Port forwarding to HFS Web Server on Windows - can't make it work!

[#1]

Plusnet Hub Two. I have set up a port forwarding rule and see entries like the following in the router event log:

Time and dateMessage
11:05:15, 15 Oct.
FWL Port Forward Server(192.168.1.106) TCP 8080 accepted a new connection from 5.79.75.134

11:05:14, 15 Oct.
FWL Port Forward Server(192.168.1.106) TCP 8080 accepted a new connection from 5.79.75.134

11:05:14, 15 Oct.
FWL Port Forward Server(192.168.1.106) UDP 8080 accepted a new connection from 5.79.75.134

I assume this means that the router port forwarding rule is actually working.

However, even with Windows 11 public firewall switched OFF and the latest version of HFS web server running on port 8080 I still cannot access it via my current public ip address.

Just wondering if I'm missing something here?  Any suggestions?

Many thanks!

[#2]

I assume this means that the router port forwarding rule is actually working.

This does indeed mean the port forward rule is working but, it does not mean the device is accepting connections. Even with the target device switched off you still get this message.

There is no further message for a successful connection.

Are you able to connect local LAN?

Does netstat -an | findstr 8080 on 192.168.1.106 show port 8080 listening? You'll see something like

  TCP    0.0.0.0:8080           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    [::]:8080              [::]:0                 LISTENING

[#3]

Dan, many thanks for taking the trouble to help me.

So, the url http://localhost:8080/ works, as does http://192.168.1.140:8080/.  However, my public ip (87.114.91.67:8080 at present) does not.

netstat -an | findstr 8080 on my local ip (92.168.1.140) does show port 8080 listening, to the best of my understanding:

C:\Users\Peter Boulton>netstat -an | findstr 8080
  TCP    0.0.0.0:8080           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
  TCP    [::]:8080              [::]:0                 LISTENING
  TCP    [::1]:8080             [::1]:59973            FIN_WAIT_2
  TCP    [::1]:8080             [::1]:59974            FIN_WAIT_2
  TCP    [::1]:8080             [::1]:59979            FIN_WAIT_2
  TCP    [::1]:8080             [::1]:59980            ESTABLISHED
  TCP    [::1]:8080             [::1]:59981            FIN_WAIT_2
  TCP    [::1]:59973            [::1]:8080             CLOSE_WAIT
  TCP    [::1]:59974            [::1]:8080             CLOSE_WAIT
  TCP    [::1]:59979            [::1]:8080             CLOSE_WAIT
  TCP    [::1]:59980            [::1]:8080             ESTABLISHED
  TCP    [::1]:59981            [::1]:8080             CLOSE_WAIT

My Hub Two must be quite new as I've only had it for 5 weeks - firmware version v0.10.00.04201-PN.

If I understand what you say correctly, just because the event log on the router captures the port forwarding rule being needed, there is no way of knowing whether the router is actually forwarding the request.

I don't want to but I may need to revert to my old TP-Link AC2100 router, where port forwarding worked correctly. 😐

Many thanks again for your help!

[#4]

First thing that comes to mind is the Windows firewall: it may be allowing local connections, but not public ones. NAT only changes the incoming packet's DESTINATION address (and the outgoing packet's source address), but the public SOURCE address remains the same.

The quick test is to just turn off your windows firewall for a few seconds while you make a test.

[#5]

I've switched 'Public Network' Microsoft Defender Firewall off but the issue persists.

Unless there is anything else I am missing or can change I feel it is the router that is at fault here.

I think I will try my old TP-Link, which port forwarded fine in my last house.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[#6]

OP here.

I have reverted to my TP-Link AC2100 router which had already been configured successfully for port forwarding at my old house.  After adjusting the network settings to support full fibre from adsl everything else, including wifi and port forwarding worked exactly as previously without any need for changes.

FI, TP-Link AC2100 routers have baked in dynamic dns which supports urls like "<yourname>.tplinkdns.com".  As well as dyndns and change-ip which I have not tried.

The fact that, from the same Windows 11 computer, I can make port forwarding work on the TP-Link with no difficulty whatsoever but fail abysmally on the Plusnet router convinces me that the issue is the Plusnet router.  Which is a shame as it's fine otherwise and I was planning to EBay the TP-Link!

[#7]

OK, OP here again!  So, port forwarding on the Plusnet Hub Two now seems to be working!

As per my previous post, I reverted to my TP-Link AC2100 and confirmed port forwarding was working as it had in my previous house.  Windows firewall did post a "do you want to allow this?" the first time I tried it which I agreed to.

For irrelevant reasons, I had to revert to the Plusnet Hub Two and, without any change to the previous settings, port forwarding just started working!  So, either it's a 'hard' on/off or the Windows firewall prompt that the TP-Link triggered but the Plusnet router didn't that caused it to start working.

So, if anyone is visiting this thread with the same issue I had, I guess the first thing to try after setting up the port forwarding is a 'hard' on/off (rather than a reboot through the interface).

I'm happy to be corrected by a better explanation.