Have you successfully located and enabled the UPnP or NAT-PMP settings in your router's web UI?
· I've turned UPnP/ NAT-PMP on and ARC won't connect
Select the Diagnostic Keyword or Text String
· Something else
Don't give up yet.
· I'm stuck. I'd like to create a post to ask Roon Community for help.
Describe the issue
My Roon server is on a Late 2013 iMac which is maxed out at OS 10.15.xx Catalina (so Tailscale is not going to be an option for me). My ISP is Verizon FIOS which provides me with a CR1000A router which is connected to an ORBI mesh system (two satellites). I have tried to connect with ARC in both the Orbi's Router and what they call AP Mode without success although my understanding of network protocols is primitive to non-existent. I have always had some difficulties with ARC but they became 'fatal' when Verizon 'upgraded' my router and I had to connect to my roon core via WiFi. Roon runs flawlessly on my Mac and on all my Roon remotes around the house but ARC has been unavailable since. I assume this is somehow related to reconciling UPnP settings between the Orbi RBR20 but I've been unable to stumble across the right combination of settings.
I'll note that getting ARC to work successfully would more favorably dispose me toward renewing Roon when it expires in April. I like many of the upgrades you've made in recent months, but I really want to fix this. A properly functioning ARC application would be of great value to me.
Describe your network setup
ISP: Verizon FIOS Verizon CR1000A router, coaxial in, LAN out to Orbi RBR20 mesh system (two wireless satellites) Roon server in iMac late 2013 27" OS is 10.15.7 Catalina. This iMac will not accept OS 11 so a Tailscale workaround is not going to be an option for me.
There are three possible blockages to port forwarding in the network topology you’ve described above.
The first possibility is simply that UPnP is failing. You mention that you’ve placed one router in AP mode, which should remove the second network address translation layer imposed by a two-router setup. However, the diagnostic snippet is still timing out, which means that the port either a) isn’t open or b) hasn’t received a response.
Try disabling UPnP and creating a manual port forwarding rule in both routers instead. This rule should be TCP-protocol and point to the port and IP address from the Roon Settings page in your screenshot.
The second two possible failures would result from a redundant network address translation layer in the pathway from RoonServer → internet.
It’s possible that the Access Point mode for the Orbi router’s hasn’t been configured across the entire mesh system, resulting in network address translation at the point of the Orbi main router and again at the Verizon upstream router. This would be two local NAT layers.
The second culprit would be at the level of Verizon in the form of carrier-grade NAT, something against which our settings configuration would unfortunately be helpless.
So, let’s first troubleshoot for the local NAT possibilities.
You mentioned that you configured AP mode for the Orbi router, which serves the Mac hosting RoonServer downstream from the Verizon router. Have you tried instead using the Orbi as the main router, instead placing the Verizon gateway in modem-only/passthrough mode? Here are instructions for most common Verizon gateways: Verizon Internet Gateway - Configure IP Passthrough / Bridge Mode
So, to summarize:
Try a manual rule in both routers instead of UPnP
If that doesn’t work, try putting the Verizon router in passthrough mode and activating the Orbi router (disabling AP mode)
Let us know if these don’t work and we’ll go from there.
I’m at the “setting up the port forwarding rule in FIOS” stage and got the following error:
Original Port: The input of port has illegal characters. Destination port should be 111, or 111-222, or 111,222-333 and so on.
Can you give me some guidance as to what I need to enter for “original port” and “forward to addr”? I assume that Fwd to Port is 57243 as indicated in the Roon Settings?
As I said, I’m a complete illiterate in these matters, sorry.
Hi @Stephen_Garrison,
Assuming that 57243 is the ort you have listed in Roon that should work. Can you share a screenshot of the error message you’re getting when you add the original port?
If you’re still having issues getting Port Forwarding working properly, perhaps considering tailscale as an option would be a good next step - here’s more info on tailscale and using it with Arc:
Thanks, Benjamin but as I mentioned in my initial request for support the 2013 iMac I use as my Roon core will not support OS11 which is required for Tailscale (unless I’m mistaken).
Let’s zoom out - you’ve 1) placed the Verizon router in Bridge mode and 2) created the manual port forwarding rule in the Orbi router. Is this correct?
If so, a few notes that might help:
This won’t relate to port forwarding, but I recommend re-assigning the DNS server in the router settings page you’ve shared to either Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or QuadNine (9.9.9.9). ISP-designated servers don’t always resolve the server addresses required by Roon in a timely or reliable manner.
This might impact port forwarding: first, re-create the manual port forwarding rule, keeping the “original port” blank if it throws an error when you attempt to paste the RoonServer-> ARC port from Settings.
Now, in your Mac WiFi Details settings, try setting the WiFi Address from “Fixed” and turning off Private WiFi Address. Please let us know if this helps.
If you’re still having issues, another option is to 1) Disable Bridge mode in the Verizon router and 2) create an identical TCP port forwarding rule in those settings, too.
