Accessing a router behind a router

[Quattro Pete]

OK, so I know the basics of networking, but need help with this one. Here is the setup:

ISP ---- apartment complex router ---- home router


How can I access the home router from outside (from the Internet)?


The home router is running Tomato but it does not have a public IP address assigned. The home router's external IP is assigned by the apartment complex router. This is a private IP address (192.168.xxx.xxx).

I can of course figure out what my public IP is, however, I have no control over the apartment complex router, so I can't set up port forwarding on it, which is what I believe I would have to do to access the home router from outside.

So, is there any other way around it?

Thanks!

 

[The_Jeff]

You might be able to use a service like logmein.com remote desktop from away to get into your home computer from where you can then get into your router.

Suppose I should ask, what are you trying to do?

 

[tommygunn]

Dunno why you would want to do that. You could use a VLC program like Log Me In to remote home past the router firewall to a home pc then tinker with the router.

 

[TxHeat]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
You might be able to use a service like logmein.com remote desktop from away to get into your home computer from where you can then get into your router.

Suppose I should ask, what are you trying to do?

Originally Posted By: tommygunn
Dunno why you would want to do that. You could use a VLC program like Log Me In to remote home past the router firewall to a home pc then tinker with the router.


What they said.

I use a different one called Team Viewer, works very similar to Logmein and is free for personal use.

 

[Jeffy_D]

Teamviewer free edition, it even lets you login from an iphone or droid

 

[Quattro Pete]

Yeah, I know TeamViewer, LogMeIn, etc, but that requires that a PC is connected to the home router and up and running. All I want to do is log into the router itself without help from a PC that's connected to it.

 

[The_Jeff]

Then get a dongle from x10.com to remotely boot your computer with a phone call. Just set your BIOS to boot after a power interruption, call your x10 gizmo from anywhere, and order power off/on.

 

[scurvy]

Without being able to get an external IP address on your router (or the ability to set up the apartment complex's router) I don't think what you're trying to do is possible.

That being said I don't have much experience with Tomato so I don't know if there's a program for it that would do the same as TeamViewer.

 

[UNC151]

I think without an open port on the apartment router (which is not likely to happen) or port forwarding, you will not be able to connect to your router from an external location. At present, your public IP address is the IP address of the apartment router (everyone that is connected to that router has the same public IP).

Obviously, as mentioned logmein or the like would allow you to connect to your PC and then you could access your router, but I gather that you do not want to do that.

 

[PandaBear]

If electricity is your concern get a really old, used laptop just for this purposes.

 

[Rand]

normally you would need port forwarding to forward a specific port on the public ip(apt router) to forward to a port on your home router.

if you bought one of the new cloud cisco routers they have a feature to get around this... that everyone hates.

whats the purpose behind all this anyway? spying on someones internet use??

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Rand
whats the purpose behind all this anyway?

No real purpose other than satisfying my own curiosity. We've got a second place now and I thought it'd be neat to be able to log into the router while I'm not there to check if the Internet connection is up or to see if anyone's stealing my bandwidth while I'm away.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Rand
whats the purpose behind all this anyway?

No real purpose other than satisfying my own curiosity. We've got a second place now and I thought it'd be neat to be able log into the router while I'm not there to check if the Internet connection is up or to see if anyone's stealing my bandwidth while I'm away.

Unfortunately with serial NAT in place here, aside from exploiting UPNP to forward the ports for you, there's no way of doing it other than through some RDP software or VPN.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Apparently there is a way to configure Tomato to automatically email some logs periodically, which would help to some extent. I just have to figure out how to do it.

Anyway, no biggie. Thanks all.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Rand
whats the purpose behind all this anyway?

No real purpose other than satisfying my own curiosity. We've got a second place now and I thought it'd be neat to be able to log into the router while I'm not there to check if the Internet connection is up or to see if anyone's stealing my bandwidth while I'm away.

You can setup security camera, access your own computer from outside for files, and if you have some home automation stuff, turn on and off certain things at home.

 

[tmorris1]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Rand
whats the purpose behind all this anyway?

No real purpose other than satisfying my own curiosity. We've got a second place now and I thought it'd be neat to be able to log into the router while I'm not there to check if the Internet connection is up or to see if anyone's stealing my bandwidth while I'm away.

You need to get a hobby.
Not way to do this without Logmein or control of first router.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
there's no way of doing it other than through some RDP software or VPN.

Thanks. Finally got OpenVPN set up between my two Tomato routers. This solves my problem.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
there's no way of doing it other than through some RDP software or VPN.

Thanks. Finally got OpenVPN set up between my two Tomato routers. This solves my problem.


Great to hear! OpenVPN is a nice (free) solution. I've used it many times on PFSense and IPCop.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: tmorris1
You need to get a hobby.
Not way to do this without Logmein or control of first router.


Say the guy reading the networking section on an oil forum

Just saying....