Bell Sympatico

[iPyrrebpsaR]

I'm a Canadian and my internet provider is Bell Sympatico and I would like to know if anyone has ever made a successful external FTP connection to their Raspberry Pi, with this provider. If so I would like to know what distribution and configuration they used. I've tried UBUNTU without success. Peter

[W. H. Heydt]

If you're using a router you can get into you should be able to set port forwarding for whatever port you're using for ssh on the Pi (default is 22, but for public access you reall should change it...and *definitely* change the default password on the Pi!). Once that's done, it really doesn't matter who the provider is, nor what distribution you're using. If your provider is blocking your chosen inbound port, call them and ask that it be opened for your line.

[DougieLawson]

You could open ports 20 and 21 on the router to allow external connections to your FTP server, but beware that WILL attract every hacker on the planet. FTP is the least secure of any of the ancient protocols (except TFTP) and was implicated when the hackers broke into Nordea bank because Logica left their mainframe with FTP open to the world.

Open port 22 and you can use SFTP (which is a component of SSH/SSHD).

[iPyrrebpsaR]

If you're using a router you can get into you should be able to set port forwarding for whatever port you're using for ssh on the Pi (default is 22, but for public access you reall should change it...and *definitely* change the default password on the Pi!). Once that's done, it really doesn't matter who the provider is, nor what distribution you're using. If your provider is blocking your chosen inbound port, call them and ask that it be opened for your line.

Thanks for your prompt reply. Although I can access my Bell Home Hub 1000 it would appear that I have limited options [change password, create static IP addresses etc.] but nothing about opening or closing ports. The Sympatico Help center doesn't provide assistance for Ubuntu users. Perhaps I should switch to a different Canadian provider like Rogers? Peter

[iPyrrebpsaR]

You could open ports 20 and 21 on the router to allow external connections to your FTP server, but beware that WILL attract every hacker on the planet. FTP is the least secure of any of the ancient protocols (except TFTP) and was implicated when the hackers broke into Nordea bank because Logica left their mainframe with FTP open to the world.

Open port 22 and you can use SFTP (which is a component of SSH/SSHD).

Thank you for your advice. I think I'm going to have to either change my Canadian internet provider from Bell Sympatico to Rogers cable or replace my Raspberry Pi with an old HP laptop that has MS windows installed on it. That's if I'm ever going to access my home computers, when I'm on the road. Peter

[dgdavidge]

Perhaps you could use TeamViewer or one of the other remote access services that uses port 80 to get into your Pi when you are away from home.

[W. H. Heydt]

If you're using a router you can get into you should be able to set port forwarding for whatever port you're using for ssh on the Pi (default is 22, but for public access you reall should change it...and *definitely* change the default password on the Pi!). Once that's done, it really doesn't matter who the provider is, nor what distribution you're using. If your provider is blocking your chosen inbound port, call them and ask that it be opened for your line.

Thanks for your prompt reply. Although I can access my Bell Home Hub 1000 it would appear that I have limited options [change password, create static IP addresses etc.] but nothing about opening or closing ports. The Sympatico Help center doesn't provide assistance for Ubuntu users. Perhaps I should switch to a different Canadian provider like Rogers? Peter

Two things about ports... The first is that most home routers permit one to do "port forwarding". That is, taking any inbound traffic on a particular port number and sending it to a specific device on the LAN. The other is whether or not the ISP blocks selected ports (a blocked port would mean that traffic addressing that port would never get to your home router). The ISP shouldn't even need to ask what OS you are using to unblock a port. The initial question would be, "Do you block port X?" If the answer is yes, then the followup is, "Please unblock port X on my line." The OS doesn't enter into it.

If they do insist on knowing OS you're using and refuse to help if it isn't Windows or Mac, then lie.

[iPyrrebpsaR]

Thanks again. I appreciate the help you've provided

[iPyrrebpsaR]

Perhaps you could use TeamViewer or one of the other remote access services that uses port 80 to get into your Pi when you are away from home.

I didn't realize that remote access services were even available and I'll certainly look into them. Thanks for your suggestion.