I am hoping this post will help someone who feels like they’ve tried everything. Let me get right to it:
IP Passthrough
I opened the port(s) on my firewall (TCP32400. Then UDP1900, etc.). Then did the NAT on my gateway. Always the same result: RA would turn green for like 3 seconds, then die. Web-based port checkers would always say 32400 was closed. So, I manned up, and called my ISP support. They logged into my gateway and said it all looked good. He poked around a bit, then asked for my MAC address. He added that to the IP Passthrough table, and BAM! It’s been up and rock-solid since then (and is shown as open via port checkers).
So, log back into your router. Go to the firewall section and find IP Passthrough. Add the IP/MAC address of your media server. My router has a drop-down showing all devices; YMMV.
Hope this helps someone who’s pulling their hair out like I was!
Who is your ISP?
Do you have your own router / firewall / etc. separate from the ISP provided router?
On some ISP routers, IP Passthrough assigns a public IP address to the designated device (places it directly on the Internet).
That is fine if using your own router / firewall, as it avoids Double NAT.
However, you generally do not want to place your Plex server directly on the Internet without taking extra measures to lock it down.
ISP is ATT Fiber. Their equipment.
Yeah, I hear you about that double-NAT and exposing resources. Thanks. I’m buttoned down pretty good. Just trying to help anyone who might be having pains.
FYI, if using only an AT&T BGW320 router, IP passthrough is not required. See Changed ISP - No Remote Access with AT&T BGW 320-500 - #3 by FordGuy61.
Mine is a BGW210-700. Perhaps there was something else we could have changed, but IP Passthrough 100% worked on this model.
Thanks for the input!
