# HELP REQ: Access to TivoWeb(Plus) via the Internet, without a Static IP from my ISP!



## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

I have TivoWeb Plus installed, and all is hunky dory!

At the moment if I want to access TivoWebPlus from an external location through the internet, I have to send my Dad an email and ask him to tell me the current IP address assigned by Tiscali, which is a real pain in the rear end, as they seem to change it quite often.

I was wondering if there was anyway to set something up on the TiVo its self that I could always get access to TiVowebplus via the web without having to email my dad for the latest IP address.

I have a Belkin wireless router set up with port forward on port 8080, but this will change, I just set it up like that to test that it works.

Cheers


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## Dicko (Oct 10, 2005)

You need to use a dynamic dns service such as www.dyndns.org.

With any luck, your router will support this directly and will update dyndns everytime your IP changes. My Netgear router do this.

If you router does not do this automatically you can run a client program on a PC to do the same.

Regards,
Richard
PS I've used dyndns's free service for several years now without any problems.


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## Paul Johnston (Aug 21, 2005)

I was in a similar situation last year before finally giving up and paying for a static IP.

I was using dynamic IP services like no-ip and dyndns quite happily with a D-Link router which could update them on the allocation of a new IP address to the router.

This worked fine until suddenly it stopped. I was using TalkTalk and I guessed that they must have blocked the ports used for the automatic update. They also implemented a re-cycling routine on the IP address which meant I was getting a new IP on average every 8 hours whereas previously it was permanently allocated unless the router was rebooted.

Might be worth a try unless you're with TalkTalk and if your router supports it. Failing that there are clients that update the dynamic IP providers automatically from a PC. Not sure if one exists yet for TiVo


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

This might sound really stupid, but what do I do once I;ve registered for an account on dyndns?

How do i set it up?

Cheers


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## Raisltin Majere (Mar 13, 2004)

Depends on your router.

Mine (a linksys) has a screen named DDNS here I just put in my login details and when the IP changes, the router "tells" dyndns. So it's always updated.

State the model of your belkin and somebody here may be able to give nistructions


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## pauljs (Feb 11, 2001)

20039700 said:


> This might sound really stupid, but what do I do once I;ve registered for an account on dyndns?
> 
> How do i set it up?
> 
> Cheers


if you can't use your router to update DYNDNS then you load the Dyndns client on your pc and put you login details,

Then instead of typing in the IP address to access your TiVo you type something like

"yourname".dyndns.org


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

Right, well here goes....

I have chnged ruters, becuase my Belkin one did not have the option for DNS, but my netgear one does, the only problem being, that the netgear one is only a router and not a modem, hence i have an ADSL modem to connect it to the internet.

Now the internet is set up and working great.

But i still have a problem, I have set up the dns thing on dyndns.com, and it point to a name i have set up .homeip.net

but this just takes me to the config page of my modem, and i cannot get access to my tivo or even my router, any ideas?


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## managerxxx (Oct 13, 2003)

You should first disable the remote access to your router (for obvious security reasons). Then in your router settings you should use the port forward settings to forward any HTTP (Port 80) requests to the IP address of your Tivo.

Hope this makes sense.


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

Ok, now ive got the router and modem set up, so that I can access the internet etc..

I have port forwarded the port that my tivoweb.cfg has listed (i have changed this fo security reasons

when i try to access (_myname_).homeip.net i just get page connot be displayed, if i log into dyndns.com to find the latest ip addy and type this in along with the port eg. 123.123.12.1:1234 i get page cannot be displayed, if i type this in without the port at the end, it takes me to the log in page for my router management (i HAVE disabled remote management)

TIVO does not show up in the list of devices on my router, I can access the tivo via telnet, FTP and can locally access TiVoweb

Help!


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## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

If you are using internet explorer make sure you have "http://" in front of the actual URL.

www.somesite.com will work without the http prefix but accessing a port will fail

eg www.somesite.com:1234

will fail with an invalid syntax error whereas

http://www.somesite.com:1234 will work


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

yeh I have tried that, I just cant seem to get it working, if i go to _myname_.homeip.net (set up by dyndns.com)

my router is a netgear WGT634U

its obviously something to do with the settings of the router, as the dyndns re-route thing is working, its just taking me to my router login rather than the log in for tivoweb


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## cashew1970 (Oct 21, 2004)

I have a D-link router, and have set this up using the Virtual Server feature.

I have set up a virtual server with its private IP address of the Tivo using the protocol TCP 80/443

Then In DynDns I have set up a free WebHop address that redirects http://name.webhop.net to http://myaccount.homeip.net:443

I find that this works out great.

The other thing to try is www.logmein.com
They provide a free tool that will allow you to connect to, and control your whole PC from any other machine in the world with Internet access.
All you then have to do is log into your home machine, and get on to TivoWeb from there.

Hope this helps

Martin


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

have log me in set up, but the issue i have ther, i dont always have my laptop at home, I often have it with me!

The problem I have now, is that I have the modem set up with with my ADSL user name and passw, and the router is connected to the modem, I can access the internet and stuff, but when I try to us _myname_.homeip.net:1225 i get an error page, it i just type _myname_.homeip.net it now takes me to the setup page of my modem. I have tried port forwarding on both the modem and the router but cant seem to get this sorted.


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## cashew1970 (Oct 21, 2004)

Have you definately set up the router to forward to your Tivos internal ip address on port 1225?

I have a separate modem that my router connects to, and all is well...

I think that your issue is the forwarding..... the reason that you are getting to your modem setup page is that no forwarding is happening.

By default the 8080 trafic should go direct to the router, not the modem. 
By creating a separate enry to re route the 80 traific on another port to a specific IP, it should resolve the issue for you.
PM me a phone number if you want, and I will try and help further


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

I have now gone back to using my Belkin ADSL ModemWireless Router, as the oither setup was causing more problems that its worth.

My router is a Belkin F5D7632-4

does anyone have any ideas, there is no option in the setup menu for dynamic dns, or even an option to email the log to my work email address.

is there any way that a program can be run from the tivo that will update dyndns of the ip addy change, as my laptop isnt always at home it is sometimes with me!

Please help.

cheers


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## managerxxx (Oct 13, 2003)

Not quite what you asked (but may be another way around your problem), dailymail jazz can include the (external) IP address of your Tivo in the email that it sends....


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

dailymail jazz would be a brilliant tool, and I would be happy for it to happen this way to receive my IP addy by dailymail, but the prblem with that is, no matter how hard i try, I cannot get daily mail to work!


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## colint (Apr 26, 2004)

I have a netgear modem and set up a dns account a few weeks ago and found that if I went to my homeip address from within my network I also would get to the router page. Couldn't figure out what was going wrong but the next day I tried it from work (outside of my network) and it went straight to my Tivo. Have you tried it from outside of your network?


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## worm (Feb 10, 2005)

Trying to access your TiVo either by IP or DynDNS assigned name from within your own network will not work - it has to be from outside. 

The router will only forward incoming traffic (ie. from the Internet) to your TiVo.

The best thing is to either have the ability to do a looparound access (I have a shell account on a remote bulletin-board system so I ssh to the shell and then use 'lynx' to test the external HTTP setup) - or, have a trusted friend who can test it for you if you communicate by MSN or whatever.

It is honestly quite easy once you get your head round it.


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## Tony Hoyle (Apr 1, 2002)

You can make it work but router manufacturers don't do it for some reason... that's usually the first thing I change if I'm modifying a router firmware.

(The exception being cisco - their nat scheme simply doesn't allow any kind of loopback).


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## Raisltin Majere (Mar 13, 2004)

worm said:


> Trying to access your TiVo either by IP or DynDNS assigned name from within your own network will not work - it has to be from outside.


Works for me


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## SeanC (Dec 30, 2003)

Raisltin Majere said:


> Works for me


I believe the situation Tony is refering to is:

You are at home trying to test your port forwarding so you try to hit blah.homeip.net but you see your router's login page. That is what should happen.

If you tried the IP address your ISP has given to your router the same thing should happen, you should hit your router's login page.

Some routers allow a loopback, and if your's is one of these then you don't have that problem.


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## Raisltin Majere (Mar 13, 2004)

Okay. cool


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## benallenuk (Aug 1, 2005)

is there anything we can do on the tivo itself? get the tivo to email you when there is a ip change ot summin similar?#


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## djb2002 (May 1, 2006)

benallenuk said:


> is there anything we can do on the tivo itself? get the tivo to email you when there is a ip change ot summin similar?#


This would be useful if it could.... ??

Thanks
Daniel


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## terryeden (Nov 2, 2002)

Easy if you're using DynDNS.

Get your TiVo to parse http://whatismyip.com/ for you external IP address.

Then get TiVo to send the requests to DynDNS as listed here http://www.dyndns.com/developers/specs/syntax.html


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## threadkiller (Dec 12, 2002)

benallenuk said:


> is there anything we can do on the tivo itself? get the tivo to email you when there is a ip change ot summin similar?#


http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3668806&highlight=dns#post3668806 using Dyndns direct from the TiVo


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## benallenuk (Aug 1, 2005)

yes there is a tivoweb plus module that will email you when your external IP changes, i cant remember where it is thou, but just found this instead!

No need to run an external application to update DynDNS; with a bit of jiggery pokery, TiVo can do it itself

see thread here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3668806&highlight=dns#post3668806

sorted


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## zippy7272 (Dec 29, 2004)

Ok, I'm confused.

I've set myself up a dns with http://www.dyndns.com/.

I've updated my linksys router WRT54GC to enable a port forward, although I can't see where I'd say forward from 12345 to 80, just a start and end range, and the routed to (tivo) ip address.

When I do this. I can then access a remote PC (thanks to logmein.com) and enter my dns name. And hey-presto I can see my tivoweb page.

However from that PC, I've not had to enter any passwords or anything, so if someone found out / guessed my dyndns.com hostname. They'd gain instant access, to a nice user friendly gui where they could easily f*&k things up for me!

What did I miss?


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## zippy7272 (Dec 29, 2004)

ok, so I've updated my tivowebplus .cfg file

so I now have a different port number and user name login.

Is this [all] that most people use?

My router is a WRT54GC, which isn't supported by http://www.dd-wrt.com :-(


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

zippy7272 said:


> ok, so I've updated my tivowebplus .cfg file
> 
> so I now have a different port number and user name login.
> 
> Is this [all] that most people use?


Yes, that's all I use.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

zippy7272 said:


> Is this [all] that most people use?
> 
> My router is a WRT54GC, which isn't supported by http://www.dd-wrt.com :-(


I just use username and password and have my Port set to 443.

If you set up the httpd log option for monitoring outside internet traffic that Tivo is receiving that is available from www.ljay.org.uk you can see what attempts are being made to access your Tivo externally (speaking of which this is another good reason not to use TivoWebPlus as the httpd log option can't be used with that).

When I used Port 80 I found attempts to access it were made several times a day (especially at the time by the Sassa Worm) but when I moved to Port 443 there were only occasional attempts and none seemed to be malicious or involve a worm. In general hackers assume they are going to be unsuccessful with hacking Port 443 applications it seems.

You can set up any Port on your Netgear router by using the Services menu to define it and then selecting it in Firewall Rules but if you use a very non standard port number it may be blocked for access at say a web cafe when you are away on holiday abroad.

Having used Port 443 for nearly 18 months nothing has so far invaded my Tivo and damaged it. Others here with their Tivo boxes accessible through port forwarding on their routers report the same. As its a Linux box and most of these applications are looking for a Windows platform that also greatly reduces the likelihood of anything nasty ever breaking through the username and password or sniffing the password when it is entered.


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## Mike B (Sep 16, 2003)

Surely all of this is only a problem if your broadband keeps disconnecting. Once its connected, it will maintain its IP address, and most ISPs give 'sticky' IP addresses so that a disconnect and reconnect within a short period of time means you keep the IP. Only having the router disconnected for many hours should get you a different IP address....


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Mike B said:


> Surely all of this is only a problem if your broadband keeps disconnecting. Once its connected, it will maintain its IP address, and most ISPs give 'sticky' IP addresses so that a disconnect and reconnect within a short period of time means you keep the IP. Only having the router disconnected for many hours should get you a different IP address....


Only having a rubbish ISP like Tiscali or TalkTalk would give you a dynamic rather than a static IP address in the first place......................


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## benallenuk (Aug 1, 2005)

LOL to that. Tiscali are *******. 

I now use a router that supports dyndns builtin.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

benallenuk said:


> LOL to that. Tiscali are *******.
> 
> I now use a router that supports dyndns builtin.


So who do you use that doesn't give you a static IP address then. Has to be one of the big 10 ISPs, nearly all of whom are useless.

You can find a decent ISP at www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php


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## sanderton (Jan 4, 2002)

Hardly anyone gives you a static IP for free.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

sanderton said:


> Hardly anyone gives you a static IP for free.


www.newnet.co.uk, www.idnet.co.uk, www.zen.co.uk, www.names.co.uk, www.freedom2surf.co.uk just to name a few I'm aware of.

To be honest the only ones who don't are the AOL's, Tiscali's and TalkTalk's of this world. That is large and indifferent to the requirements of their end users.


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## sanderton (Jan 4, 2002)

I've only heard of two of them. I did say "hardly" anyone, and those are niche players. It is unusual to get a static IP without paying extra for it.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

sanderton said:


> It is unusual to get a static IP without paying extra for it.


It is more unusual to get a static IP from one of the top 10 players in the marketplace apart of course from Plusnet.  

And it is completely usual to get a static IP address from practically all the large number of long established and specialist major broadband niche players, which are without exception almost all of the companies which offer the fastest ADSLMax connections and the least onerous and restrictive contract terms for migrating to them. That's because they are the equivalent of Tivo instead of Sky in terms of market brand name awareness but like Tivo they offer a far higher quality and more reliable service than the big boys.

I would have thought the average Tivo customer being the unconventional early adopters of new technology that they are would have avoided the large faceless ISPs with their slow download speeds and their 1 year lockins like the plague to be honest. And I would have thought a man like you Stuart who always goes for the fastest cars and the very latest technology would have been sure to be a Zen kind of a person or of course a Be Unlimited person - if that is they are as yet available in your area.


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## sanderton (Jan 4, 2002)

I'm on PlusNet, and pay a little extra for a static IP. Strictly BT on my exchange, even though UK Online/Easynet are based a 10 minute walk down the lane!

My broadband speed - like many people's I suspect is more often limited by the BT part of the infrastructure than my ISPs.

Chug around the messageboards and you'll find people slagging off every ISP, inclusding Zen. I do like the concept of "major broadband niche players" though.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

sanderton said:


> My broadband speed - like many people's I suspect is more often limited by the BT part of the infrastructure than my ISPs.


I'm three quarters of a mile from the country exchange here with no wholesale broadband supplier on the exchange other than BT. I have had ADSL Max since April with Freedom2Surf, NewNet, Lixxus and then NewNet again. I was on 2MB broadband before that.

My line Syncs with the exchange here between 7310 and 8128 depending on whether it has rained outside in the last few days as water seems to worsen the line conductivity. I was synced at 8128 for about three weeks back in July, usually its only for a day or two and 7520 is my most regular Sync speed.

Basically with the speedtest at www.speedtest.net the fastest data speed I ever got with Freedom2Surf was 3Mb and generally not more than 2Mb, Newnet is consistently between 5Mb and 6Mb and when I was with Lixxus I once got 7MB dead at about 2am. Lixxus have a huge amount of capacity on their backbone compared to customer numbers but unfortunately they have outages every few weeks that last several hours. NewNet does not have outages, even if they may be a touch slower due to a larger customer base.

Plusnet was once good but has gone down the tubes hugely over the last couple of years and are now owned by BT of course.

I suspect www.idnet.co.uk would probably be perfect for you as they have legendary customer service and an 0800 number to call them to boot and always some of the fastest broadband speeds. The idea that slow broadband speeds are all down to congestion at the local exchange is a myth put round by Tiscali and TalkTalk to justify their own chronic speeds. You can also get a much better speed by having a new faceplate filter on your master socket and not having filters on any of the other extensions on the line.


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## sanderton (Jan 4, 2002)

My synch speed struggles to get above 2500, so as I say I'm rarely constrained by the ISP end.

But apathy prevents me from changing as often as you do!


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