Web Africa - CG-NAT/IPv6 Prevents Port Forwarding

Roon Core Machine

Intel NUC
Rock

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Zxyel emg3525 - t50b Router
Nokia g240gc Modem
Ethernet
Not using VPN

  1. Who is your internet service provider?
    Web Africa

  2. Please list the make and model of your modem and router?
    As abo2

  3. Do you have any additional network hardware, like additional routers or managed switches?
    No

  4. Does your network have any VPNs, proxy servers, or enterprise-grade security?
    No, not as far as I am aware.

Connected Audio Devices

Description of Issue -

What is the exact port forwarding error message you see in the Roon Settings → ARC tab?

I tried to set up Arc automatically following the instructions and then followed the troubleshooting instructions (toggling UPnP on and off, setting up a static address for Roon in Rock and in the router settings) as this didn’t work I set up manual port forwarding as below


I still get the below error message

{
“connectivity”: {“status”:“NetworkTimeout”,“status_code”:998,“error”:“”},
“external_ip”: {“actual_external_ip”:“102.65.4.231”,“router_external_ip”:null},
“natpmp_autoconfig”: {“status”:“NotFound”},
“upnp_autoconfig”: {“server_ip”:“192.168.1.1”,“found_upnp”:true,“error”:“Did not find UPnP service with WANIPConnection on network”}
}
Not sure what to try next?

I have a similar problem. Here is the paste:

{
“connectivity”: {“status”:“NetworkError”,“status_code”:504,“error”:“error: Error: ETIMEDOUT, response code: undefined, body: undefined connected? undefined”},
“external_ip”: {“actual_external_ip”:“69.21.25.62”,“router_external_ip”:“192.168.0.73”},
“status”: “status”: MultipleNatFound
,
“natpmp_autoconfig”: {“server_ip”:“192.168.68.1”,“found_natpmp”:true},
“upnp_autoconfig”: {“server_ip”:“192.168.68.1”,“found_upnp”:true}
}

Hi,

In the port forward rule you use port 55000, is this number also mentioned in the Roon app under

settings—>Roon ARC

Regards,

Maarten

Hi, yes it’s showing 55000

Hi @Laurence_Smith ,

Thank you for your patience while we’ve diligently worked to reach every request for support with port forwarding. The diagnostics you’ve provided suggest that your Core is having difficulty reaching our servers. There are several independent factors that can cause this error, so we recommend double-checking the following to initiate troubleshooting:

  • Is your router firmware up to date?
  • Do you have any VPNs, proxy servers, or enterprise-grade security on this network?
  • Are you experiencing any issues with Roon Remotes, or other apps on your local network?

If you continue to experience difficulties, please tag the support team and include the following information:

  1. Do you have any additional network hardware, like additional routers or managed switches?
  2. Is your Modem configured in Bridge Mode so that it operates only as a modem or do you have the ports forwarded on both?

@noris
Hi, thanks for your reply.

So router firmware is up to date.
No vpns, proxys, enterprise grade security.
No problem with Roon remote.

I don’t have any additional routers or network switches.
How do I determine if my modem is set up in bridge mode? I have only logged in to my Zxyel router and haven’t seen any reference to bridge mode.

Web Africa claim not to block ports but the following forum discussion I found suggest people are having problems. Does this affect my use case?

https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/webafrica-double-natting.1096052/

@noris Hi, I have not received any further communication since my last message providing the requested information.

Do you have any suggestions for how to proceed?

Many thanks,

Laurence

Roon Core Machine

Intel Nuc
Roon Rock

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Zxyel
Ethernet

Description of Issue

Trying to connect to Arc I get the following error message

I’ve logged into the router and upnp seems to be on

I’ve toggled it on and off and didn’t help.

What is the best next step?

Many thanks

1 Like

i suffer from the exact same issue

I’ve set up port forwarding in the router


I think this is correct? But I still get the same error message.

I chose the option of assigning static DHCP in the router also.

Hey @Laurence_Smith,

Thank you for your patience while we’ve diligently worked to reach every request for support with port forwarding. The diagnostics you’ve provided suggest that your Core is having difficulty reaching our servers. There are several independent factors that can cause this error, so we recommend double-checking the following to initiate troubleshooting:

  • Is your router firmware up to date?
  • Do you have any VPNs, proxy servers, or enterprise-grade security on this network?
  • Are you experiencing any issues with Roon Remotes, or other apps on your local network?

If you continue to experience difficulties, please tag the support team and include the following information:

  1. What is the make and model of your modem and router?
  2. Do you have any additional network hardware, like additional routers or managed switches?
  3. Who is your internet service provider and what is your geographic region?
  4. Is your Modem configured in Bridge Mode so that it operates only as a modem or do you have the ports forwarded on both?

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

Hi @Laurence_Smith,

I’ve merged the other thread you’d started to report your ARC port forwarding issue.

Having taken a deeper look into some internet chatter regarding your service provider’s implementation of CG-NAT, I suspect if you’re on a fiber connection, then you’ll indeed be up against a layer of network address translation at the provider level with Web Africa. You’ll have to reach out to Web Africa’s customer service directly and request a routable IPv4 address for your account in order for port forwarding to work.

If this option is unavailable, you’ll need to resort to some unofficial solutions to bypass the network address translation - I recommend reading through solutions with NordVPN, Tailscale, and other VPN/proxy setups in the #tinkering and #roon sections.

Roon is also working on in-house solutions to better handle public IPv6 format addresses [either your own or your ISP’s] and democratize access to ARC to customers who are encountering situations similar to your own. I don’t have a timeline for this initiative at this time, but the team will post updates as soon as they are available.

Thank you for your patience, and we’re happy to clarify further or answer any questions.

2 Likes