Simplehelp and mikrotik: RESOLVED!

Server Administration
1

I recently upgraded my netgear router to mikrotik.

With the netgear I port forwarded 8008 for both TCP and UDP and everything worked.

I moved the built-in port 80 web gui from mikrotik to port 8080.

I also forwarded port 8008 for TCP and UDP to my simple-help server, the remote sessions works, but the simple-help welcome page doesn’t load from outside my home network…not sure what other port forwarding setting I need…I tried forwarding TCP traffic from port 80 to my simple-help server but no luck.

any thoughts?

2

What does it do when you try and access the simplehelp welcome page from outside your network? I assume you’re using something like http://support.xxxx.com:8008 ?

3

Thanks for your inquiry, it just says page cannot be displayed. If i try opening my server ip from inside my network the welcome page works fine. Not sure at this point if it’s the mikrotik or win firewall?

4

Try turning off the firewall on the server and testing again, then you’ll know if it’s the firewall

5

i have about 250 RBs deployed across my network. one thing i have found is when you change a NAT rule you have to drop all connections
/ip firewall connection {remove [find]}

also make sure your firewall rules are sorted by order… when you run out of options i suggest an any any rule for an external IP you’re testing from at rule number 0

6

Matt, thanks. Didn’t know about dropping all traffic when changing a rule. I have the two ports for simple-help that I activate and deactivate as needed, to keep things as secure as they can be, when I turn them off and on I don’t drop any traffic, they work seamlessly.

Will run some tests on rule 0, can’t remember if I already did or not.

7

So here is my mikrotik setup:

firewall%20rules
firewall%20rules1082×383 8.63 KB

This is the detail for the rule 0:

nat%20rule%20to%20access%20welcome%20page

action tab for rule 0:

nat%20rule%20action%20tab

I tried every permutation, no src ip, 80, 8008, in every combination but I just cannot get to see the welcome page from outside my network.

I also tried to access my server from my mobile through wireless lan and I can access the welcome page so it’s not a problem with my windows firewall.

this is the simple-help diagnostic:

simple-help%20server%20diagnostic

8

Nevermind, noob mistake!

At one point I thought…I bet I can’t see the page because I am trying to access it from within my network…turned off wifi on phone, tried to browse to page and voila’ it works!

thank you all! :slight_smile:

9

Complete aside but I love the power of Mikrotik RouterOS!! Is there anything these little devices can’t do…

10

@Rob_Nicholson wholeheartedly agree, they just work. Not necessarily intuitive and documentation could be improved but product is just solid and versatile. As my clients burn through their routers I am replacing with mikrotik.

11

Can’t always make things simple in life. There are tools whereby you have to invest the time. But yes, the documentation could be better. What’s missing is a introductory tutorial or reference manual that explains the principles. Once you’ve got your head around how it all fits together, the reference makes sense. Thank goodness for YouTube tutorials.