Hi,
Using a HTC HD2 I am trying to access my home network via WIFI (WPA2/PSK - AES). Some of it works, some of it doesn't and I was hoping some of you would be able to point me in the right direction:
I can connect to intranet pages (for instance utorrent web interface) via IP, but not via hostname.
I cannot connect to network (smb) shares at all, either via IP or hostname.
A program which requires the hostname to work (since I use it over Hamachi VPN as well as locally and don’t want to change the IP based on how I use it) does work over Hamachi and not over WIFI.
I'm quite confused
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Elco
Sounds like your DNS isn't working. Do you have custom DNS servers configured in the "Name Servers" tab of network card config?
Yhanks for responding!
It should get it from DHCP (though I have tried assigning a static IP and dns, but this gave the same result)
Also, I have another older win mobile device, and with the same setttings it does allow me to access the network shares (by IP and hostname)
I've combed all settings regarding wifi and network, but since they are the same I am guessing it is probably a different at the registry level?
The HTC HD2 does have 2 broadcom wifi adapters mentioned though, a normal one and one with a DHD postfix.
Cheers,
Elco
@Talisman_: same problem here. have you solved it?
Exactly same problem on xperia x2. I just set on manual temporary.
Are you using Hamachi on your phone?
Did you have this problem prior to installing Hamachi?
The reason being is Hamachi installs a network interface which exists whether or not Hamachi is running
You may want to check your Data Connection settings and see if it has applied the "requires a proxy" setting
What are you using as your DNS server though, that is the question.
If it's your broadband router, then chances are it won't be able to serve DNS requests for internal devices (ie computers on your home network).
If that's the case, you'll need a proper DNS server (get an old PC and install Linux) and create a local domain such as home.local, or if you've got a registered domain, you can even set it up the same (domain.com for instance) just tell the DNS server it's the domain master.
It's been yonks since I played around with Linux so I can't tell you how, much easier with Windows Server
Some people advise against using the same public domain name as an internal domain name, but it just means you add A records for any public addressess such as WWW.domain.com or mail.domain.com if it's accessable outside your network as well as inside.
Alternatively, if you're only going to be accessing them via the home network then you could try adding a few hosts to your registry (use the windows calc or similar to convert each IP address number to Hex)
http://windowsmobilepro.blogspot.com/2006/04/etchosts-file-equivalent-in-windows.html
As always, you modify the registry at your own risk.
The IP number the streamer shows is just the local IP, meaning I can only connect from the local network???
If you want to access the streamer from outside your network and the streamer is on a local-only IP address then you'll need to set up a port forwarding rule (and possibly a corresponding firewall rule) on whatever device does the routing on your network (usually the ADSL Modem or Cable Router on a home network).
If you have a static IP for your ISP you can create a port forwarding rule in your router so that say the port that splashtop is running on is 6783, then you will forward all TCP/UDP traffic from port 6783 to the internal IP that is displayed in splashtop. Then in the splashtop app you set it up so that it connects to your home's ip address (you can find this by going to whatismyip) and port 6783.
So for example: the ip address for my home (from whatismyip) is 01.230.29.29, and splashtop is showing me 192.168.0.199, as well as port 6783 (you can see this under network in the desktop app), i will go in to my router, port forwarding, and then create a rule where any traffic to and from local/remote port 6783 will go to the computer at 192.168.0.199.
This is really easy and permanent if your router supports mac address reservation so that your computer will always have the same internal network IP. It is also easier if you have a static IP, however if you don't have a static IP you can use something like DynDNS's dynamic IP service to have an ip that will always connect to your home regardless of what the ip changes to.
Great video here, got it running the 1st try following this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMSVTRqkBU8&feature=player_embedded
Off Topic
Hey anyone using the latest verison of splashtop 1.4.5.3 on their pc? For some reason now, everytime my pc start up the splashtop desktop client does not start up even tho the setting for it is enable. I always have to use logmein to log into my pc and start the app. Anyone else? I never had this issue before updating to 1.4.5.3.
Thanks guys.
If you go to portforward.com it will go step by step with all your settings.
dazz87 said:
Hey anyone using the latest verison of splashtop 1.4.5.3 on their pc? For some reason now, everytime my pc start up the splashtop desktop client does not start up even tho the setting for it is enable. I always have to use logmein to log into my pc and start the app. Anyone else? I never had this issue before updating to 1.4.5.3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its the same for me. I havent found a way to fix it.
Sent from my awesome Asus Transformer using XDA's premium app.
Hi,
Just got my Nexus Player, very sad to find Play Store was limited to regional apps, requesting anyone who has a Nexus Player to upload the leanback Neflix APK.
I will love ya forever!
(Not sure about rules on this) - but willing to donate etc. just really desperate for the APK)...
Regards -hasamoder
EDIT: Thanks to XDA Member "Elrondolio" the APK has been pulled and can be manually installed -
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=56995564&postcount=23
All Good Now!
Hey,
does this APK mean you will get the US Netflix selection? I am trying to find a solution to this... in Canada, so get Canadian content. I have s subscription to blockless, but am unable to set the DNS settings on the device itself. Apparently the Nexus devices have the google DNS servers baked in.
psxp said:
Hey,
does this APK mean you will get the US Netflix selection? I am trying to find a solution to this... in Canada, so get Canadian content. I have s subscription to blockless, but am unable to set the DNS settings on the device itself. Apparently the Nexus devices have the google DNS servers baked in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes they do have the DNS baked in, same with the Chromecast as well, it is offered as the Google DNS servers often offer faster resolving than ISP DNS's do. It is a shame however they do not offer an easy setting to change the DNS. In your case the Netflix APK is not useful, the APK is the same offered through the Canadian Play Store - I only wanted it as Australia has no Netflix at all.
In terms of switching your DNS to a DNS unblocking service you have two options-
1. Root you Nexus Player and Manually change the reference to the DNS.
This method would require you to root your nexus player and install a file browser capable of modifying the system partition.Then simply modify the reference to the DNS and switch it to you're own unblocking service. A big negative to this method however is that every time you upgrade you're Nexus Player it will switch back to the old DNS and thus is not recommended.
2. Add alternative DNS Routing on you Router
This method would require you to add a setting to your router which would push all requests to 8.8.8.8 to an alternative DNS. Here are the instructions: You need a router that either supports DD-WRT, OpenWrt, Tomato or Open Linux Firmware, otherwise this will not be possible. I'll omit the precise menus you have to go to in either of the interfaces; however what you want to do is change the iptables to route elsewhere (in commands it looks like this)-
iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -d 8.8.8.8 -j DNAT --to-destination x.x.x.x
iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -d 8.8.4.4 -j DNAT --to-destination x.x.x.x
If you are uncomfortable with these options, I am sorry to say you will have to live with Canadian Netflix. If you need more detail on either of these options, let me know and I'll be happy to help out...
EDIT : Turns out the DNS is changeable look here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-player/general/how-to-change-dns-ip-t2953282 and end of Page 1 of this Thread.
hasamoder said:
1. Root you Nexus Player and Manually change the reference to the DNS.
This method would require you to root your nexus player and install a file browser capable of modifying the system partition.Then simply modify the reference to the DNS and switch it to you're own unblocking service. A big negative to this method however is that every time you upgrade you're Nexus Player it will switch back to the old DNS and thus is not recommended.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love more info on this option. I did some quick searching and I see people mentioning it but no one explaining what needs to be done. I'm fairly confident in my abilities to modify files and really just need to know what I need to edit.
hasamoder said:
In terms of switching your DNS to a DNS unblocking service you have two options-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great information. There is also a third, simpler option. In your router's WAN section, if you change the DNS from automatic to manual you can put in your unblocking service's DNS instead of it automatically grabbing your ISPs. Almost all routers have that simple option. For a Chromecast, this wouldn't work at you'd indeed need to also add the iptables static routing since the DNS is hard coded, as stated, on the Chromecast. The way the Chromecast works, using an internal hidden Chrome browser to display all cast content puts DNS in Google's control. However, DNS isn't hard coded in Netflix or most any other standalone app outside of Google's on the Nexus Player, so a simple DNS change will work for Hulu, Netflix, etc. on the NP.
I'd still recommend getting a router with customizable firmware, however, as in addition to using iptables static routing you can also use dnsmasq to route only specific web sites through your unblocking DNS service and leave the rest to your standard ISP's DNS service (or any other DNS service you'd choose). For privacy reasons, this'd be the ultimate solution but all of the above work as well.
As a final aside, you can actually change the DNS service on the Nexus Player pretty easily by choosing a static IP in it's Wifi section... unfortunately this somehow interferes with Netflix and makes it inoperable. Strange, but needs more eye's on the issues to find a solution. The option is there, however, and easy to access.
---------- Post added at 09:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 AM ----------
LecheConCarnie said:
I'd love more info on this option. I did some quick searching and I see people mentioning it but no one explaining what needs to be done. I'm fairly confident in my abilities to modify files and really just need to know what I need to edit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hit your router's configuration page (192.168.1.1 or 0.1 or whatever yours is) and change it's WAN or internet setup to define which DNS server it uses - it usually gets your ISP's DNS automatically. You'll of course need AdFreeTime, UnblockUS, etc service to put in the correct DNS entries, but it should be pretty straight forward. Here in Canada, at least, that's more than enough to get Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, etc working on the NP.
Just be aware that doing this means any and all internet traffic on every device that connects through your router will be routed through your unblocking service's DNS servers so be comfortable with the outfit you use as it'd be trivial for them to direct you to phishing sites for banking, etc or to sniff your communications. Most people don't worry about these things, but more probably should.
@Elrondolio, changing the router config doesn't work since the values are hardcoded on the device like the Chromecast is. I'm already well aware of using a service similar to AdFreeTime. I think that a file needs to change on the NP, but I'm not sure what. That is what @hasamoder is referring to.
LecheConCarnie said:
@Elrondolio, changing the router config doesn't work since the values are hardcoded on the device like the Chromecast is. I'm already well aware of using a service similar to AdFreeTime. I think that a file needs to change on the NP, but I'm not sure what. That is what @hasamoder is referring to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only hard coded DNS use on the Nexus Player is for Googles apps (play store, etc). I'm not sure why it's not working for you, but changing the DNS at the router works just fine here for Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, etc. What is the issue when you try it?
psxp said:
Hey,
does this APK mean you will get the US Netflix selection? I am trying to find a solution to this... in Canada, so get Canadian content. I have s subscription to blockless, but am unable to set the DNS settings on the device itself. Apparently the Nexus devices have the google DNS servers baked in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RE DNS settings:
The DNS servers are not hard coded in. Via the network settings, I was able to assign a static IP, gateway, and a DNS IP. I had to do it a couple of times. Even though it said settings were saved, the connection didn't change from DNS to STATIC.
I gave up. But then then the next day I noticed the connection kicked over to STATIC and Netflix region switched over to US EN.
hasamoder said:
Yes they do have the DNS baked in, same with the Chromecast as well, it is offered as the Google DNS servers often offer faster resolving than ISP DNS's do. It is a shame however they do not offer an easy setting to change the DNS. In your case the Netflix APK is not useful, the APK is the same offered through the Canadian Play Store - I only wanted it as Australia has no Netflix at all.
In terms of switching your DNS to a DNS unblocking service you have two options-
1. Root you Nexus Player and Manually change the reference to the DNS.
This method would require you to root your nexus player and install a file browser capable of modifying the system partition.Then simply modify the reference to the DNS and switch it to you're own unblocking service. A big negative to this method however is that every time you upgrade you're Nexus Player it will switch back to the old DNS and thus is not recommended.
2. Add alternative DNS Routing on you Router
This method would require you to add a setting to your router which would push all requests to 8.8.8.8 to an alternative DNS. Here are the instructions: You need a router that either supports DD-WRT, OpenWrt, Tomato or Open Linux Firmware, otherwise this will not be possible. I'll omit the precise menus you have to go to in either of the interfaces; however what you want to do is change the iptables to route elsewhere (in commands it looks like this)-
iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -d 8.8.8.8 -j DNAT --to-destination x.x.x.x
iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -d 8.8.4.4 -j DNAT --to-destination x.x.x.x
If you are uncomfortable with these options, I am sorry to say you will have to live with Canadian Netflix. If you need more detail on either of these options, let me know and I'll be happy to help out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for this information. This is exactly what I've been looking for !
Most answers I see on comments sections on websites/blogs have been "just root it" or similar. Thank you so much for the detailed answer.
So, I looked at option 2 and I do indeed have a Router that OpenWrt supports.. the TP-Link Archer C7 but mine is version v1 firmware so I dont get any support of the 5GHZ frequency. I'm willing to get a new v2 router if need be.. but the other thing is that these new firmwares are all command line based right? The front end isnt like using the nice web based front end on the Tp-link?
Option 1 might have to be the one for now. Here's my situtation.
I have a blockless DNS so I can use Netflix US. I also would like to run XBMC and Plex along with youTube. Thats the main requirements.
I have a Apple TV 2 jailbroken and running netflix US on it, with XBMC, and youtube. I havent installed the PlexConnect hack yet.. maybe I should give it a go. The thing was AppleTV 2 is only 720p and Nexus Player is 1080p and seems more responsive (faster etc) than the aging Apple TV.
If you had more details on what to do for option 1, that would be handy. I would then just avoid updating the Nexus Player unless I had to. I would then have to install the apss (ES Explorer, XBMC + plug in scripts, Chainfire launcher) each time.
The other crazy Idea I had was to use a cheap tablet with HDMI out as a Netflix media player .. but thats starting to get "clunky". I would like a "smoother" solution.
---------- Post added at 02:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:41 PM ----------
Elrondolio said:
The only hard coded DNS use on the Nexus Player is for Googles apps (play store, etc). I'm not sure why it's not working for you, but changing the DNS at the router works just fine here for Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, etc. What is the issue when you try it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
so you just changed your router DNS to user Blockless, unlock-us etc DNS? With the cavet that ALL traffic is now routed to the DNS service?
And Netflix shows Netflix US content? But now Chromecast will break?
---------- Post added at 02:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:46 PM ----------
habskilla said:
RE DNS settings:
The DNS servers are not hard coded in. Via the network settings, I was able to assign a static IP, gateway, and a DNS IP. I had to do it a couple of times. Even though it said settings were saved, the connection didn't change from DNS to STATIC.
I gave up. But then then the next day I noticed the connection kicked over to STATIC and Netflix region switched over to US EN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really? I didnt see any settings there for assigning IP address/DNS??!.. I'll try again tonight.
What settings/service are you using?
I assume you gave the Nexus player a static IP on your network, then gateway is IP of router? then DNS IP is IP of the DNS service?
psxp said:
really? I didnt see any settings there for assigning IP address/DNS??!.. I'll try again tonight.
What settings/service are you using?
I assume you gave the Nexus player a static IP on your network, then gateway is IP of router? then DNS IP is IP of the DNS service?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Took some crummy pics:
Home -> WIFI connection:
image (1).jpg
Device Network -> Wi-Fi Connected
image (2).jpg
Network Wi-Fi -> {select your active connection} In my case it is Leafs RULE!!_5G
image (3).jpg
Select Advanced options
image (4).jpg
Then select IP settings. In your case it'll say IP settings DNS. In my pic it says IP settings Static.
image (5).jpg
IP settings -> STATIC
image (6).jpg
Go through the IP settings and enter in a static IP, gateway, and DNS settings. Press save and then hope it saves.
You know it saved properly when IP settings DNS changes to IP settings Static. In my case, it didn't pick up the new settings till the next day. Maybe after you save your settings, power cycle NP; go back into settings and see if it changed over to static.
I didn't change or add anything to my router. My router is still using my ISP DNS IPs.
hth
habskilla said:
Go through the IP settings and enter in a static IP, gateway, and DNS settings. Press save and then hope it saves.
You know it saved properly when IP settings DNS changes to IP settings Static. In my case, it didn't pick up the new settings till the next day. Maybe after you save your settings, power cycle NP; go back into settings and see if it changed over to static.
I didn't change or add anything to my router. My router is still using my ISP DNS IPs.
hth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANKS!! Dunno how I missed that.
Anyway, just changed it... and exited screens. Powered off and on.. and shows as STATIC but netflix gives an error and not internet data coming ie. no Recommendations..
will double check settings..
---------- Post added at 06:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:42 PM ----------
just a quick reply.. seems the settings screens have bugs.. some settings for gateway and IP are showing up on incorrect screens,
gone through slowly again with the NP remote this time. (Last time I used Android App remote on my phone)..
My apologies, I thought there were no DNS settings from my brief search - looks like it is changable - Good Find habskilla.
Hope this solution works out for everybody
Awesome!! thanks!!
Okay! We're cooking with gas now!!
Just checked my settings, fixed them (see previous post) and the NP booted up and got internet data. Netflix opened ok and I just looked for a US only selection (I used this website : http://netflixcanadavsusa.blogspot.com/2014/11/alphabetical-list-j-sun-nov-23-2014.html#more )
and hooray its working!!!
Nice. !
Maybe one day there will be an app or something to make the setting change like a toggle. - ie. turn back to Canadian content.. but I can live with this as I start playing around with Nexus/Android and Root etc .
Actually, I can just switch the target country on my Blockless subscription if I dont want to change the NP. My preference is to have the DNS set on a per device setting rather than my whole network.
just been testing (we use netflix mainly for kids shows) so I picked "The 100". Wouldnt play.. then I realised that's actually Canadian only content.. so Netflix still caches recommendations or other data. lol!
thanks so much habskilla. I appreciate you posting here. (maybe I should have started a new thread) . Also I'm glad I refrained in making any jokes about the Maple Leafs too
(I dont follow hockey anyway - lol)
cheers!
BTW - if anyone's interested I am using Blockless to connect to US Netflix. You can use that it to connect to many other Netflix regions like UK, Canada etc.
Here is my referal link (hope thats allowed here? ) Blockless
I'm glad it's working for you.
I still get an occasional cannot load Netflix error, but then again I get those sometimes with my other devices.
I created a new post in Nexus Player General so it's visible to everyone and not just buried here.
habskilla said:
I'm glad it's working for you.
I still get an occasional cannot load Netflix error, but then again I get those sometimes with my other devices.
I created a new post in Nexus Player General so it's visible to everyone and not just buried here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your could not load could be because you accessed Netflix as a "Canadian account" . Later when tyring to show you titles it remembers - perhaps cache's your choices and will still show you them even if you are in your "US account" . When you play the content you get blocked. I have seen this happen for me ie. "The 100" is Canadian only content but I see it on my "US Account". See the link to the website I posted earlier that shows US vs Canadian content.
cheers
With chromecast anyone could cast netflix to the available TV. It doesn't work that way with the nexus player, it requires each person to log into the Nexus Player instead of just using their account. I have this problem also with different profiles on the same netflix account.
The account and profile on the casting device should match the one on the nexus player.
No DNS Server / port forward to port 53 on Android 4.4.2 w/root & WiFi Tether Router
I tried everything I could think of before posting this. If this is the wrong location for this kind of issue please let me know.
Anyway...
I have a rooted phone (Samsung Galaxy Avant) running the stock Android 4.4.2 that came with the phone and I use WiFi Tether Router to provide my other devices with an internet connection. Everything works perfectly and I get very fast LTE service both on my desktop and laptop (using a user agent switcher on my browser). However, I need to do some custom DNS routing and I am running into some issues.
What I want:
1.) When a browser on a device that is tethered to my phone through WiFi Tether Router requests a website then the DNS should run through the default DNS I specify (either Google's 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4 or OpenDNS or my mobile provider's DNS servers) and load the website from the public internet.
2.) When a browser on a tethered device requests my-example-domain.com or my-other-domain.com I want the DNS to resolve to an IP of my choosing. In this case (for now, but I want to be able to change it), I want it to resolve to the IP address of my phone that is providing the tethering. The local IP address of the phone is is 192.168.11.254, which is the Default Gateway address when running Wifi Tether Router. I have a web server running on the phone on port 8080 and I want it to receive the requests for my two domain names
I want nearly all traffic from tethered devices to resolve through public DNS servers, but for those two specific domains I want the DNS to be handled by the DNS server running on the phone. I want those specific requests to resolve to the same phone that is providing the tethering and to have the web server running on the phone serve the files.
I have most of this working correctly except for one issue. Here are the details.
I am using three devices:
Galaxy Avant to provide tethering "phone"
Windows Laptop "laptop"
Windows Desktop "desktop"
Scenario 1 - Using Google DNS on phone:
In WiFi Tether Router under DHCP Settings I have:
HTML:
IP Address: 192.168.11.0 (0 is disabled and can't be changed)
DNS 1: 8.8.8.8 (google)
DNS 2: 8.8.4.4 (google)
When either of the Windows computers connects via wifi they receive the following:
HTML:
Default Gateway: 192.168.11.254
IP Address: 192.168.11.1XX
The laptop has a dynamic IP and DNS assigned by the DHCP in Wifi Tether Router on the phone.
The desktop has a static IP of 192.168.11.102 with its DNS pointing to the phone at 192.168.11.254 for DNS 1 and 192.168.11.0 for DNS 2 (I know the second one is invalid, but Windows requires two)
Under this scenario both the laptop and the desktop can access live websites through their browsers.
I'm assuming that the DNS is running through Google's 8.8.8.8 since that is the primary DNS for Wifi Tether Router and both computers are getting their DNS from the phone.
Scenario 2 - DNS running on Windows Desktop:
In WiFi Tether Router under DHCP Settings I have:
HTML:
IP Address: 192.168.11.0 (0 is disabled and can't be changed)
DNS 1: 192.168.11.102 (desktop)
DNS 2: 192.168.11.102 (desktop)
Both Windows computers still receive the following:
HTML:
Default Gateway: 192.168.11.254
IP Address: 192.168.11.1XX
Since the DNS 1 and DNS 2 settings for WiFi Tether Router now point to 192.168.11.102 (desktop) instead of 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4 (Google) the DNS is now handled by the desktop.
The desktop is running Simple DNS Plus which is configured to point my-example-domain.com and my-other-domain.com to the IP address of the phone at 192.168.11.254.
There is a web server running on the phone.
Both computers can still access live websites through their browsers and both computers can access the web server running on the phone by visiting my-example-domain.com:8080 or my-other-domain.com:8080
The only records I have defined in Simple DNS Plus on the desktop are for my two domains, so I'm assuming that the rest of the DNS requests are getting passed back to the phone to be handled by the phone's default DNS servers since WiFi Tether Router no longer knows about Google's DNS (because it is now pointing at the desktop to resolve DNS instead). The DNS settings for the wifi network adapter on the desktop are pointing at the phone's 192.168.11.254 address still (which seems like it should create some sort of loop since the phone and desktop both point at each other, but it doesn't? Maybe someone can clear this part up for me), so even though my-example-domain.com and my-other-domain.com are being redirected by the DNS server on the desktop to the IP of the phone where the web server is listening, every other DNS request must be going back to the phone and resolving there since the phone is the desktop's only source of internet and the live websites actually resolve. The desktop must be either sending the request back to the phone to resolve or using the phone's data, but either way the desktop is forwarding the domains that it is supposed and leaving the rest up to the DNS on the phone somehow. I'd like to have a better idea of how this actually works.
In my head it's doing the following:
Request for my-example-domain.com or my-other-domain.com from laptop:
Checks DNS on WiFi Tether Router on phone > Forwards all DNS to Simple DNS Plus on Desktop > Points and resolves to web server on phone
Request for any other domains from laptop:
Checks DNS on WiFi Tether Router on phone > Forwards all DNS to Simple DNS Plus on Desktop > No record found for host > Returns DNS request to WiFi Tether Router on phone > Resolved by default DNS of phone
Scenario 3 - DNS running on Phone:
I installed the "DNS Server" app from Ice Cold Apps on the phone and created a DNS server instance, but I am not allowed to choose port 53 so I chose to have it assign random port (40747). If I try to set the port for the DNS Server to 53 I receive an error saying "The port you entered is not valid, try another one (this normally happens because Android doesn't allow a server on that port or another app is using the port)."
I created a rule that points my-example-domain.com and my-other-domain.com to the IP address of the phone at 192.168.11.254. The rules are very simple, you can only provide a domain name and an IP address for the DNS Server to route it to, nothing more.
In the DNS Server settings there is a checkbox for "Use a DNS server for requests" which is checked by default with a box attached to it for "DNS Server IP" which is set to 8.8.8.8:53 by default, which is Google's DNS on port 53.
There is another checkbox (that I unchecked) which says "Use a web DNS server for requests" with a box attached to it for "Web DNS server url" that is pre-populated with a PHP url from China
There isn't much documentation for these apps, so I assumed that it was ok just to use the Google servers from the first setting and skip the unfamiliar web DNS server stuff. I'm guessing those settings are supposed determine where the DNS Server app checks for hosts you didn't explicitly define with a rule. For example, if someone types one of my two domains name it should forward, but any other name should be checked with that provided DNS server. I could be totally wrong about this, so some clarification would be nice.
In WiFi Tether Router under DHCP Settings I have:
HTML:
IP Address: 192.168.11.0 (0 is disabled and can't be changed)
DNS 1: 192.168.11.254 (phone)
DNS 2: 127.0.0.1 (phone)
There is no option for port for the DNS so it's checking port 53 on my phone, but the DNS server wasn't allowed to start on 53 so it's listening on 40747 instead. This means I need to forward port 53 to port 40747 so that the DNS requests sent to DNS Server on port 53 by WiFi Tether Router will be answered.
I installed the "Port Forward Ultimate" app from Ice Cold Apps on the phone. There is only one setting, a checkbox which says "Force using internal iptables (advanced)". I left it unchecked initially, but found that the port forwarding server will not start unless that box is checked (and it doesn't matter what ports I'm trying to forward, without that box checked it simply will not start).
I created the following rule in the port forwarding app:
HTML:
Source port: 53
Destination port: 40747
I left the "Forward to external host" box unchecked and the accompanying "Forward to host/IP" box empty.
I started Port Forward Ultimate, DNS Server, and WiFi Tether Router.
Both the desktop and the laptop connect to WiFi Tether Router, but neither of them can access live websites and neither of them resolve my-example-domain.com or my-other-domain.com
I first thought that maybe the port forwarder couldn't bind to 53, so to test I changed my port forwarding settings to:
HTML:
Source port: 53
Destination port: 8080 (the port the web server is running on the phone)
When I visit 192.168.11.254:53 in Internet Explorer 9 from the desktop or laptop it works just fine (Chrome and Firefox won't let you browse websites on port 53, they show show a security error, but IE works). I see the website from the web server that is running on port 8080 on the phone, so port 53 is bound and forwarding to 8080, but when I try to forward 53 to 40747 (the port of the DNS server on the phone) it doesn't work. I've tried the DNS server on various ports (40747, 1029, etc). I made sure the port forwarder set to forward 53 to the port of the DNS server. I also made sure WiFi Tether Router set to use the phone (192.168.11.254) as the DNS, but live websites won't load and the the rules I have in the DNS server app on the phone do not cause my-example-domain.com or my-other-domain.com to resolve to either the phone itself on 192.168.11.254 or to the desktop web server running at 192.168.11.102 (I've tried setting it to forward to both).
I can forward port 53 directly to the web server on the phone or to the web server on the desktop (by checking "forward to external host" and providing the IP of the desktop), but when I set 53 to forward to the DNS server on the phone then the DNS server never does its job, as if it isn't even receiving requests.
When I run nmap on the phone at 192.168.11.254 with DNS and port forwarding enabled on the phone I get:
HTML:
PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
53/tcp filtered domain
With port forwarding off I get:
HTML:
PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
53/tcp open domain dnsmasq 2.62
When I run nmap on 40747 (or 1029 or any of the ports I've tried for the DNS server) with DNS running on the phone I get:
HTML:
PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
1029/tcp filtered ms-lsa
WiFI Tether has no problem handing off the DNS to the Simple DNS Plus running on the desktop, but when it tries to hand the DNS off to DNS Server running on the phone it doesn't resolve.
Perhaps there is some kind of conflict I don't understand, like maybe when the DNS setting in WiFi Tether Router tries to connect to 192.168.11.254 on port 53 and is supposed to get forwarded. I do know that at all times I can access 192.168.11.254:8080 from the desktop as long as the web server is running and I am tethered to my phone.
Lastly, there is a checkbox in the DHCP settings for WiFi Tether Router which says "DNS Redirect" that when checked displays two IP address boxes for DNS 1 and DNS 2 under a header that says "Redirect DNS To". I'm not sure what this is, but it could be important. The only other two options under DHCP are "Use Internal DHCP" and "Use Alternative DHCP Config".
All I want is for most requests from tethered devices to go through standard DNS while the domain names I add host records for in the DNS Server on my phone will resolve to the IP addresses I specify, whether those IP addresses are external or the IP of the phone itself where the web server is running.
I have most of this working, including being able to hand off the DNS from WiFi Tether Router to one of my computers to do the routing, but I want to have it all self-contained on my phone as a standalone setup.
The web server is working, the tethering is working, the tethering handing off the DNS is working, the DNS on the desktop correctly routes the domains to the phone and the rest of the requests to live DNS, and the port forwarding appears to be working when forwarding 53 to my web server, so I'm just kind of stuck.
I've been working on this for 12 hours and I've hit a wall.
It could have something to do with needing to forward both UDP and TCP in the port forwarding, although there's no direct option for that except a box to create custom scripts that modify iptables, which I've tried but had no luck with. Or maybe Wifi Tether Router binds port 53 and is conflicting with the port forwarding / DNS server.
I'm open to any ideas as to why running WiFi Tether Router through the DNS on my phone with port forwarding doesn't work, but running WiFi Tether Router through DNS on my desktop does (especially since the DNS on the desktop correctly points my two domain names back to the phone for the web server to answer and also resolves live websites, both tasks that are receiving and sending requests through the phone); your input will be greatly valued.
The goal of this entire effort has been to create portable and private prototypes of browser-based applications that I've developed for still-to-go-live domain names and be able to run them entirely from my phone on any device that I tether (without modifying the hosts file on the tethered device) so that I can do on-the-fly demos even in areas with spotty data service. In addition, I can load up my SD card with media assets and personal content such as images, audio, and video and have everything available instantly in the web applications when I demo. I can also ensure that the only way to see particular applications I'm developing or access demo data is if you are directly tethered to my device. I can run full database software, application servers, and everything else directly from my phone and make changes to the apps instantly. All I need now is this one little DNS fix and I'm set.
Thanks!