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Port Forward Network Utilities griefing my RT-AC86U (Merlin 384.13 FW)

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GK59

Regular Contributor
Hoping someone can help with a frustrating issue I'm having with PFConfig. I've previously forwarded ports fine on this router with the same FW (Merlin 384.13 FW) or perhaps it was a previous version I don't know but it went fine. Now, I'm trying to forward another program and PFConfig is erroring out with "unexpected page, aborting". I had set my router login with HTTPS authentication initially but then changed it back to HTTP which I seem to recall helped last time and this did not solve my issue nor did turning off my VPN client in the hopes that was blocking the forward on that front. With this FW, what settings should I be aware of for forwarding to go through and perhaps also and windows services? TIA for any help on this.

just to add, I can't seem to enter a range of ports which I need for both for "Internal Port" either with semi-colons or commas, just for the "External Port" why is this?
 
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If you're referring to PFConfig from portforward.com I'm not surprised that it doesn't work as I doubt it is compatible with the changes that Merlin makes to the Asus GUI. Just enter your settings by hand.
 
If you're referring to PFConfig from portforward.com I'm not surprised that it doesn't work as I doubt it is compatible with the changes that Merlin makes to the Asus GUI. Just enter your settings by hand.
thanks for the response, yes you're assessment on portforward.com is probably spot on but I'm trying to figure out while entering why I can't enter range of ports for the Internal port, it only accepts one port
 
but I'm trying to figure out while entering why I can't enter range of ports for the Internal port, it only accepts one port
You can't enter a range there because it would make no logical sense.
 
You can't enter a range there because it would make no logical sense.
sorry but not following, how so? the program I'm working with has a range of both, ext and int unless this refers to the LAN IP range but in my case I'll have to set multiple rules then
 
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sorry but not following, how so? the program I'm working with has a range of both, ext and int unless this refers to the LAN IP range but in my case I'll have to set multiple rules then
Sorry, what I meant was that the way Asus expects that page to be used doesn't allow for you to enter different internal and external ranges. If you really need different external/internal port ranges you'll have to implement it with a custom script.
 
Sorry, what I meant was that the way Asus expects that page to be used doesn't allow for you to enter different internal and external ranges. If you really need different external/internal port ranges you'll have to implement it with a custom script.
right, well actually I worked it out this way:
  • Internal ports range: 2934-2935
  • External ports range: 2934-2935
I entered it this way,

Service#1:

External Port: 2934,2935

Internal Port: 2934

Service #2

External Port: 2934:2935

Internal Port: 2935
 
right, well actually I worked it out this way:
  • Internal ports range: 2934-2935
  • External ports range: 2934-2935
The expected way to do that is to specify 2934-2935 as the external ports and leave the internal port field empty.
 
Leaving the internal port field empty tells the router not to change the port number when it forwards it. So in your case external port 2934 is forwarded to internal port 2934, and external port 2935 is forwarded to internal port 2935.

What you have done in post #7 is say "forward external ports 2934 and 2935 to internal port 2934". Your second rule is never executed because it's already matched the first rule, so nothing will ever be forwarded to internal port 2935.
 
Colin, thanks for staying with me on this, I'm still confused because as I still see it, I have 2 separate internal ports to be forwarded to, 2934 and 2935 from the external range of 2934-2935. Since I couldn't list an internal range and also couldn't list identical rules 2934:2935 so are you saying then that if I had a range of say 2934-2936 and left the internal port section empty, then the external port range would be forwarded to either 2934, 2935 and 2936? is this Merlin FW and/or Asus specific?
 
... so are you saying then that if I had a range of say 2934-2936 and left the internal port section empty, then the external port range would be forwarded to 2934, 2935 and 2936 either?
Yes. You only need to specify an internal port number if you want to change the port number, otherwise the port number remains the same.

So if I specified an external range of 1000:1005 and left the internal port number blank the ports would be mapped like so:

Code:
External    Internal
1000    ->    1000
1001    ->    1001
1002    ->    1002
1003    ->    1003
1004    ->    1004
1005    ->    1005
 
Yes. You only need to specify an internal port number if you want to change the port number, otherwise the port number remains the same.

So if I specified an external range of 1000:1005 and left the internal port number blank the ports would be mapped like so:

Code:
External    Internal
1000    ->    1000
1001    ->    1001
1002    ->    1002
1003    ->    1003
1004    ->    1004
1005    ->    1005
ahh I think I see now, so as you say above, if I had external range of say 2934-2935 but internal range of say 9987-9988, then the way I had it would be correct? only when they mirror one another ext/int then your way is correct.
 
... if I had external range of say 2934-2935 but internal range of say 9987-9988 ...
In this case you would have to create two separate rules, one for 2934 -> 9987 and another for 2935 -> 9988.

The way you had it setup in post #7 wouldn't have worked as explained in post #10.
 
In this case you would have to create two separate rules, one for 2934 -> 9987 and another for 2935 -> 9988.

The way you had it setup in post #7 wouldn't have worked as explained in post #10.
Ok but before I was reading it as 2934 or 2935 to 9987 or 9988, i.e. 4 combinations but now as you've explained very well, the incoming (external) ports are mapping to the identical (my case) internal ports
 
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Ok but before I was reading it as 2934 or 2935 to 9987 or 9988
You're reading it wrong. :D You're reading it like a human and not like a computer.

What you would actually be saying in rule #1 is "if the external port number is 2934 or 2935 send it to internal port number 9987". So you would be directing two external ports to one internal port.

The next rule is never reached (for ports 2934 and 2935) because once a rule is matched the following rules are not checked.
 

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