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Windows Home Server and the Thomson TG585v7 router

It has been noted that this router has a problem with the setup of the Remote Access feature of WHS. It plays nice with the UPnP protocol and the WHS reports as having setup the router successfully, but it turns out that there is a problem and the (name).homeserver.com is not accessible, pointing instead to your router admin page.

The reason for it is that the router will not forward the 443 port required and reserves it for its own use, hence when the https connection is established it just points to the router.

There are two ways to deal with it. One, you force the router to release port 443 and all is well, and two, translate any port you wish to 443 for the server. Solution one is described here but I dont like it. It means forcing your router to do something it doesnt want to which one never knows what it can cause, and the proccess itself is not so easy and requires a certain knowledge that not everyone has.

The second option, however is far simpler and easy. All one need to do is forward other ports and some have even suggested to point the one above it (i.e. instead of 443, forward 444). Now here are two points that need to be made.

1. This solution does work. As the router does not restrict other ports except 443, forwarding any port you want to the server with a trigger for 443 will work.
2. This can cause major problem if you are not a little careful. As I said, some suggested using port 444 to handle the server. Port 444, however, is quite common, used in pagers all over the world and could trouble you.

For this reason, I would suggest that you go here and find a port that is not showing. Then use this to call your server and have your router catch that port and forward it to the server with a 443 translation.

Here is how (in pictures). Enter your router and go to the port forwarding page. Put a name for the scheme and create a blank one.

Type in the ports and hit Add after each one. Make sure that the protocol is set to TCP, not any or UDP.

After you reach this point, click on Assign a game or application to a local network device.

This final image is what you should end up with.

The address I am using for my WHS is of my own choosing, simply because I have a certain addressing scheme in my head (router at the end of the subnet, then servers, with printers at the start and everything else starting from 64 onward – for a standard 255.255.255.0 subnet). You will of course replace that with the address of your own WHS.

Now all you have to do is let people know that the proper address for them to log in to your site is:

https://(name).homeserver.com:395/remote

and that is all.

Add comment November 28th, 2009

Windows Home Server 120 day key

It seems that Microsoft is inaccurate in how you can get a WHS key for 120 day. In this page it tells you that you can either stick with the 30days evaluation or join Microsoft Connect to get a 120 days key. However that is not the case. After joining I tried to get one, but the site was not giving me one. In the troubleshooting section I read about many other users that were having the same problem and it turns out that what you have to do is download a different WHS version AFTER you join the MS Connect program.

While WHS seems to be working great, having it work for 120 days would provide a better understanding of its features, many of which are set on a monthly basis, which is something people in the program have pointed out. However, till this time there is no official response as to the misleading suggestion that you get a key after joining (which is not true; you get a new .iso to burn) or as to why the feature to get a key even exists in the site.

I would have liked to be able to test the monthly backup settings before buying it, but the platform suits me well enough and I’m fairly impressed, so I will buy it as a gift to myself during xmas.

Add comment November 28th, 2009