Technicolor DGA4134 Port forward nightmare

Hi all...

I'm struggling to get Port Forwarding to work on Technicolour DGA4134 router. The Port Forwarding worked flawlessly on my previous VirginMedia Hub but I've sacked off Virgin hence the new router.

I’ve followed the YouTube guides and added the correct information BUT nothing is working and the ports remain closed.

Without any port forwarding rules, a port-checker (https://www.whatsmyip.org/port-scanner/) is showing the port-check as ‘timed out’… if I add the Port forward rule, the port checker then shows that port as ‘closed’.

In the router admin dashboard, there's a toggle option for 'Assistance' which, if switched on, opens a port for remote technical assistance... the port-checker shows this as 'open' ...

What am I doing wrong grrrr...

I’ve spent hours trying to figure this out and getting nowhere. Any help please?

If you forward a port and an external port scan goes from timed out (stealth) to closed (refused),
then in general you are passing through the router but the target computer either isn't running the service or is refusing the connection.

In addition to the port forwarding, the service needs to be running/listening and needs to be allowed on the computer's own software firewall if it has one.

I realise you've said that it was working fine with the VirginMedia Hub, but when you say you'e dumped Virgin do you mean just the router or changed ISPs also?
It's not a given that a newer ISP provides a static IPv4 either.

The target that you are port forwarding too - have you set it up with a static IP address internally (rather than a changeable dynamic address issues presumably by the DHCP server on the new router)?

Have you tested by attempting to actually connect externally with an actual real target and real service, rather than a port scanner?

Be mindful of port forwarding as you are increasing your exposure and exposure security risks.

Thanks for reply. I finished with VirginMedia contract and went with City Fibre supplier so the ISP is now different. Yes the service which needs these ports open is running on the destination Mac but isnt recognising the open port (where-as it worked fine with Virgin Hub).

Its a Dynamic IP address but correct in all settings (as with the Virgin Hub) so am baffled.

In reply to a post by leighski:

Its a Dynamic IP address but correct in all settings (as with the Virgin Hub) so am baffled.

CityFibre is a network supplier, but the ISP will be different. They may use something called CGNAT (Carrier Grade NAT) which means there is the effect of another router in the ISP network that you can't port forward. Check with them (not CityFibre).

Cityfibre has nothing to do with it. Put this way:-

Your order something and retailer Amazon, is it the fault of courier DHL that recived wrong stuff.

Cityfibre / OpenReach / Virgin Media is this case the courier.

EE / Zen / Vodafone / Virgin Media is this case the retailer.

Other would be able explane it better then I could ever do.

We need to know your ISP. (You might have IPv6 issues)
Also what firewall are you using? Some computer firewall rules dosn't transfer between different networks.

Hi.

My ISP is NoOne Internet with the 'courier' being CityFibre. I have contacted NoOne and explained the issues and they have assured me there are no issues or restrictions at their end so everything 'should' be working but they have contacted 'Technicolor' for info and possible solution. Fingers crossed.

Post a screenshot of your port forwarding rule

from their FAQ
"Q) Do you provide a static IP address"
"A) The answer is Yes. For home broadband we provide a static ipv4 and ipv6 address."

This means that in addition to your IPv4 port forwarding rule you can allow a port through the IPv6 firewall for destination of the IPv6 global address of the destination Mac, if you wish.

Changes to the IPv6 firewall won't affect your IPv4 port forwarding.

I had this problem many years ago with a Technicolor Thomson TG585v8 which was supplied with BE Unlimited* at that time for ADSL.

I too was unable to port forward for the life of me. I remember at that time I could not connect to Games for Windows Live for Shadowrun PC and a few other GFWL titles despite logging on successfully. FIFA online would also disconnect me a few seconds after a match up.

Solution was to instead set device using DMZ which would open all the ports. This is not a safe solution as all the ports will be opened.

Ultimately all I could do at the end of my contract with BE Unlimited* was join Sky. With the Sky router I had no problems with port forwarding.

I also have never had port forwarding problems ever since with any other ISP including, Plusnet, TalkTalk and now with BT.

However, I did have port-forwarding nightmares in the past 2015 with my Netgear DGN2200 where ports will not be allowed to be opened with a failure message. Solution at that time was to reboot the router and quickly port forward within 1-2 minutes. Any further delays and the port forwarding wasn't going to be allowed anymore.

You could try rebooting and quickly port forwarding or set DMZ, if none of these solve the problem then you'll have to upgrade to a new third party router.

It seems like these Thomson Technicolor routers are problematic. Further search on the web shows complaints from other users as well with Technicolor routers of different models.