About UPnP/NAT-PMP port mapping and public IP

[ratata]

Hello.

Thank you for a great piece of software. However, I’m still a little confused over a few things regarding the NoMachine (free);

– To establish a connection outside the LAN, is it correct to say that one has to have a router supporting either UPnP or NAT-PMP? If one for some reason doesn’t want to enable UPnP, you would have to use NAT-PMP if you don’t want to be restricted to connections solely within the LAN?

– Does NoMachine make use of H264 codecs made by other vendors when present in Windows and therefore also globally registred or is it just the H264 codec made exclusively for NoMachine that will work? I’m asking because I couldn’t find where to look to see what codec that was used in a current session.

 

Best regards

ratata

Sweden

[Britgirl]

Hi,

UPnP or NAT-PMP is required for automatic port-mapping. Without UPnp, it will be necessary to configure the router manually and open the requested port. For example if you use NoMachine, the free version, you will need to open port 4000 on your router and map it to the public IP address of your NoMachine (server) host.

Only on client side we use other vendors’ libraries. More info here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR10K00696

Does NoMachine make use of H264 codecs made by other vendors when present in Windows and therefore also globally registered or is it just the H264 codec made exclusively for NoMachine that will work? I’m asking because I couldn’t find where to look to see what codec that was used in a current session.

We use other vendors’ libraries only on the client side. More info here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR10K00696.
On the server side it must be the library we ship or compiled from our sources, as explained here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR09M00863.

 

[ratata]

Hello Britgirl.

Thank you for your response. However, I would like to add a comment. I just found out what was “wrong”. You wrote

…is required for automatic port-mapping. Without UPnp, it will be necessary to configure the router manually and open the requested port…

I know. I’ve read that like thousand of times in the manual, documents and other threads. But I couldn’t get it to work. I thought. Actually, it did work all the time. Here’s why; the manual (other documents too) has example pictures showing how the IP address(es) should look like if everything is properly set for both local and public use, one local address and one public address that ends with a port number. But that is true only if you use UPnP. If you prefer to manually administrate your router and firewall (UPnP and NAT-PMP disabled both prior to install and after), the only thing you will see is the local IP. Even so if NoMachine has contact with the outside world. My mistake was that I assumed that those IP boxes also was to confirm that everything was correctly set. In other words, no public IP, no contact with the world. And since a public IP never showed, I kept banging my head into the wall until I decided to try anyway. After all, I knew that those ports actually were open. And when I found out that it had been working all the time, I was thinking “Damn, I wish someone could have written that in the manual from the beginning”, that with UPnP disabled the public IP address won’t show even if the mistake is mine. I made the wrong assumption about taking the box with IP addresses as proof for a correct setup. Perhaps a word in the manual about this to save others, as clumpsy as I, from mild to severe frustration? 😉

Anyway, NoMachine with H264, it’s a dream. Superior quality with superior framerate. Best ever. Me happy.

 

Best regards

ratata

Sweden

[Britgirl]

Hi ratata,

we’ll definitely look at how to improve tips and documentation (and make it easier to find), but we’re glad to know NoMachine is now working correctly in your set-up.

p.s. In your original post you asked “where to look to see what codec that was used in a current session.” Apologies for not answering earlier. When you connect, open the menu, select Display and then ‘Change settings’. See section 5.7 of the guide here: https://www.nomachine.com/DT07M00087.

Keep using NoMachine! 🙂

[Author]

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