TeamWox: Setting up Access from the Internet

Introduction

After you have installed the TeamWox groupware system, it is available for local use. If you use direct connection to the Internet and a separate static IP address, your TeamWox can be accessed from the Internet without any additional settings.

However, if a gateway (e.g. ADSL modem) is used to connect to the Internet, it will need additionally set up. In this case, to provide the operation of TeamWox you should set up Port Forwarding. In this article we'll consider a few most popular gateways and give instructions on their setup.

Connection Troubleshooting

In order to examine the connection of TeamWox to the Internet, go to the Administration module and select the Connection section:

If requests from the Internet aren't passed to the TeamWox server, details about the corresponding errors will be shown on this page (e.g. closed ports 80 and 443). If there are no such errors, TeamWox can successfully accept incoming requests from the Internet, and you don't need to read this article.

TeamWox Connection Diagram

As a rule, a local network has at least one access point to connect to the Internet and to bind network devices:

In order to redirect incoming HTTP/HTTPS requests to the TeamWox server, the gateway should provide configurable port forwarding. If this option is not supported, TeamWox connected to the access point will not be able to accept incoming requests from the Internet.

The most popular type of port forwarding supported by all routers is a static one. To set it up, specify source ports, address in the internal network, and destination ports on the router. To do this, you need to know the internal IP address of the computer where the TeamWox server is installed.

If a DHCP server that allocates IP addresses is installed in your local network, a permanent IP address should be assigned to the computer where the TeamWox server is installed. Otherwise, port forwarding won't work if the computer IP address changes.

If a Firewall is installed on your gateway, ports 80 and 443 should be allowed in its settings. Example of such a setup for the modem ZyXEL P-660H/HW:

Setup of Routers

Let's consider some devices used as gateways and supporting routing with port forwarding setup. For each of the devices parameters can be set up through a web interface. All you need to do is open any web browser and enter the IP address of the setting page in the address bar.

ASUS RT-N13 Wireless N Router

Default data for accessing the web-interface of the device parameters:

• IP address of the setup page: http://192.168.1.1
• User: admin
• Password: admin

This device is a multi-functional access point with the Wi-Fi connection support. If connecting via it with its default settings, access to the TeamWox server from the Internet will be closed. In order to open external access, you should set up the Virtual Server implemented via the NAT server of the access point:

Add 2 rules for port forwarding to ports 80 and 443. Specify the IP address of the computer where the TeamWox server is installed should be specified for the local IP address:

After these rules have been added and applied, TeamWox can be accessed from the external Internet network.

Netgear WNR2000

Default data for accessing the web-interface of the device parameters:

• IP address of the setup page: http://10.0.0.1
• User: admin
• Password: password

As well as the previous device, this is also a multi-functional access point. Port mapping is set up in Advanced -> Port Forwarding:

Add 2 rules for port forwarding to ports 80 and 443. Specify the IP address of the computer where the TeamWox server is installed should be specified for the local IP address:

After these rules have been added and applied, TeamWox can be accessed from the external Internet network.

ZyXEL P-660RU EE

Default data for accessing the web-interface of the device parameters:

• IP address of the setup page: http://192.168.1.1
• User: admin
• Password: 1234

This is a ADSL2+ modem with USB and Ethernet ports. To set up port forwarding go to Advanced Setup -> NAT. Select the "SUA Only" mode and then Apply. Then press Edit Details to go to editing port forwarding:

After you have added two rules for ports 80 and 443 press Save:

D-Link DSL- 500G

Default data for accessing the web-interface of the device parameters:

• IP address of the setup page:  http://192.168.1.1
• User: admin
• Password: admin

This is a ADSL modem with Ethernet connection. Go to Services -> NAT. In NAT options select "NAT rule entry" and delete the default rule. Then press Add to add 2 rules for ports 80 and 443:

Then add the main rule for the normal operation of NAT. The Rule ID must be higher than that of the above two rules:

D-Link DSL-500T

Default data for accessing the web-interface of the device parameters:

• IP address of the setup page: http://192.168.1.1
• User: admin
• Password: admin

This is a ADSL modem with Ethernet connection. To set up port forwarding, first add the IP address of the computer where the TeamWox server is installed into the list of LAN clients of the modem: Advanced -> LAN Clients. Εnter the IP address and press Add:

Now go to Advanced -> Port Forwarding:

• Select the set up connection in the Connection field;
• Select the IP address set in the previous point in the LAN IP field;
• Select the User category, add 2 rules for ports 80 and 443 and press Apply;
• Save the setting via Tools -> System Commands -> Save All.

Note

This instruction can be used for setting up the following ADSL modems: Acorp LAN120, 420, 422 и Asus-AAM6010EV (first version).

For more advanced devices of D-Link setup is the same, except for the following: Advanced -> Virtual Server is used instead of Advanced -> Port Forwarding.

Asus-AAM6010EV/Z2

Default data for accessing the web-interface of the device parameters:

• IP address of the setup page: http://192.168.1.1
• User: admin
• Password: admin

This is a ADSL2/2+ modem with USB and Ethernet ports. To set up port forwarding go to Advanced Setup -> NAT. Fill in the fields as follows and press the Virtual Server link:

Add two rules for ports 80 and 443 - fill in the fields like this:

• Rule Index – 1,2
• Application – HTTP и HTTPS
• Protocol – TCP
• Start Port Number, End Port Number – 80 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS 
• Local IP address – IP address of the computer where TeamWox is installed

As a result we get 2 rules:

Note

This instruction can be used for setting up ADSL modems of HUAWEI. Menus of older versions of HUAWEI used for adding NAT rules: Other Setting -> NAT (for HUAWEI SmartAX MT800), Basic -> NAT -> Redirect (for HUAWEI SmartAX MT880) and Other Setting -> NAT-> Port Mapping Set (for HUAWEI SmartAX MT880 v2).

Conclusion

These routers can be used as gateways for connecting to the Internet from the local dedicated network where the TeamWox server is installed. If for some reasons the above settings cannot be applied to your router , visit http://www.portforward.com to find instructions on its setup.

After you have set up your router, check the connection of the TeamWox groupware system to the Internet: press Update in the menu of the Connections page. If ports 80 and 443 can be accessed from the Internet, the corresponding points will show it:

10 March 2010