Port forwarding connects externally but not for devices inside LAN

[codemaestro]

I have up a web server I set up internal development. Apache is configured correctly, and I have routed my domain names to my Shaw WAN IP address. External viewers can type my domain names into a browser and see my website content. However, internal devices on desktop and mobile cannot.

When I view the website access and error logs, I see traffic when an external viewer opens my website. However, there is no traffic at all when an internal viewer opens the same website.

I know it's not a firewall or server issue, as I can use a browser to open the machine name of the web server and can view the default website.

I can also use Tor browser to connect to a VPN server outside the network and contact my domain name as if an external viewer. But because the VPN is further away the network speed is unusable.

I've seen other posts also expressing issues with internal access but external access works. I haven't read a solution, though.

Thanks,

Tony

[rstra]

@codemaestro 

It is probably because the BlueCurve modem doesn’t support NAT loopback. 

[mdk]

@codemaestro -- I presume that the "private" IP-address of your web-server on your LAN never changes, so that traffic from the Internet gets forwarded to the correct "private" IP-address.  If any of your internal devices try to connect to your web-server by using that "private" IP-address, instead of the FQDN, do you get a connection?

[codemaestro]

Thanks @rstra and @mdk.

@rstra you’re probably right that the router doesn’t have NAT routing capabilities. It sounds like we’d need to bridge to a different router that had that capability.

@mdk all internal devices can reach the web server via internal IP address and also the network name of the machine. I was able to simulate domain name resolution by using separate virtual host port IDs.

I like how the Bluecurve setup can port forward to a specific machine on the network and not require a static IP address. My next step will be to hook up a dynamic DNS application to ensure the WAN IP address stays updated. Then I can C NAME the DDNS server address.

[wulffgang1]

Yes.  I do Simulated regions on Virtual worlds, mainly osgrid.  I used to have a loopback router, now I dont using Shaw.  I can set up the region and other people can get onto it, but I cannot get onto it myself (client end).

I used to be able to port forward the client end, but not sure how to do this on a router that isnt loopback.