I understand in order to use ARC we need to open a port on our routers for incoming traffic. Forgive me but is this the only way? Exposing any port to Internet traffic is a big no no, isn’t it?
I believe same thing applies to enabling UPnP on your router, which I have specifically turned off.
Is there any other way to get ARC working? I know SONY has the Remote Play app that doesn’t require port forwarding for example, so it’s certainly possible.
I believe this is an oversimplification. Even so, someone may be able to exploit something and gain access. I was always told not to open any ports on your router if you want to remain secure.
This is exactly my situation, by the way. My Roon core resides on my Synology NAS so I’m doubly worried about opening ports, since I’d also have to open it on the NAS.
PS. It’s certainly not about having “top secrets on my NAS” if you want to be secure.
Security is indeed a serious concern here and it’s a real possibility. We have already seen various kinds of deadly instrusive attacks on the QNAP users despite the fact the QNAP has taken many preemptive security measures. I think 2-step authentication and disabling any write permission on the Roon Core server or allowing only some kind of registered, trusty mobile devices may help.
I can think of various options on how to do it, but I guess it’s up to Roon dev to figure out an easy and friendly way on how to do it, or setting up some kind of firewall.
I have been using QNAP, so far so good because I have never exposed the QNAP to the internet by opening port to any QNAP apps.
I use ARC and it think it is a great app, I think Roon dev have taken some preliminary security measures, but it’s still not fully bullet proof IMO, time will tell.
2FA, and trusty mobile devices, etc. There are many well proven cybersecurity measures that are already designed and implemented by various major software firms (especially during the lockdown as many folks were working from home).
I’ve had a similar issue with my setup and can’t get ARC working outside my local network. I’m pretty disappointed with the whole malarkey to be honest. My Roon Core is on my business iMac and I’m not prepared to comprise my firewall security by fiddling with my router settings and opening ports that could be hacked. Not really sure what this was all meant to achieve, having a firmware update that then forces changes on a networks security protocols to enable the software to work with an app that is meant to control the developer’s own software……
