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Port Forwarding on a Thomson Speedtouch 516v6 (SSH)

gregorian21
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎22-08-2010

Port Forwarding on a Thomson Speedtouch 516v6 (SSH)

Hi,
I've set up an SSH server on my wireless router which is behind a PlusNet supplied Thomson Speedtouch 516v6 modem. I've confirmed that the SSH server is accessible from within the network, but am having problems accessing it from an external IP.
I have used a non standard port for SSH (in the glorious tradition of security through obscurity). I have followed the various guides for this modem to set up the port forward, but the port is not accessible from an external IP. I have the PN Firewall set to Off. I have also rebooted the router a few times just to be sure.
Am I missing someting obvious? I assumed that I should atleast be able to see an open port, even if there is something wrong between the modem and the router. Is the use of a non standard port a problem?
I have had a similar setup in the past, albeit with a Linksys router at the network edge instead of a Thomson Speedtouch and have had no issues. Can anyone suggest a way forward? Thanks!
2 REPLIES 2
slackline
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎14-06-2011

Re: Port Forwarding on a Thomson Speedtouch 516v6 (SSH)

I'd be keen to know too, its pretty dumb running ssh on port 22 as it gets tons of scans from bots.  Using a non-standard port drastically reduces this (in terms of port-scans, so network traffic, i.e. a good thing for PlusNet as then bandwidth isn't wasted, plus it keeps my logs smaller).
The Thomson router I have only seems to have "BlockAll", "Standard" or "Disabled" as options, and then the ability to "Assign a game or application to a local network device" which only has a list of "Services" which no doubt use the default ports for various things.  Obviously at present I've fallen back to using port 22, but we really should have the ability to open up whatever port we want in our firewalls and not be restricted to a tiny subset that PlusNet deem we're allowed to open (or alternatively having to have everything open which is a dumb security risk).
It disappoints me that everyone is treated at the lowest common denominator, its fine that not everyone wants or needs to know about firewalls, port-forwarding and iptables and such like, but some of us do and we should be afforded the freedom to utilise them.
slackline
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎14-06-2011

Re: Port Forwarding on a Thomson Speedtouch 516v6 (SSH)

I must apologise, I've just found that I can specify a port of my own choosing for forwarding, its just not the most obvious UI for navigating or indeed configuring the router in general (if only OpenWRT could be installed on it!).
Oh and having 'telnet' as the default way of connecting to the router via a terminal is pretty insecure, it should be SSH.