Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Home networking help

A

Arkangil

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 5, 2009
135
0
I hope I have put this question in the right forum. It's a long one, so bear with me!

My setup: unibody MBP 2.53, 1gig Time Capsule, USB Samsung printer attached to the TC, Windows Home Server machine currently using ethernet to get internet access through my MBP wireless connection.

I run a small but growing business with a partner. Instead of both of us toting around a USB stick, and having to merge our sets of documents, invoices, etc. I thought I could setup a server at home, where we can RDP in to get access to files, software, etc.

I was told about Windows Home Server, and how it provides a cheap server OS that gives web access, RDP access, FTP, all that fun stuff. Just what we needed. I picked up an OEM copy and installed it onto my old desktop PC.

WHS uses upnp to setup a router to setup external access through RDP. TC doesn't support upnp, but after research I found it is basically a way to quickly setup port forwarding on a router. The TC can do that.

WHS tells me which 3 ports I need to forward. I tried setting those up using the airport utility, however when it asks for the IP, it lists 10.1.1.xxx (or something close to that) where I can only modify the xxx part. When I look on the WHS box, the IP is 192.whatever. I THINK that is because it is sharing the internet through the MBP and not connected directly to the TC. Is that correct?

If I hook it up to the TC, will it get a 10.x.x.x address which I can then setup port forwarding to?

Does anyone else have experience setting up a server with RDP access through a TC at home?

Any advise would be appreciated. Before you go there, yes I would have loved a mini server setup, but it just wasn't in the budget this time around!!
 
Might be a bit late for this, but I had a similar problem a few years back and used a pair of DrayTek routers to join two networks together.

Meant that both networks appeared as one and we could share all resources. Was very simple to setup.

With the Airport you'll probably just have to use port forwarding. and more manual fiddling to get it up and running.
 
So are you suggesting instead of plugging the WHS into the TC, I get a wired router, plug it in there, then plug the wired router into the TC?
 
Sounds like the WHS box is not getting the correct IP address from DHCP. Try setting the IP address of the WHS box manually to 10.1.1.xxx (xxx can be anything from 1-255 as long as no other devices are using it).

Once you've done that, go to the TC and forward the ports to the IP address you assigned above.
 
So do you think all my issues stem from the fact that I am internet sharing right now with the Mac?
 
I guess the confusion here is that you haven't explained WHY the WHS is using the ethernet from the MBP. Too far away from TC? PCI or PCIe wireless cards that would go into the old PC are < $20 these days. Then you don't have to depend on the MBP to make the WHS connection.

And yes, the IP address would be in the correct range if it were using the TC for either ethernet or wireless connection (and DHCP).
 
Yes, it's strickly a distance thing. The WHS box will eventually be plugged directly into the TC, but there is limited room there for a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Once it goes headless, it will sit next to the TC and be plugged in via ethernet.

So I guess that is my solution. Hard wire it in to complete the configuration.


UPDATE: I plugged the WHS into the TC and sure enough, it got a 10.whatever IP. When I go to the WHS website "mysite.homeserver.com" I can log in, and see all the shared files and all that. Great.

When I try to RDP in, from Mac or Windows, it says the server cannot be found. All the Windows RDP settings seem to be set up on the WHS box. I am not quite sure where to go from here.
 
Sorry, I have zero experience with WHS. But I suggest you try using an IP address instead of "mysite.homeserver.com" unless you've edited your Host file.
 
Dunno what a host file is, so I think it's a fair bet I have not.

Would I be trying to RDP to the router IP address?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back