to be some confusion here. I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that your workplace and your home are two separate locations. If this assumption is correct, then you will not be able to connect from the workplace router to the home router without knowing the public IP address of the latter.

The addresses you refer to above are non-routeable private IP addresses that are used by your local area networks. The public IP address that each router has will have been assigned to it by the ISP it's connected to. If the home router has a static IP address, that is, one that is permanently assigned to it, then connecting to it is simply a matter of knowing what that address is, with the caveats I referred to above.

However, it's more likely that you will have a dynamic IP address, particularly if it's a home/residential connection, which means that it will change from time to time according to the policies set by the ISP. If this is the situation, then connections to your home router will fail if the ISP has allocated a new public IP address to your router since you last connected.

There are ways around this, such as using DynDNS or No-IP, but such third-party solutions have to be set up, and there may be a cost involved.

Thanks,

Yes they are two separate locations separate ISP and I know  public ip address of my home nanostaion M5 but I do npt know my work place one.

Thanks

You don't need to know your workplace public IP address to access your home router.

The user guide, found here:

http://uk.tp-link.com/resources/document/TL-WR941ND_V5_User_Guide_1910010790.pdf

... gives very clear instructions on page 59 as to how to set up remote management on your device. In particular, setting the router management IP address to 255.255.255.255 (which I think you've already done) is necessary to enable you to access it from anywhere on the internet. If you were, for example, to discover your workplace public IP address and set the router management IP address to that, you would be unable to access it from anywhere outside of your LAN except your workplace - not very convenient!

You should also change the port number used for remote access to a custom one (that is, a non-standard port), as I mentioned in an earlier post, as the default HTTPS port 443 is being used by your workplace router. Also, make sure that the router password is a complex one at least ten characters long and containing a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols, as your router will be vulnerable to access attempts from the bad guys on the internet. Once you've made these changes to your home router's configuration, and you're back at work, or indeed anywhere else outside of your LAN, type the following into your browser address bar:

https://<the_public_IP_address_of_your_home_router:custom_port_number

or, to perhaps make it clearer, using a fictitious public IP address instead of your actual one, and the port number I suggested earlier:

https://123.123.123.123:4433

You should then see the remote access login page of your home router.

Great, I think it's clear to me now all I need to do is to go to home router then configure remote management by changing the remote management port from 80 to 443 or 4433, change the remote management IP to 255.255.255.255 and knowing the public IP address.
From my work place type the address bar the home public IP following by :443 or 4433.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks

You're almost there!

Do not set the remote management port on your home router to 443 - this may cause the router at work to intercept your communication, so that you find yourself at the login page of the work device rather than your home one. Use 4433 or some other value that isn't used by a well-known service. Google for lists of port numbers and the protocols and applications associated with them, and pick one that isn't used by anything well-known; there aren't many that aren't used by anything at all. Choose a number between 2000 and 9999, as using high numbers can cause other problems which I won't bore you with.

Prefix the public IP address of your home router with   https://   when you type it into the address bar of your browser; this will establish a secure connection to it from the computer you're using.

That's it!

I got this message (The server at 123.123.123.123 is taking too long to respond) and this one
(did not match any documents)

Thanks

The IP address of 123.123.123.123 that I quoted earlier was only an example of an IP address, so that you could see what the entry in the browser address bar should look like.

You must use the public IP address of your home router instead of the example IP address, which turns out to be one allocated to China! So much for it being a fictitious address...

In other words, instead of 123.123.123.123, use the actual public IP address of your home router prefixed with https:// (the bold type of the "s" is my emphasis), and the port number you set in the remote management page of your router. Note that the IP address and the port number are separated by a colon and no spaces.

Yes I did with my actual public IP and type it like this https://x.x.x.x:4433
can't establish a connection to the server at 37.x.x.x:4433

Thanks

Hmmm...

I've just checked the TP-Link manual again, and it appears that remote management on your model of router doesn't use SSL; I've mistakenly assumed that it does, as it's standard good practice to do so.

In that case, try exactly what you did above, but using http:// instead of https://

Speaking of assumptions, I'm assuming that you changed the default port 80 to 4433 on your home router. You should change the default port 80 anyway; just be sure to use whatever value you set it to when typing the address into the address bar of your browser.



Let me know how you get on.

Same as above

Well, that is odd...

Have you checked and rechecked the home router remote access configuration for errors? A single wrong digit can make all the difference between success and failure.

Temporarily disable Ignore Ping Packet in the Advanced Security menu. Then when you're next outside your LAN try pinging the router's public IP address. You should get replies, indicating that the device is awake and responding. If you don't get a response, then you know that there's another problem that has to be addressed first.

Is the result the same from every location? Apart from your workplace, have you tried access from an internet cafe, or perhaps a friend's house? If you can connect from everywhere except work, that would suggest an issue or a policy there that prevents what you're trying to do.

Yes I checked there is no error, I ping my public IP from other network I got reply, I tried from other place but same problem.

Thanks

Does your TL-WR941ND v5 have the latest firmware? The most recent version (at least on the UK site) is TL-WR941ND_V5_130709.

Have you any virtual servers set up on the router that are conflicting with your remote access?

You shouldn't have to do this, but try opening the port in the firewall that you configured for remote access, for example port 4433, and see if that works.

All the above are long shots, but I really can't see any reason why remote access still fails.

Do you think mypublicip.com gives me right one or ISP one.

Thanks

Mypublicip.com will probably give you your public IP address, but you can check this by looking at the WAN IP details in your router. Under certain circumstances, such utilities can return the ISP gateway address of your WAN connection rather than the public IP address currently assigned to your router.

Also, it hasn't been established whether your public IP address has been dynamically assigned by your ISP, or whether you have a static one.

Dynamic is the most likely option, and as I explained earlier, this means that it can change without warning and the ISP is under no obligation to tell you that this has happened. If you're relying on a public IP address that you were assigned days or weeks ago, then it's very likely to have changed since then.

The fact that you received replies to your pings doesn't mean it's your router that's replying!

My nano M5 receives signal from my ISP then pass it to my router through the wan port so when I check both my nano and router ip I see private ip start with 192.168.x.x something like this. But the question is which device should I consider the nano or the router?

Thanks

Great I will do so when I go back home as I am overseas at the moment.

Thanks