I have a router opened up to allow Remote Desktop to one of the machines. It works if I try to connect from outside the network. If I however am inside the LAN and try to connect using the WAN IP address it doesn't work. Why?
1 Answer
You need to have NAT reflection enabled if your router/firewall supports it. This allows you to access internal servers by public IP. Otherwise, you need to use private IP addresses when accessing internal servers.
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Why won't it let me access internal machines via the public IP? Why doesn't it just go out to the internet and back in again?– CJ7Feb 11, 2012 at 13:57
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1@Craig.. the reason for the behavior you see is exactly as Khaled mentions. Most inexpensive routers for not provide this capacity. Some do but don't enable it by default. Feb 11, 2012 at 14:04
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@CraigJ: Public IPs are directed to the default gateway which is your router. Then, the router will forward them to the outside if not configured to route them back in.– KhaledFeb 11, 2012 at 14:46