Djk44883 - First, thank you for taking time to comment on my situation!
Thanks for correcting my understanding of how the fiber optic into my home works and that it is not any kind of “modem.”
One question:
1.) Could you explain more what you meant when you said you’ve had it working on both a R7000 and R7800 router – “not stock Netgear firmware, which is pointless other than screen shots.” Are you saying you needed to install other firmware on your Netgear routers?
I’ve used the R7000P successfully with Tablo Connect before, but I’m also not running the stock firmware.
I’d start by visiting one of the many “whatsmyipaddress” sites to see what your externally visible IP address is. If that address is the same as the WAN address on your router, you should be able to create a static mapping. If it’s not, your home is already behind a Network Address Translation device, so applications like Tablo Connect can’t work, as your router is also doing NAT for your home network. You can Google “double NAT” for more information.
Note, if you are using Safari to hide your IP address, you’ll need to disable that, or use another browser that doesn’t attempt to fiddle with it.
Thanks for your time commenting on my situation.
1.) I was able to find my externally visible IP address, but can’t find my WAN address on my router. Can you tell me where to find that?
2.) Also, I didn’t know that there was router firmware that is not “stock” from Netgear. Where did you get your firmware and how do you know it is safe to use?
3.) I have suspected that my ISP box is doing NAT (and thus may be experiencing a double NAT issue), but so far I haven’t been able to confirm that with my fiber optic ISP. I’ve got a call into their technical support. Is there any other way to find out if that’s the case - double NAT?
In-line:
Wow, thanks so much! This was very helpful. Indeed it matches up with what I found out just before this on a phone call with my ISP support. Indeed, what changed is that as of Feb. 14th, our account went from an assigned IP address to being behind the CGN (Carrier-Grade NAT), which is performing NAT, in addition to my router, causing the double NAT problem. Indeed (as you suggested I check), the WAN IP Address in the Internet Port section is different than the “whatsmyip” external IP address is. (The IP Address in my router’s Internet Port section is the general IP address for my ISP. And, when I tried to set that as my Static IP address in my router, it stated that it was an Invalid Static IP address - further indicating that in order to use a Static IP address, I need to get one assigned to me from my ISP.)
So, the probable solution is for me to get a Static IP address from my ISP for $10/mo. I’m going to try that in a couple of weeks, (which is just before the next time I’d need remote access to my Tablo device using Port Forwarding/Tablo Connect). I’ll report back here if that fixes it.
BTW, the ISP support rep., said that more and more ISPs are going to be using CGN because they have to pay for the number of IP addresses they have and only have a certain number of them. CGN with its dynamic assignment of IP addresses enables them to handle more customers without buying more IP addresses. THANKS so much for your input to my situation!
The reference was it’s a basic function. Other then the UI (user interface) for configuring.
Static IP, Reserved IP, Static/Reserved Lease are often used interchangeably. They may be use for the same thing but don’t always necessarily mean the same. Here’s a post from the past I felt explained it well:
Open source firmware has been around since, I believe the days of the Linksys WRT-54G. If it wasn’t safe it wouldn’t have survived and grown.
Thank you for your answers to my follow-up questions. Since then (see thread of other responses and exchanges), I think what is going on is a “double NAT” situation, in that I have found out that my ISP has switched to using CGN (Carrier-Grade Network translation) which, I think, is essentially doing NAT at the ISP and of course, my router is doing NAT (=double NAT) and that causes a problem for Port Forwarding. My ISP said this happens a lot with gaming devices/applications and the solution for them is having the ISP assign that customer a “Static IP” address.
But, if I understand your reply, perhaps the “Static IP in the Tablo Device” is already established by that device as it connects to my router, and what I need to get from my ISP is a “Reserved” or “Leased” IP address. (Though, they called it a Static IP address.) THANKS again!
To access your router from the Internet, it needs a unique address that can be routed to from anywhere. This could be static, dynamic, whatever, but your router must be able to determine what it is. With CGNAT, you may have the same address every time you use the Internet, buts it’s not unique to you, so devices on the Internet can’t reach you, you can only reach them.
On your local network, you can assign the Tablo a static address, or you can setup your router to always assign it the same address dynamically; that’s what typically is referred to as a “reserved” address. In either case, the router must know how to map the external ports that Tablo uses to the internal IP address of the Tablo. This is usually done by setting up port forwarding on the router, and it’s easier to accomplish if the Tablo always uses the same IP address.
Thanks again for your input. I’m still learning and your explanations are helpful. But, I still don’t understand all of what you’re saying. So, I have Port Forwarding for my Tablo setup (using the external ports and internal ports that the Tablo app directs me to use), and using the DHCP function, I think I’m “reserving” a specific (“unique”?) address for my router to always assign to my Tablo device. Does that sound right?
But, from your explanation, it sounds like my ISP, by using CGNAT, is not assigning a unique address to my router, right? So, would you agree that the fix to my problem of not being able to connect to my Tablo device remotely (to be able to use Tablo Connect), is to get a uniquely assigned IP address, for me (my router / my service address / my house), from my ISP (which they called giving me a “static” IP address)?
One additional question. In the version of your last response that I got by email, but isn’t written above, you said, “A router that supports uPNP can take a request from the Tablo and set up the bindings between the Tablo’s address and the router’s external address, but many people prefer to create static port mappings and therefore require Tablo to always use the same local address. The primary reason for this is that it is difficult to determine the uPNP status of any given address on many routers, and it makes it more difficult to debug configuration issues. There are a number o security issues with uPNP as well, so it’s just easier and safer to ignore it.”
I have to admit I don’t understand what you’re suggesting in that statement.
1.) Are you suggesting that I should also turn UPnP off?
2.) Is “Port Forwarding” what you say “many people prefer - to create static port mappings”?
3.) Or, are you suggesting that I should turn UPnP off and still use Port Forwarding?
4.) If not, are you suggesting that I “create static port mappings” (other than via Port Forwarding), and if so, how do I do that in my router?
Thanks again!
You may be over thinking the semantics. Sounds like they’ve sent you great info and instructions. If that still isn’t working for you, have you gone through tablo’s info?
But if your ISP has you behind their CGNAT. …you can pay them a fee to circumvent their equipment 
You’ll likely want to get a unique IP address, whether it be static or dynamic, to allow you to use Tablo Connect remotely.
uPNP is a way to dynamically set up port mappings inside your network, but because it adds another level of complexity, I would not recommend you trying to use it; just install the required port mappings, using a reserved or static IP address inside your network for your Tablo.
I think you are right about the problem being you new ISP using CGNAT. Even though that is a little over my head.
Not using uPNP is a solution for problems that occur when Connect stops working after it had been working. For the initial setup there should be no problems using it. It has worked until now for you.
You could contact Tablo support to see if they can help with the CGNAT issue.
Thank you for your continued input. At this point, I’m going to contact Tablo Support about CGNAT. I had contacted them before, but they said they couldn’t advise how to set up Port Forwarding on a specific router, but now that it looks like the problem is CGNAT at the ISP, hopefully they will see the problem as more universal and want to get involved with finding a solution. I will also be out of pocket for the next little while, so will not add more until I get back. Thanks!
I have the R7960P router, which should be similar. First, you do want to use address reservation so that your Tablo gets the same IP address every time, especially if you have a power failure. Next, I’m going to see if I can embed a screenshot of my setup. There are two entries in my port forwarding table (found under Advanced Setup) for Tablo1 and Tablo2. I don’t have two Tablos… I just wanted two unique names (the names are unimportant, but must be unique) that will jog my memory that they refer to my Tablo. I hope this helps.
Ikahhan, Thank you for your input. That is exactly how I have Port Forwarding set up in my R7000P router. Do you also have UPnP turned on (under Advanced Setup), and your router setup as a DHCP Server with an IP reservation for your Tablo device there? This is under Advanced tab/Setup (not Advanced setup), under LAN Setup.)
Also, is your ISP using CGNAT? (you can call and ask them, if you don’t mind). This is important, because I think my problem lies in the fact that my ISP has implemented CGNAT (Carrier-Grade-Network Address Translation). THANKS!
I do have Upnp turned on, but that’s likely not where your problem is. One thought was under the Tablo Settings Menu, make sure Remote Access is checked under Tablo Connect, and it should tell you that Tablo is ready for remote access. If it doesn’t say that, you won’t have remote access. Try unchecking and rechecking the box to see if that fixes it.
You might check to see if your WAN IP is accessible from outside your home LAN. A quick and easy way to do this is with your cell phone. Take it off Wi-Fi so that you’re on cellular, and try to “ping” your WAN IP.
I do have Remote Access on under Tablo Connect, and tried turning it off and back on. Doesn’t work. I was NOT able to ping my router/WAN IP address from my iPhone with Wi-Fi turned off. So, that is consistent with my Tablo Connect not working - as it’s not able to ping (get to) my WAN IP. Again, it appears that the reason is the CGNAT going on with the ISP, since all my Port Forwarding settings seem to be the same as you’ve set up, and are the same way they were set up and working before my ISP implemented CGNAT in February 2023. Can you call your ISP to confirm that you are getting a unique IP address for your account/WAN/Router and that they are NOT using CGNAT?
One more thing - I think Tablo Connect only works via another WiFi network, anyway, right? I don’t think Tablo Connect works over cell service. So, even if my iPhone could have ping-ed my WAN/Router over cellular, I’m not sure if that would prove that my Tablo Connect should be able to do so. But, perhaps the fact that my iPhone couldn’t ping my WAN/Router over cellular does prove that Network Address Translation (NAT) is going on - via my ISP’s implementation of CGNAT.
THANKS AGAIN!
Tablo Connect is designed to work over the Internet, including phone networks.
Tablo remote connect does work over cellular. I just tried it again and no issues.
My ISP is COX, and they’re not using CGNAT. If your ISP is, then that could be your issue, as the end-to-end connection is interrupted. Here how you may be able to verify if your ISP is using CGNAT:
Visit a Web site such as ipaddress.com or whatsmyip.com and comparing the IP address listed to the public/WAN IP address assigned to your Internet gateway. To find your gateway’s public IP address, check the status page in the administrative interface. If the two IP addresses differ, you’re likely on a CGN network. If so, you will have trouble establishing Screens connections to the network in question, but it may be possible to request a static IP address from your ISP to avoid connectivity issues.
