Home Internet - Port Forwarding not working

This solution has not worked for me. I am wondering if there is a difference in the functionality of the DMZ and port forwarding between hardware versions of this router. I've had mine since jan/feb, so it's pretty old. Neither feature seems to actually DO anything on my end.

In case it helps anyone, my firmware/hardware version are below. 

We definitely need Bridge Mode on the next iteration of this hardware if this is going to be considered comparable to other ISPs.

DETAILS:

Firmware version installed: 

02944

Versión del hardware 

REV.5

reversedbias wrote:

I was able to get port forwarding to work. In my setup I use the T-Mobile Gateway → USG-3P → Home Network. In this case I have a router behind another router. In the home network I have a Plex Media server. Here's the steps I used to get the Plex Media server to talk to devices outside (Internet) the home network.

1. Change the IP address of the T-Mobile gateway from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.2
2. I left the USG-3P address range at 192.168.1.x
3. Enabled port forwarding on the USG-3P so that 32400 would reach my Plex server. Essentially nothing changed on the USG-3P, this was what I had when it was connected to a Comcast modem.
4. On the T-Mobile Gateway I enabled the DMZ and put the USG-3P into it.
5. I disabled all Wifi capability of the T-Mobile Gateway, and only used a single LAN connection directly into the USG-3P.
6. I disabled ALL firewall settings on the T-Mobile Gateway. I figured this is okay because the only outlet is directly into my USG-3P router that has all it's firewall enabled. Again, all Wifi is disabled on the T-Mobile Gateway and the only outlet is a LAN port directly into the USG-3P which firewalls my home network.
7. I set the virtual server routing on the T-Mobile Gateway for port 32400 to point to the USG-3P.

After that I was able to successfully get devices on the external Internet to talk to my Plex server. Logically it seemed that I would only either need to enable DMZ or Virtual Server, and it seemed like I shouldn't have to disable all the T-Mobile Firewalls, but it wouldn't work unless I did all the above steps. Again, I would not recommend this unless you have a dual router situation, you disable Wifi on the T-Mobile router, and you place your entire home network behind a second router that has the proper Firewall protections.

I have the exact setup (even the firewall USG) as you and it's not working. 

Could you expound on step 2? Are you saying the wan on the USG is 192.168.1.x? I think the default is 192.168.1.130. 

What if I may ask is your internal IP range behind the USG ? 

Otherwise I have setup the same way you did yet I still can't get traffic through. This is a deal breaker so I am hopeful I can get this to work.

I wish they would give us bridge mode, but this setup should still work.

Anyway, appreciate the help. I called support and they are told to skip NAT and are not trained so they can't help.

I don’t use this, but nice to see somebody figure it out. prob felt nice being able to see it working. right on :]

I was able to get port forwarding to work. In my setup I use the T-Mobile Gateway → USG-3P → Home Network. In this case I have a router behind another router. In the home network I have a Plex Media server. Here's the steps I used to get the Plex Media server to talk to devices outside (Internet) the home network.

1. Change the IP address of the T-Mobile gateway from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.2
2. I left the USG-3P address range at 192.168.1.x
3. Enabled port forwarding on the USG-3P so that 32400 would reach my Plex server. Essentially nothing changed on the USG-3P, this was what I had when it was connected to a Comcast modem.
4. On the T-Mobile Gateway I enabled the DMZ and put the USG-3P into it.
5. I disabled all Wifi capability of the T-Mobile Gateway, and only used a single LAN connection directly into the USG-3P.
6. I disabled ALL firewall settings on the T-Mobile Gateway. I figured this is okay because the only outlet is directly into my USG-3P router that has all it's firewall enabled. Again, all Wifi is disabled on the T-Mobile Gateway and the only outlet is a LAN port directly into the USG-3P which firewalls my home network.
7. I set the virtual server routing on the T-Mobile Gateway for port 32400 to point to the USG-3P.

After that I was able to successfully get devices on the external Internet to talk to my Plex server. Logically it seemed that I would only either need to enable DMZ or Virtual Server, and it seemed like I shouldn't have to disable all the T-Mobile Firewalls, but it wouldn't work unless I did all the above steps. Again, I would not recommend this unless you have a dual router situation, you disable Wifi on the T-Mobile router, and you place your entire home network behind a second router that has the proper Firewall protections.

Hello Again T-Mo Subscribers and Support,

I opened a support case with T-Mo Home Internet (regarding NAT Forwarding) and they told me someone would contact me in 72 hours. That was over two weeks ago (and no contact).

I called in again, today, to get an update on my case. The agent seemed to be reading from the notes on this ticket. The take-away seemed to be that further troubleshooting needed to be done (if nothing else testing the SIM or other hardware related issues). No mention of when any follow-up would occur.

I took to Google for more independent research and found this on T-Mo's Web site: (there should be a small screenshot just below)

Just in case the (above) screenshot is missing, here is the text:

"NAT Forwarding

While T-Mobile does not support setting up or using NAT Forwarding, the settings are available."

Here is the link to that Web page:

Interfaz de usuario por Internet: gateway Wi-Fi LTE T-Mobile | Asistencia de T-Mobile

I am now not clear how "more hardware troubleshooting is needed" in light of this publicly stated position of non-support?

I believe home internet service is new for T-Mo and maybe in the future NAT Forwarding will become supported.

Good luck and stay safe and healthy,

Digital Robert

Hello T-Mo Subscribers and Support,

I am having the same problem. I love, Love, LOVE T-Mobile and said, "Oh-yeah, sign me up" when Home Internet became available! I really need the NAT Forwarding feature to work, PLEASE!!

Thanks and stay safe and healthy,

Digital Robert

Talked to tech support for Home Internet last week. She was very forthright and appeared to be knowledgeable. This modem was put out quickly for the "trial" home Internet service. She stated that they've had a ton of feedback about the lack of bridge mode. She also confirmed that all the controls for port forwarding, virtual servers and DMZ were operative but not functional at all.

They are somewhat in a hold mode due to the Sprint acquisition. They plan to provide a high featured modem for the "5G" roll out but could not provide a time frame for that.

I've done extensive testing on the DMZ, virtual servers and Port Forwarding with not one scintilla of success. Now I know why.

One thing puzzles me is how Synology Quickconnect, Zoom, and Skype works w/o port forwarding, but it certainly does.  Maybe well known protocols are passed through without our control.

I noticed some of the posts are from a few months ago. Anyone know if Bridge mode is now available on the TM-RTL0102?

My current setup is that I am keeping my Century Link DSL and sharing both connections via a PFSense router. I map all incoming connections through the DSL side and set it up to prefer LTE for all outgoing connections. I was told that T-Mobile will be rolling out newer hardware to those who want it at some point. Hopefully that will connect to their 5G and that that will offer us public IPs. If not StarLink will hopefully offer service this year...

I'm with you @jonsteinmetz​ it appears that the LTE Internet service uses IPV6 and I think that an port request is not reaching the LTE/WiFi device. Even with DMZ turned on and pointed to an internal box with open ports, I can see using "ShieldsUP!" by Gibson Research Corp that my public IP address is showing all ports closed and in stealth mode.

Reproduction steps

Public IP: While connected directly to the LTE/WiFi device, look up the public IP address via ipchicken or any other IP presentation service.

Port Scan: Scan for specific or all ports via "ShieldsUP!"