Changing the router's management port

[Sceptor]

Hi there, so recently I decided to try and port forward a webserver onto my public IP (broadband IP). However every time I enter this IP into the web browser, it takes me to my router's admin panel. 

Is there a way to change the IP that the panel is hosted on? 

[XRaySpeX]

Where are you doing this from? To test Port Forwarding you need to test from outside your LAN, like a mobile phone not running on WiFi.

Please post your Port Forwarding settings you are using so I can understand it as it is not quite clear.

[Sceptor]

(Not sure if that image will work but I've got port 80, 8080, 22 (for SSH) and 2022 open as of currently.)

I'm doing this from my Pi4, I'm trying to run pterodactyl's panel and have it display on the public IP so I can connect it to a DNS. However I fear that it uses the same port as the router's default port (80). 

[XRaySpeX]

I presume from what you now say that you are entering your public IP into a browser on a device outside your LAN?

Altho' you can't change your public IP as was your original Q, you don't need to. You should not have  80 as a  public facing port as it clashes with the router's admin port. Instead change the public port 80 to something like 5180 & access it accordingly from the Net.

[mikeliuk]

Hi @Sceptor ,

Your router would need to support hairpin NAT in order for your original test to succeed, which was to test from within the LAN but hitting the IP on the WAN.

https://superuser.com/questions/1281199/cannot-access-lan-with-wan-address-from-within-my-lan

The good news is that there will be no clash on port 80 as services don't only listen on a particular port but also listen on particular IP addresses (optionally listening on all IP addresses, 0.0.0.0). So your firewall will be listening on the WAN IP and forwarding packets hitting port 80 as you requested (those packets never hit the router management port as that web server can only be hit from the LAN).

All you need to do is test from a connection originating from the internet, and outside your LAN, for all to become clear. Previous users have been able to carry out such a test using either a VPN or mobile phone using data instead of the WiFi.

The mobile phone option is especially easy for testing web servers and you can specify the port number after a colon ":" if you don't want to use port 80 on the WAN.

I assume your WAN IP is routable on the internet (for example, not beginning 100.x.x.x or 10.x.x.x).

[XRaySpeX]

@mikeliuk : Absolute rubbish! The OP states he is hitting the router's admin port 80 when he is attempting to hit his own server's port 80. So there is a clash.

Don't bother getting the facts before coming to the erroneous assumptions!

Why are you always butting in with incorrect, off-at-a-tangent misinformation on subjects of which you are ignorant?

[mikeliuk]

This is a correct observation: "Where are you doing this from? To test Port Forwarding you need to test from outside your LAN, like a mobile phone not running on WiFi."

It's quite possible I've missed the description where the user has tested by initiating a connection from the internet and outside the LAN?

I run DD-WRT which gives the option to expose the management functionality on the WAN but typically this is not done for security so there will be no clash with port 80 on the WAN.

It's lack of hairpin NAT support which causes the LAN-facing web server to be hit instead of the WAN-facing firewall.

The lack of hairpin NAT support causing the false impression that port forwarding was not working was also diagnosed here by the industry standard test from outside the LAN: https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-home-phone/New-EE-Smart-Hub-port-forwarding-not-working/m-p/...

Hairpinning is where a machine on the LAN is able to access another machine on the LAN via the external IP address of the LAN/router (with port forwarding set up on the router to direct requests to the appropriate machine on the LAN).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairpinning

[XRaySpeX]

@mikeliuk : What is a "correct observation"? That quote of mine was a Q + a statement of fact. It was not an observation about the OP as I couldn't tell at the time where he was coming from.

You seem to be saying that the lack of loopback (which you call "hairpin NAT") prevents the public IP being used on your own LAN at all. And it does, I just tested it.

Then in the next breathe you say the the lack of loopback allows the admin server to be hit. But it isn't!

Which is it to be? You contradict yourself all over the shop. Hence one can only draw the conclusion you are ignorant of that of which you speak.

[mikeliuk]

The test from inside the LAN is unable to hit the firewall and port forwarding service listening on the WAN IP because the router does not support hairpinning, but instead the test is hitting the router's management web server listening on the router's internal LAN IP on port 80.

This is really basic networking. 🤓