· Do you have a mesh network? (Google Mesh, Eeros, Ubiquiti, etc.)
ARC Status
· ARC is *Ready*
Describe the issue
I am able to use ARC at home. I have been able to use it sporadically while in my car, using cell service. All other times, ARC does not log in to the cloud or my Roon server. It's extremely frustrating. I have an Asus mesh network. My router is part of that network.
Describe your network setup
Verizon. Asus ZenWiFiBQ 16 Pro. Mesh: router and two points. I have a Roon Nucleus.
ARC being Ready but only reaching your server sporadically from mobile data usually points to a network path or port forwarding issue, and Asus mesh can add a few layers worth checking.
First, please open Settings > Roon ARC on your Roon Server and let us know what the diagnostics screen shows for external access. If it indicates a connection or port issue, we’ll want to compare that with how the Asus mesh is handling the WAN connection to your ZenWiFi nodes.
It would also help to know:
whether ARC fails on both cellular data and WiFi away from home, or only one of those
which router in the Asus mesh is doing the actual internet-facing connection, and whether the Roon Server is wired to that router or to one of the mesh points
what port, if any, you have configured for ARC forwarding
If you can share what the ARC diagnostics screen says, we can take the next step from there. You may need to check it specifically when an issue arises.
@matthew.frey71Hey , just a quick check-in on where things stand. We’d love to keep working with you on this. If you’re still experiencing Arc issues, could you please provide the information we requested in our latest response? Just a heads up that this thread will close automatically soon, but you’re welcome to reopen it anytime through the Technical Support form if you’d like to continue:
As for your questions, ARC has worked a few times on cellular data, but never on WiFi outside home. My Nucleus is plugged directly into the Asus router.
Thanks for the screenshots and the details, that helps a lot.
The diagnostics point to the likely root cause: your external IP is in the 100.x range, which is the address space carriers use for CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT). Verizon commonly uses this, especially on 5G/LTE Home Internet. It lines up with everything we’re seeing: the 504 network error, UPnP reporting an “UnknownError,” and the multi-NAT check failing.
In short, your Asus router is opening the ARC port correctly on its side, but there’s another NAT layer at Verizon above it that inbound connections can’t get through. That’s also why ARC only works occasionally on cellular and never on outside WiFi.
Standard port forwarding won’t resolve this on its own while CGNAT is in place. Here’s what I’d suggest, in order:
Confirm the WAN IP. In your Asus router admin (Network Map → WAN), check the WAN IP address. If it falls in the 100.64.x – 100.127.x range, that confirms CGNAT.
Rule out double-NAT. Make sure there isn't a Verizon gateway routing in front of your Asus mesh. If there is, set it to bridge/pass-through mode so only the Asus router handles NAT. If the WAN IP is still 100.x afterward, it's carrier CGNAT.
Ask Verizon for a public (non-CGNAT) IPv4 address. Some plans allow this; many Home Internet plans do not, so it's worth a call but may not be available.
Use IPv6 (the recommended workaround). ARC supports IPv6, which sidesteps CGNAT entirely. If Verizon provides IPv6, enable it on your Asus mesh and manually set the ARC port for both IPv4 and IPv6 (UPnP alone only opens IPv4). You'll also want to confirm your phone's cellular carrier supports IPv6.
These two guides walk through the CGNAT/IPv6 setup step by step:
[url=https://community.roonlabs.com/t/arc-router-external-ip-100-64-to-127-x-x-read-this/217160]ARC: router_external_ip "100.64 to 127.x.x" read this[/url]
[url=https://community.roonlabs.com/t/how-to-get-roon-arc-working-with-cg-nat-ipv6/296511]How to Get Roon ARC Working with CG-NAT & IPv6[/url]
[url=https://community.roonlabs.com/t/arc-connectivity-issues-with-ipv6-due-to-cgnat-ref-n7subq/291378]ARC connectivity issues with IPv6 due to CGNAT (ref#N7SUBQ)[/url]
Give step 1 a try and let me know what WAN IP the Asus router reports, that'll tell us exactly which path forward applies. 👍
Thanks for the WAN screenshot, that actually shifts things in a good direction.
The WAN IP your Asus is reporting, 98.XXX.XXX.208, is a public, routable address. It’s not in the CGNAT range (100.64.x–100.127.x), so it looks like you’re not stuck behind Carrier-Grade NAT after all.
There’s one thing I want to reconcile, though: the earlier ARC diagnostics showed an external IP in the 100.x range and UPnP returning an error, which is what first pointed us toward CGNAT. Since your WAN is now showing a clean public IP, let’s get a fresh reading:
Re-check ARC diagnostics. Open Settings → Roon ARC on your Roon Server again and look at the diagnostics data. Tell me what the external_ip now shows. If it matches 98.XXX.XXX.208, we're in good shape.
Set up a manual port forward. Your diagnostics showed UPnP failing with an "UnknownError," which means the router isn't opening the ARC port automatically. Let's do it by hand in your Asus admin (WAN → Virtual Server / Port Forwarding):
Protocol: TCP
External/Port range: 55000
Internal IP: 192.168.50.186 (your Nucleus)
Internal port: 55000
After saving, go back to Settings → Roon ARC and confirm the listening port is still set to 55000, then hit the refresh/retry button.
If the external IP still comes back as 100.x even though the Asus WAN shows 98.x, that would tell us there's a second router or Verizon gateway sitting in front of your Asus (double-NAT), and we'd want to set that upstream device to bridge/pass-through mode. But let's start with the two steps above, with a public IP and the port forwarded manually, ARC should connect.
Sorry for the slow response here. Yes your latest screenshot is looking much better and shows the Ready status, as well as a non 100.X IP, has there been an improvement in performance in the issue since?
We have seen users have a better experience in the past if they change their Router’s DNS servers from the ISP provided ones to Cloudflare DNS, Quad9 or Google DNS. If you can give thsi a try, it may help even further.
I think the step before last fixed the issue. ARC seems to be working on both mobile data and non-home WiFi. Many thanks for the help. Really like ARC. It’s exactly what I was looking for.
That’s great news, we’re glad the step before last did the trick and ARC is now behaving on both mobile data and non-home WiFi. Thanks for the update, and enjoy the music with ARC!
