So getting ready to leave the Tablo location for the winter, but would like to be able to keep up with shows being recorded. I have faced problems with remote pairing being lost after leaving the home, so trying to find a solution to re-establish pairing while remote.
I have a home PC that I can / plan to leave operational while gone, so trying to find a VPN solution that will allow me to VPN into the network and re-pair. I have Hamachi installed and working on that machine, but don’t see how that will enable me to pair with the Tablo, since the access appears to be JUST to that PC.
Setting up VPN at the router level is not likely a workable solution since I have Frontier DSL, and the “modem / gateway” they provide (Netgear 7550) is not as functional as some on the market. I am toying with putting it in Bridge mode and using my TP-Link AC1750 as the router, but even it does not run a VPN server natively.
Mind you, I have to be somewhat cautious about what I do since I enjoy a “work from home” situation but it requires me to be VPN’ed into my corporate network all day, so whatever I put in place must still allow basic VPN passthru as well.
So wondering if anyone out there has a working VPN solution that has actually been used to re-pair a laptop and / or Android device to be able to watch remote after the pairing has been interrupted?
@mohoelx If Frontier allows you to provide your own modem, I would purchase a DSL modem that does not have a built-in router. I would also purchase a separate VPN router. That way you could connect to your home network the same way you connect to your work network. You may even be able to use the same VPN client on your PC.
Once you have the VPN setup you will have to deal with the contention between work and home. You won’t easily be able to connect to both VPN’s at the same time. One issue I have is that when I connect to my work VPN it blocks all local IP’s so I lose locally mapped drives and printers when connected. Also, whatever VPN is connected 2nd will try to establish its connection through the 1st VPN connection. You might have to get one PC for play and one for work, or just go without TV while working.
What happened to me before was that when the remote connect from my phone failed due to issue on the Tablo, I remote into my home PC thru TeamViewer, connect to Tablo thru the web app on the home PC, then uncheck and re-check the “Remote Connect” box to reset the function and I could use remote connect on the phone afterward. I haven’t tried watching Tablo from the home browser through TeamViewer, because I think the quality will not be good due to TimeViewer server lag. As an alternative, you may also try watching the Tablo on your home browser through Windows Remote Desktop, which may give you better performance.
However, since your work PC is on VPN, I believe all your internet traffic will be directed through VPN and that may cause problem on the performance at least, if not the connection. I think your best bet would be watching Tablo remotely from another PC or tablet, and use remote desktop/TeamViewer to fix remote connect issues if they arise. (But if the actual pairing between Tablo and the remote device is broken, the only way to re-pair it remotely would be thru VPN.)
A clarification that is in order - I do have a separate laptop for work (company provided) and only use it for work, no TV watching there ! This would be for the personal laptop / tablet only. I don’t anticipate contention @hellbound other than to be sure I don’t do something on the home router that kills my ability to get to the work VPN from the work laptop. And they do allow me to bring my own DSL modem, but found that the router I already have is not a VPN router. Could look at DD-WRT or something, but I’m trying to keep it simple.
@kamy2015 - I’ll have to experiment and try to cause the break and see if that option would work. That would certainly be simple enough, but I was always under the impression that once a device stopped working remotely, it was “un-paired” moreso than just the configuration being jacked, but I’ll definitely give that a shot. Yes, watching via Teamviewer or other take-over (like Himachi) is going to be painful! But at least gives a method to get in and delete things if the disk gets full.
Is your Tablo on the latest f/w? If so, did you experience broken pairing on this f/w? I believe they have fixed several remote connect issues in the latest f/w and I’m wondering if it still has issues.
@kamy2015 - yes, I’m on the latest 2.2.8. And I think they have a fix pushed as far as . Your suggestion gets a gold-star thank-y!
Ok, so for testing, I was able to kill the remote access by booting the modem and getting a new IP assigned.
Then to restore remote access,
1- Go in via VPN (Hamachi, TeamViewer, etc.) to a computer on the same / home network where Tablo lives.
2- Fire up Chrome on in-home PC and go to my.tablotv.com
3- Get into my Tablo, go into settings, and un-check the Remote Access button, then check it again. (If you get "router needs manual congiguration, un-check/re-check again - at least it worked for mine)
4- On the remote playback device (PC or tablet) then the site will reconnect (oddly, my.tablotv.com will not). The good news is it appears the Tablo apps on Android then work again also.
I did this multiple times and it worked, so at least I have a way to get back in, as long as the “loss of connectivity” isn’t more than just a changed IP from my ISP.
Yippee, at least. Certainly more work that expected, but it’s do-able.
! This would be for the personal laptop / tablet only. I don’t anticipate contention