If you are using the black Technicolor router that brsk installed, please take a look at this article.
CGNAT and your residential broadband
By default, all of our residential broadband customers are allocated a private IPv4 address which is translated to a public IPv4 address. This makes means that port forwarding isn't possible, as you won't be able to reach the private IPv4 address over the Internet. This technology is called 'Carrier Grade NAT' or CGNAT, and has become commonplace in the broadband industry due to the dwindling supply of public IPv4 addresses.
For this reason, to obtain a public IPv4 address, you will have to purchase our BetterIP add-on, allowing you to set up port forwarding rules on IPv4. For more details on this, see Can I get a fixed IP address?, or please contact our sales team at sales@brsk.co.uk or on 0330 191 4357.
The brsk BetterBusiness products come standard with a public IPv4 address.
Don't want to purchase the BetterIP add-on? Not to worry, here are some alternatives to access your LAN devices remotely:
IPv6: We've supported IPv6 since our inception, and every customer is allocated a set of IPv6 prefixes for usage. This will allow you to access your devices (as long as they support IPv6, which most modern devices do) on the network over IPv6 remotely, without port forwarding. This can only be done from other networks that also support IPv6.
Overlay networks: You may be able to use a 3rd party overlay network such as Tailscale. Tailscale currently has a free tier plan, and this will allow you to access your internal network over a secure overlay connection without any port forwarding required.
If you do have a public IPv4 address from our BetterIP add-on or BetterBusiness product, please read on!
Confirming port forwarding on the white Icotera router
First, you'll need to log onto the Icotera router, see How do I log into my router?
Click on the 'Port Forwarding' tab under the Services header.
The 'Port Forwarding' header on the page will list configured port forwarding rules for IPv4 on the router. The below screenshot shows an example rule set:
Confirm the below points are valid for each configured port forward rule:
Protocols: Is the service that you're looking to forward using TCP, UDP or both?
Ext. Ports: Are you forwarding the correct port number?
Int. IP: Is the router forwarding the port to the correct internal IP address?
Int. port: Are you forwarding the correct port number? Generally, this is the same as Ext. Ports.
Loopback: If enabled, internal devices can access port forwarded services through the public IPv4 address of the router. If you aren't sure, it will be fine to enable this
Enabled: Is the port forwarding rule enabled - this tick box should be checked?
Also, remember to click 'Save' and then 'Apply' at the bottom of the port forwarding page after any changes are made to the page.
If you experience any issues or require further guidance, please reach out to via support@brsk.co.uk or 02039 255 299.